Turk's Head Ridge

An alpine route at Devil's Lake? Turks Head Ridge, with the Wiessner Wall finish is seven to nine pitches long. Sure the pitches are short, but its all we've got.

To approach, walk north past the cabins on Tumbled Rocks Trail until you can see a tower about 50 yards above the trail. This is the first pitch (5.3). Descend the tower, and continue on long, mostly unbroken ridge to the base of Wiessner Wall. Continue up Wiessner in two pitches and complete the longest route in Wisconsin.

Pitch two (5.6), an ugly wide inside corner, protects well with big cams. The third pitch, a left slanting finger crack is the crux (5.8) and difficult to protect. It is short, though, and the 5.6 face to the right might afford the leader some respite. After this, it is 5.4 climbing to the top.

For what it's worth, I have usually climbed the ridge in this order:

Pitch 1: The Tower, 5.2

Pitch 2: The Dirty Inside Corner, 5.6

Pitch 3: The 30 Foot Wall, 5.8 or 5.6

Pitch 4: The 15 Foot 5.1 Groove

Pitch 5: The 40 Foot Inside Corner/Ridge, 5.4

Pitch 6: The short Rightward Diagonalling Crack, 5.4

Pitch 7: The Double Cracks, 5.5

Pitch 8: Wiessner's Chimney, 5.4

Pitch 9: either Wiessner's Face, 5.7 or The Crack Above The Tree, 5.2

I feel as though, when climbed this way, you maximize both the quality and the quantity of the climbing. There are, however, numerous variations possible.

Standard Rack--Maybe some big cams. Gear to set belays.