Rose Tower - Original Route

The original route on the Rose Tower was first climbed by Larry Hamilton and Joe Herbst in early 1976. Climb a few hundred feet of class 3, 4 and 5 to a large platform approximately halfway up the wall. At this point the FA team worked their way into the rightmost crack on the face. The direct approach to the crack involves some very loose rock (and looks to be harder than 5.7!). There is an old bolt off to the right that may have been used for pro. Their route continued straight up the crack and eventually finished in the huge corner that later became the last pitch of Olive Oil.

Note that this route is included mostly for historical interest. When I was up there, I was kind of spooked by the rock and the fact that the climbing looked much more serious than the neighboring Olive Oil. The FA team recalled only a relaxed, fun-in-the-sun kind of day, so I may be missing something.

Obviously the FA team used only hexes and stoppers, but adding a few cams seems like a reasonable precaution.