Jabberwocky Tower is a unique peak just east of Colchuck Lake in the Enchantments, visible from various spots nearby. Hundreds of people walk by Jabberwocky on a summer weekend without giving it a second look, but the formation was first climbed decades ago, by its short east side. In 2023, while climbing with my wife, Jenn Carter, I took a picture of Jabberwocky without knowing what it was, then did some research back home. In June of 2024, I asked 18-year-old Sam Allen—one of the students-turned-instructors in the Mountaineers’ Youth Club—if he was interested in taking a look at the tower’s southwest spur with 60-year-old me. He warmly obliged.

By the time we got there in July, another party, Erik Koch and David Wood, had been poking around on the southwest side. We later confirmed they climbed pitches one, four, and seven of our eventual line, but they decided not to share their full route, which wandered more than our line on the crest; they reported a three-pitch alternate start to the southwest spur called Sandpiper Start (5.7+). Sam and I established the first two pitches of our route, a 5.9 and a 5.10b with lovely hand and fist cracks in solid rock.

In early August, Jenn joined the project, and we pushed the climb up three more pitches. On August 16, Jenn, Sam, and I climbed two final pitches (5.10 and 5.10c) to finish. Song of the Summer (7 pitches, III 5.10c) required several 20-plus-hour days of hiking, climbing, clearing loose blocks, and drilling anchors for safer passage. The climb has three protection bolts, and the first two belays are bolted.   

—Wayne Wallace