North America, United States, Utah, Zion National Park, "Gatekeeper Wall," Locksmith Dihedral

Publication Year: 2006.

“Gatekeeper Wall ” Locksmith Dihedral. Dave Jones, Chris Rowins, and I established the Locksmith Dihedral (IV 5.11d Cl) on the “Gatekeeper Wall.” This wall, the first formation east of the Watchman, was named by Dave, who spotted the line. In April we made the two-hour approach to the base of the climb. Being heavily laden with gear, we were relieved to see that the line looked good. Our route followed the steep, tasty-looking corner up the middle of the buttress. The first pitch began in a short chimney filled with a block. An off-size hand crack led up to a V-slot and the start of the main corner. The second pitch was one of the best finger cracks I’ve ever done. I used some aid, but Dave was able to follow it free at 5.11d. We descended in high spirits. The next day, two more great pitches followed, on excellent rock. The final three pitches followed wider cracks in the dihedral to the top of a prominent tower, which was just 25 feet from the rim. Since there were no more cracks, we stopped here. Lots of loose rock trundled down from this top section as we rappelled off…much to Chris’s delight. The leader used some aid on three of the pitches, but with the exception of an A0 move on the fifth pitch to pass some loose blocks, we were able to second all of the pitches free.

Brian Smoot