Climbing gear needed in the west?

Question:

Blair, the "West" is quite a large area!! I don’t think anyone can really recommend proper gear sizes for 1/2 of the US. There are just too many different climbing areas and it would be hard to be specific. For example, in the Sierra backcountry, nuts and hexes work well, where as in Red Rocks, usually the gear of choice is cams and tri-cams. I live and climb in the Eastern Sierra and use everything, including quickdraws, hexes, SLCD’s, tri-cams, nuts, and a large assortment of runners and different styles of biners. I would guess that Devils Tower requires a large amount of cams and hexes as the majority of the routes are vert cracks, although I can’t give you any specific gear beta. Anyways, just some thoughts, and If you narrow your choice down to a specific western area I think I could then be of more help. Good luck!! Brian

Response:

I am about to go climb Devil’s Tower in WY. I have heard that the gear you I don’t want to preach, but I thought I would mention another view on the general topic of Devil’s Tower. To my understanding, Devil’s Tower is a sacred Native American site. I have chosen not to do any climbing out there because I would probably feel a little funny if anybody were climbing on the Western Wall, Dome of the Rock, Vatican, etc. I’ll find somewhere else to climb. No flames please, just presenting another opinion.

I don’t think this was preachy at all, and I certainly wouldn’t flame you. Devil’s Tower is sacred to several Native American nations, and representatives of these nations have asked climbers to voluntarily ban themselves from climbing there. From "Lakota Star Knowledge" by Ronald Goodman: "While a band is camped near the site of Devil’s Tower, a brother and a sister are chased by some bears. A voice directs them to a knoll. The bears, however, surround the children and close in. Fallen Star commands the earth to rise up out of the reach of the bears, who claw at the hill as it lifts. The clawed hill becomes Devil’s Tower. Later, a bird carries the children to safety, back on earth." Another similar legend tells of, instead of a brother and sister, seven young girls who are trapped by bears. When the hill rises out of the earth, these girls are brought into the sky, where they become the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters. I guess I went a little off-topic, but I love to hear these stories, and I figured I’d share with people who maybe hadn’t heard them before. cleo

Response:

On the issue of sacred site. I admire your ethical choice not to climb Devils Tower due to the sacred site issue. The agreement that was reached by both sides (climber coalition and native american groups) was a voluntary ban on climbing in the month of June during the solstice and important ceremonies. Some people may consider climbing the tower at all to be in bad taste. But to climb it in June would be a great sign of disrespect. Now onto gear… The tower is a fairly gear intensive place. For the Durrance route, you will need a #4 or bigger camalot, some people get up there, and get into trouble not having a big enough peice. Hexes work well on the tower. A complete set of camalots/friends, two sets of rocks/nuts, and a set of hexes are a good basic rack. There are routes where you’d want extra small stuff, and off width routes where you’d want so extra big stuff. The visitor center has good route information, and you need to check in to register before you climb. The tower is an awesome place, please respect it Lisa

Response:

I am about to go climb Devil’s Tower in WY. I have heard that the gear you

I don’t want to preach, but I thought I would mention another view on the general topic of Devil’s Tower. To my understanding, Devil’s Tower is a sacred Native American site. I have chosen not to do any climbing out there because I would probably feel a little funny if anybody were climbing on the Western Wall, Dome of the Rock, Vatican, etc. I’ll find somewhere else to climb. No flames please, just presenting another opinion. -jeff Jeff Mosenkis, University at Albany – Psych, Anthro, Judaic Studies "Welcome to the psychotherapy hotline. If you are obsessive-compulsive, please press ‘1′ repeatedly. If you are co-dependant, please have someone else press ‘2′ for you. If you have multiple-personality disorder, please press ‘4′, ‘5′, and ‘6′. If you are paranoid, don’t press anything, we know where you are and what you want."

Response:

I am about to go climb Devil’s Tower in WY. I have heard that the gear you need is mostly very large hexes and cams. All I have climbed so far are mostly bolted sport routes at the New River Gorge, so I don’t have much trad gear. At any rate, I’m going to be purchasing some gear for Devil’s Tower, and was wondering what the most prevalent type of gear needed in other parts of the West might be (what sizes?).

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