The Wolcott Spire

Over the years Kristine, myself, and good friends J Weingast and Jesse Hill have noticed a little tower of free-standing rock on the north side of Interstate 70 between Eagle and Wolcott. We have long since dubbed it the Wolcott Spire.

Jesse in his extensive resourcefulness researched the access via a public dirt road through private property off of Highway 6, which runs parallel to Interstate 70, and he and J climbed an approximate 5.6 route circling around the tower on 3 sides. We have all since called this route the Corkscrew route as it really corkscrews around the tower. Whether this was a first ascent likely will never be determined, but at least it was a first ascent as far as our little crew and knowledge is concerned. Plus, its fun to think maybe it had not been climbed before. Its only one pitch long, but the rope drag on the Corkscrew route is pretty serious and taxing, especially for the leader belaying the follower.

The north side of the tower really only rises maybe 40′ or so above the dirt, but the south/southwest side of the tower probably approaches 70′. The southwest side is home to a large overhang that could potentially be a serious trad crack or aid line. What makes the climbing on the Wolcott Spire more taxing and difficult than the rating would indicate would be the loose rock and holds ready to pull out at any instant. Its akin to climbing the hard 13er Lizard Head in the San Juans, though potentially more loose. I recruited Mike to come join me on this climb and last Sunday the dogs, Mike, and I hiked up to the spire and gave it a shot. Its only about a 30 minute hike up, but is on steeper slopes littered with loose dirt. Fortunately, the wind was gusting pretty good so as to cool us off on this hot day. I took the rack and started up the Corkscrew route intentionally dislodging and clearing loose rocks whenever I could. Good protection and placements for cams were fairly easy to find. I think I may have placed 5 cams in total. The crux, in my opinion, was the chimney climb of sorts after the horizontal traverse on the southwest face. I think Mike and I would say this was 5.6, though maybe feels harder because of the loose rock. I found J and Jesse’s old webbing with rappel ring on top and re-slung it around the top of the tower, which provided a secure anchor. I belayed Mike from just below the summit cap and soon he reached me on the summit of the Wolcott Spire. Second ascent? Ah, probably not, but fun to think that it may be.

We soon rappelled off down the north face and I then wanted to try a new route up the spire’s weakness on its north face. The weakness was a crack of sorts with strange bulges and loose holds.

The north face looked much tougher than the Corkscrew route, but protection looked solid. The only location where it would be hard to get a placement would be the bottom 8-10′ up the tougher slabby face. I got a good nut placement in a small crack and after going through the motions of getting the sequence down, I pulled the moves and made it to the standing ledge about 12′ off the deck and got a bomber #1 cam in a deep crack. I traversed right and placed a solid #3 cam and then pulled up, got a 0.75 cam in, and made the crux moves to get up into the weakness. I then ran it out on the much easier and upper section of the Corkscrew route to the webbing. It was a fun lead for sure and pretty challenging. I like the route.

I would guess that the lower 8-10′ slabby section of this route had some 5.10 moves while the overhang and getting up into the crack on the middle section of the route was more like 5.9. Mike then climbed the route on top rope and I think we agreed on the ratings. I then climbed it on top rope one more time.

A great few hours out checking out new things and exploring this little spire we’ve looked at for over a decade. Next time I go up there I will add some new webbing to J and Jesse’s old webbing to back it up or maybe replace it altogether. Its just getting a bit worn and frayed. A few bolts would make the east face more viable as there appears to be little if any places for gear on the upper half of the east face. The moves look tough as well. I hope we can put up another new route or two in the future on the Wolcott Spire. Its always fun to think about future endeavors.