Tague Yer Time. South Chasm View Wall hides its secrets well. It took Jared Ogden and me many trips to work out a new line just right of Astrodog, and then another few trips to complete it. Tim Toula and Jim Olsen did the first two pitches and named the unfinished climb “Air is Free.” They reported the second-pitch dihedral to be as good as any stemming corner on Devil’s Tower. They’re right. We did a variant start directly up to the corner to avoid a loose flake and continued up the same system. After the Two Boulder Bivy on Astrodog, the line follows thin cracks on the buttress to the right and finishes in discontinuous cracks under the South Chasm rappel line, even clipping a couple of the anchors.

A triple set of RPs is needed for the sustained thin cracks. The rock is excellent. There are six pitches of 5.12 and five of 5.11. We shared the ascent with the ashes of Cameron Tague and let them fly into the winds of the Black. We called the line Tague Yer Time (V 5.12), for the intricate nature of the climb and the spiritual leader of the first ascent team. It is arguably the best climb in the canyon.

Topher Donahue