P-1 Climb a left facing corner to a pod. Break out right and climb face relief to a prominent rail. You can stay closer to your gear by continuing another six feet up the corner though the climbing is harder and the rock crunchier. Hand-traverse the rail for 20 feet and belay. A #6 cam is handy for the end of the traverse but you can do another move and get in a mid size cam before the anchor. 100’, 5.11.

P-2 Move up and left on soft rock past a bolt to gain the varnished black, right facing corner. Climb this on thin, thoughtful gear to a no-hands rest. Either traverse left to a bolt and climb up and back right to the anchor, or continue up the blank corner past a bolt. 80’, 5.11 (left) or 5.13- (direct).

P-3 Proceed up and right on ledges until it is possible to step left into the corner  above the soft rock. Continue up the corner to the summit. 70’, 5.9.

Absolution

[Redacted]

Unknown Sister

Crazy Little Sister

The GAG Route

Baby Sister

Jah Man

Black Sabbath

The first pitch of Jah Man fell off. The route was reestablished with 2 or 3 new pitches on the bottom section.

Pitch 1: Start at the original start and climb up through one of two hand cracks systems that gains a ledge up and to the right. There is a bolt for a small Traverse to a two bolt anchor. This anchor is just left of the major horizontal that can be seen from the ground. 5.10, Gear: BD 0.3 - 3. PG13 because of detached pillars and rock quality.

Pitch 2: Hand traverse the horizontal crack for 30 feet. This crack will take anything from a BD .75-2. The crack does disappear for a few feet requiring some difficult face moves. Once at the junction of the horizontal crack and the vertical finger crack, build an anchor here. I used a BD .75, 3, and a red c3. 5.11+

Pitch 3: If you don't mind the rope drag from pitch 2, don't build an anchor and just keep going up the calcite finger crack. Otherwise,  I would think most people would probably stop here and build an anchor. At the end of this 40 foot pitch, you'll land at the new anchor a few feet up and left of the old anchor (the anchor that was just above the pillar that fell). Gear: (Red C3's up to BD 0.5.) Solid 5.12.

Nothing new past this point... This is the original route.

Pitch 4: The fourth pitch heads straight up ten feet, traverses left (.10+) and then goes up an easy corner (5.9) to a nice ledge.

Pitch 5: follows the obvious 5.10 crack that trend up and left (wonderful thin hands). 5.10+ Gear: BD .4-2, mostly .75s and 1s.

Pitch 6: Steps around the corner and makes a few 9+/10- face moves to the summit. 4 bolts.

Rap the route with one 70 meter rope in 4 raps.

This is the south summit of chimmeny rock. Start on the west face, climb up the gully to the saddle. Place a small TCU and commit. Climb up and slightly around the back to the anchorless summit. Simi- Rap from summit.

"Unknown Sister" is the name Desert Rock III gives to this slender tower, the most distinctive on the ridge north of Sister Superior.  Although Bjornstad's guide credits the first ascent to "Harvey T. Carter, 1960s," this route and probably the tower were first climbed by Larry Hamilton and Tom Ruwitch in April, 1972.  Seehttp://pubpages.unh.edu/~lch/climb_33.htmfor a few photos from their ascent.

The route ascends an obvious splitter crack that widens from thin to five inches, on the west side of the tower.  One bolt gains the base of the crack.  Aid the crack until free climbing feels right.  Bolt anchors, possibly old ones, should be found on the thin summit.

Crazy Little Sister is basically two teetering blocks that are leaning against each other - not really a tower.  The climb is, well, not really a climb either, more of an easy boulder problem.

The crux of the route is getting there, which involves lots of scrambling up and over blocks until WELL North of Sister Superior.  If you go the wrong way it's worth it to turn around as the scree is very loose in many places (in search of a shortcut I jumped to a desk-sized rock which began sliding down the steep slopes and over a cliff band - I jumped off just in time and only by spread eagling on the ground could I stop from sliding down with it).  I recommend going around the far (east) side of Sister Superior for as long as possible.

Without the photo in Bjornstad's guide I would have never found this rock, but once you see it you can't miss it - there is a hole in the middle where the two blocks rest against each other and it really does look like it's going to fall over.  Stem your way up, do an easy mantle, snap the photo and downclimb it.

This is a good route with some good stone and good moves.  The position is improbable once up high and the presence of a few good holds in key places is what makes this thing possible for mere mortals.  Absent a few key holds, this route would be much harder and perhaps dangerous.

This climb is a good climb overall, but is not to be taken lightly.  It is a obscure desert route, not a trade route.  Loose blocks, some lack of gear in places, generally in-obvious route finding, and other problems may present themselves to folks not enamored of desert towers.

If you are a qualified desert rat, however, this should be on your list of to-dos.

P1 (60', 5.9): Start on the right side in a crack with some blocks on a short pillar on the front of the North Sister and ascend 20 feet of 5.7 climbing to reach a short left-facing corner.  An old fixed pin will be visible once you are into that corner, but not from the ground.  Place a peice or two and start up the corner, clipping the pin and some more gear past an awkward move to reach a good ledge at perhaps 60' up.  Traverse right on that ledge past a fixed rap and build a belay below a small square roof with a very think crack through it's right side.

P2 (130', 5.10): Go up to the roof and festoon the tiny crack out the right side with small stoppers and cams and a short sling or none.  This will be crux protection.  Move down and out under the roof back to low angle rock and head to the right.  Climb up the face over there on slopers and  insecure edges back up and to the right facing corner above the roof and the gear that was placed in it.  If you fall here, you might hit the belayer, but not likely quite the ledge.  Get into the corner just before a ledge fall seems likely and make the tough descision about going up to a better stance or messing with gear while facing a bad fall from awkward stances.  I did the former and gunned it for a better stance before going for gear.  Get some protection and head up into a crack and corner system that becomes a chimney, protecting whenever possible.  You can stop and belay on 2 cams shoved down into the top of a crack on the right side 30' below the OW roof, or continue up past some loose rock to just below the OW roof at about 130' high.  That higher belay will be on a 300 lb block on a sloping ledge that moves when you shift your weight.  I built the belay there, having arrived, but then had my second settle in on the former option and belay there so as not to put 2 of us on the rocker-block on the sloping small ledge.

P3 (60', 5.10+): This is the money pitch and the crux.  Place gear up in the roof.  A 3" and 4" cam (or new #4 camamlot) work great.  Look out to the right over space to see some small footholds high and under the roof, then a good foothold on the arete, just out of reach.  Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make your way out under that yawning crack though the roof (becomes 10") past though smears on a steep face to a stance in the outside of that crack with a foot on that hold.

If you fail, I will disavow all knowledge of calling this 5.10.  It isn't "5.10" and "OW", it is "5.10 OW."  But it is a spectacular sort of fun, and beta might spoil it, but both my partner and I had to get creative.

Continue past that crux and up into the slot that varies from OW to squeeze chimney.  Crux protection there is a new-style #4 and #5 camalot.  The #6 is too tight in most places, but I did eventually place it and was happy to have it since I did not have the #5 with me... (which I sorely wanted at a few points).  Continue up the system for 20-30' of slow progress to a good belay ledge.

P4 (40', 5.7): Head north into a blocky but easy scramble to the top in a left-facing corner of jumbled rock.  Belay from behind some big boulders.

Rap anchors are to the East, but are not well placed for a belay.

This is one of the tiny towers along the fidge of the Sister Superior Group.  In Eric's Desert Rock III, it says there is a move of aid, but we found this NOT to be the case.  The climbing is pleasant enough, but you wouldn't hike up the huge talus slope just to do this tiny climb.

I have also seen this route called "Savior". Not sure which is accurate.

Pitch 1 - Start by climbing a chimney and then traverse right on large ledge.  Belay off gear. (5.7)

Pitch 2 - Follow crack from the ledge.  This crack bends up and left.  There is an old bolt ladder on the right.  Hanging belay from bolted anchor. (5.11)

Pitch 3 - Do a face traverse to the left and climb a crack that goes from tight hands - hands - offwidth - chimney.  Belay on ledge from bolts. (5.10)

Pitch 4 - Same finish as Jah Man.  Climb the face past bolts to the summit. (5.9)

Descent - Rappel Jah Man.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in Sister Superior Group