This route is one of the best I have climbed at J-Tree. Challenging moves on solid rock for about 140' makes this  a five star classic.

Begin about 30' left of a vertical crack that does not reach the ground to gain a horizontal discontinuous seam after 10' of easy climbing. Traverse right on thin edges to a point where the seam ends about 10 feet from where the vertical crack begins. A 0 TCU protects committing face moves (5.11) to a huge horn. Turn the corner and ascend the flared, vertical crack (initially thin pro) that becomes wider and lower angle for close to 100'.

A bolted anchor with slings is used to rappel off of the route.

Double ropes work well to minimize rope drag and to rap.

Catapult

Rope Drag

Arms Control

Sublimation

Natural Selection

Old Man Down the Road, The

Tower of Godliness - Original Route

Grubstake Days

New Hampshire, Naturally

The Man Who Cried (AKA Julius Seizure)

Weekend Warrior

Roark

Natural Selection is a very thin crack in a small right facing corner about 30-40 yards left of Catapult.  There is a small roof halfway up.  Start a little to the right and climb easy rock to a stance 30' up.  Here, step left into the shallow corner.  There's no distinct crux, pretty fun climbing the whole way.

A steep lieback (5.9) takes you up to the face.  A thin horizontal crack at the roof allows some gear placements.  Move down a bit to the slab and traverse 30 feet left (5.10B) until you can reach the base of a vertical crack.  A difficult entry move (5.10B) leads to moderate chimneying and hand jamming and the top.

A two pitch crack route.

P1> Climb an adventurous chimney, (avoid a sprawling Datura bush in the back) to a bolted anchor on the right.  5.8 ~ 60 feet

P2> Traverse left and climb a strenuous finger to thin hand size crack.  Above follow a nice hand size crack / lieback.  Move left to the bolted anchor on Catapult.  5.11d ~70 feet

Follow the crack, with a thin crux section and a fair bit of 5.8 and 5.8, for a long pitch, and belay on a huge ledge.  A short, easier but runout pitch leads to the top.  Descend by a long, tricky scramble, or find a way to rappel down.

Follow the crack to the top.  The crux is a flared, shallow section in the first 15 feet.  Higher up is a 5.8 offwidth with multiple knobby face holds.  The rock is quite gritty.   There is a two bolt belay/rappel anchor at the top of the climb.

This two pitch adventure route is accessed from the Catapult / Arms Control anchor.

P1: From the Catapult / Arms Control anchor - Climb a cool easy crack up to a horizontal finger crack, traverse right 10 feet to reach another crack.  Negotiate a large loose block to reach an easy wide crack up to the base of the tower.  Travere right about 20 feet along the base of the tower to reach a chimney that splits the tower. (5.10a ~ 70 feet)

P2:  Chimney up to the summit passing an old but decent bolt about 35 feet up.  (5.6 ~60 feet)

Broken cracks in the lower portion gain entry to a squeeze chimney which leads to the top.

Done as two pitches to keep the rope from getting snagged on the lower portion.

A great long finger and hand crack line with tons of good movement that reaches the top of the formation.  About 100 feet up, move right 5 feet to another crack until it fades out into the standard Josh run-out slab finish.  Gritty but super fun.

Two possible starts: the left crack leads to face climbing left to a bolt on fun holds to rejoin the crack (recommended) - the right start follows crack up.

Somewhat balancy moves lead up to a thin crack in the shallow dihedral.  Some face holds help you move up to a fingertip lieback crux, with good protection.  The holds quickly get larger, and easy hand jamming leads to the belay.  From here, you can rap down, or traverse left and continue to the top on Toad Warrior.

Gritty, moderate jamming takes you up to the big dihedral.  The crux of the climb involves stemming up this dihedral (tiny wired nuts for protection) to where the crack widens enough for jamming.  Some jams and face moves take you up to a long hand and fist crack.  Rappel from the bolt anchor on top of The Old Man Down the Road.

Description

Protection

Routes in The Fortress