JOHN'S T O W E R
JOHN'S TOWER
Southeast Face
Northeast Prominence
Jamminy
Crackup
(11c)
is a mixed (trad and bolted) climb on the northeast corner of John's Tower in
Blair that will test your skill at gymnastic movement from the start.
The entry moves involve nearly inverting on good hand jams to obtain a heel hook
with
the
right foot, enabling one to gain access to the main crack
system by shuffling the jams upward enough to reach a good climbing position
after several feet. Place a good cam or two (2.5 Friends) or a cam and a
passive piece to protect these rather daunting beginning moves. Get a
1.5 or 2 Friend ready to slam into the crack above as soon as
possible. Continue past a horizontal crack and protect well here because
the crux section above needs to be negotiated fairly rapidly as it is very
strenuous off-fingers. Proceed to jam the slightly flaring off-fingers
crack section which is slightly overhanging and leans to the right. You
might be able to get in a 0.5 Camalot here, but the first good pro comes at the
next horizontal crack about 12 feet above. Nearing the end of the crack
system about 40' up, better edges and flakes are found and medium sized pro goes
in well. A fixed stopper is found at the end of the crack near the
shelf. It has been left for two reasons; first, several falls have
set it well, and second, it keeps the rope from being eaten by the crack as the
headwall is climbed.
The HEADWALL offers three different lines to the top, two are bolted and one protects scantily with a tcu and/or 2 or 3 small wires. Pick your grade to finish, 11a (leftmost, 2 bolts), 10b (center, 2 bolts) or 9 (rightmost). All three lines lead to the same Fixe Ring anchor set at the top of the headwall. Rappel 85 feet to the ground. Use caution if using a 50 meter rope as it barely stretches to reach the bottom.
Get to Jamminy Crackup, park near the 8 Ball in Blair. Take the trail heading SW out of the campsites amongst the large boulders and continue about 300 yards into a small valley separating the 8 Ball from John's Tower. When an old barbed wire fence is reached, turn uphill (approx.SE) before crossing it and continue uphill on a winding faint trail. After about 200 yards, the trail begins to steepen and you will find a trail cutting up and right. Take this to the saddle between John's Tower and the Heap to a high point where you should be looking south (across a valley) at the smooth north faces of North and Middle Corners. At this point, look directly to your right (west) and you will see Jamminy Crackup. (sh+as,'95).
North Side
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