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Description
This route is on the south side of the rock marked with JMPT in the photos. It is very obvious and very fun!
The pitch starts in a very wide chimney, but there is no lack of holds, and it is low angle until about 20' up where there is a crack facing outward toward the belayer, and it becomes a fist-sized crack with hands throughout as well. This small section of crack is the crux. After the 20' feet of vertical hand crack, you come to a 30' traverse along a beautiful section of rock where it creates a large seam and there are knobs all over and great holds. You come to a last 10' section of hand crack, and you top out. Following is hard as the traverse creates a lot of rope drag.
Location
Just after Big Drop Rapid is a beach on the left. Pull out on the beach. If you hike in along the railroad, look for large, towering formations as shown in the photos on river left about a mile back from the river after the 4th rapid in the canyon (Pinball, Zoom Flume, Squeeze Play, then Big Drop). Find the main wash from the gully on river left. It is very obvious . Follow this wash when passable, and pass on high ground when too thick. When you get to the open area with wide views of most of the rock, pick your approach! The easiest approach is to look for the low angle hill (3rdClass) in between the large rocks where is is most clear of other rock jumbles.
Protection
A single rack to #4.
Routes in Staircase Towers
- 5Boner Jam5.9+Trad