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euroford
Mar 25, 2004, 6:17 PM
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i was browsing through climbingdevilslake.com one day and found a photo/description of a route that ended at the top of what looked like a tower and the beta described it as having a rap ring set into the top to get back off of it. now i can't find that again and i'd really like to climb it next weekend. does anybody know what i'm talking about and can you provide a link to the site or any addtional beta/photos/whatever??
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potreroed
Mar 25, 2004, 6:20 PM
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Sounds like Cleopatra's Needle.
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potreroed
Mar 25, 2004, 6:20 PM
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Sounds like Cleopatra's Needle.
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ramylson
Mar 25, 2004, 7:47 PM
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It's Cleo's Needle (only free-standing spire in the park). Located on the West Bluff, more towards the southern shore/parking area. Can be a pain to find, but keep looking towards the lake and you should be able to see it from the trail. Most of the routes on the spire go at 5.4, although there's a great 5.6 dihedral on the south side (personally, my perferred route).
When you're in the "area", also check out Queen's Throne, and any/everything on the Weissner Wall.
Free free to ask, or IM, me if you have any additional questions.
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corpse
Mar 25, 2004, 8:04 PM
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http://www.rockclimbing.com/routes/listSection.php?SectionID=1196
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mingleefu
Mar 25, 2004, 8:48 PM
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In reply to: Sounds like Cleopatra's Needle.
When you get up there, be sure to hump that thing like a 10 dollar ho.
It'll rock for ya.
scaarrrrryyy!
there's also a rap ring atop the Leaning Tower, if that's what you're thinking of.
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ramylson
Mar 25, 2004, 10:21 PM
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Leaning Tower, and Cleo's, both have a Titanium ring bolted in on the top. At least, last time I was up there. But, I highly doubt that it was changed..
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monopocketmojo
Mar 25, 2004, 10:29 PM
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both had rings in the top as of last summer. I haven't done the needle, but leaning tower's ring does rock back and forth in the crack, but it's bomber if you rap off the back, perpendicular to the crack it's set in.
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euroford
Mar 26, 2004, 3:34 AM
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thanks allot guys. there is something about any freestanding tower type structure, they simply must be climbed reguardless of the route!!
it will be this seasons first trad lead :)
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wildtrail
Mar 26, 2004, 6:50 AM
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There are five 5.4 routes (one with a 5.5 variation), a 5.6 and a 5.7. I've climbed them all and they are all fun.
When you get to the top, stand up and put your arms out (like the Jesus statue in Rio). It's a pretty cool feeling. With the location of the needle and the angle of the slopes, looking down at the lake, it feels like you're really high up!
Steve
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euroford
Mar 26, 2004, 3:34 PM
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this is going to be great. i'm taking my brother in law climbing for the first time and this will be his first route. he's one of those guys that works all the dang time, granted he's made allot of money but he just doesn't take time to really do anything with it. he's had an intrest in mountaineering and climbing for years but doesn't have the time/knowhow to actually go do it. i've taken him to the gym a couple times and bought him a copy of 'freedom', so he's got enough skills to follow me on a low grade climb.
i remeber my first climb being a seriously anticlimatic toprope. with him seconding me and cleaning trad gear on a tower, even a short one, he's going to have a blast.
thanks for all the helpfull info guys. i'm not very familiar with the DL area, i've only climbed there about 4 times and always with soembody that knows the area much better than i. do you think the approach info i've found here and on climbingdevilslake will be sufficiant to find the formation easily?
obviously i won't need all of this, i have 3 sets of nuts, a set of hexas, a set of camalots, a set of dmm 4cu's a set of alians and a set of wc zero's and off the other associated stuff. how much of it should i just leave in the car considering that we will do a couple other routes in the area and that i plan to really sew everything up just for some 'start of the season' practice.
i was thinking just a set of nuts, the couple big hexes, the camalots (minus the offwidth stuff), and the dmm's and zero's (minus the body weight stuff)just becouse they are new and i want to play with them. i guess maybe i could just leave the camalots, but that seams just silly to have them and not use them! :P
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ramylson
Mar 26, 2004, 7:10 PM
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As far as what gear you should bring, it really depends on what route you're going to climb on the Needle. To be safe, I would say bring a set of nuts, slings/runners, some of the larger hexes, and the small to mid sized cams.
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euroford
Apr 6, 2004, 9:19 PM
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hey everybody, thanks so much for the beta and other information. we got the park at about 4:00pm saturday and were sitting on top of the spire by about 6:30. watched the sunset while sitting on top and had a HUGE bald eagle fly below us. the park was totally empty and we rapped off in the dark with a huge bright full moon lighting our way. it was a great climb and a sureal evening. we did about 5 other climbs in the ampitheater on sunday afternoon.
the weather was great, but probobly on the cool side for some people but the sun was out most of the day. the park was dang near empty. some people were just finishing up toproping in the ampitheater when we showed up saturday and we had the whole place to ourselves on sunday! quite the departure from my usuall devils lake experience.
i now have a whole new appreciation for the park!
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