Scott Krankkala: The Titan

Faced with a long weekend and a break from school my friend Pat and I decided that we would make it worth it by attempting to climb the Titan. At over 800 feet the Titan is the tallest freestanding tower in the United States and the tallest sandstone tower in the world. We picked the first ascent route called the Finger of Fate which follows 9 pitches of mixed free and aid climbing on the north east face. This route on the Titan was a visionary ascent by legendary climbers Layton Korr, Huntley Ingalls, and George Hurley in 1962. In their time modern rock climbing protection and equipment did not exist and the ascent was truly cutting edge.

The first ascent party as featured in National Geographic

The Titan as viewed from the Southwest

This trip also was the maiden voyage of my "House Jeep." Faced with a weekend on call with nothing else to do I decided to build up the inside of my jeep to allow storage and a sleeping platform. The platform consists of three separate compartments, one for gear, one for food, and the other for my spare tire camp stove and other car essentials. I covered the surface with a car carpet designed for aftermarket speaker enclosures. My loving mother created a custom sleeping pad with a very stain resistant washable material with high density foam so while the pad is not thick it is still super supportive.

Jeep interior ( a bit messy due to gear sorting)

Pat and I at the Trailhead

For Pat and I this was our first Grade V which is a route commitment rating that implies one long day or two days of climbing. Our sole objective on the first day of climbing was to fix the first thee pitches to the base of the "Finger of Fate." This section included some of the most difficult aid and free climbing of the route. The first pitch while a moderate climbing grade still required some strenuous free climbing for 160' with all the additional gear required for such a long climb. After changing leads Pat started up the second pitch which was 70' of pure aid climbing. Aid climbing as opposed to free climbing requires placing protection and using specialized ladders known at etriers to work your way up a few feet at a time. I took the next pitch which was another 70' of aid climbing featuring "tricky" gear placements and committing high steps. The rock in the fisher towers is unique in that it is much less solid than most of the sandstone found elsewhere in Utah, although with the proper gear and experience this intrinsic danger can be mitigated. After about 5 hours of climbing we successfully fixed two ropes over the first three pitches. We timed it perfectly and made it to the ground right as it started to get dark. We quickly stashed our gear and made the hour hike back to camp.

Cleaning protection on the second pitch

The next morning we made a desert alpine start and with plenty of coffee we made it out of camp at 4:45. After a quick reorganize at the trailhead we started the hike towards the Titan. After some small route finding issues in the dark we made it to the base around 6:30. Pat started ascending the rope first in complete darkness. Once he passed our intermediate anchor I began up right as the sun began to rise. The light provided by the rising sun was amazing and before too long I was on the belay ledge at the top of the third pitch. The next few pitches involved some more mixed free and aid climbing and took us to the base of the exposed summit arete.

Walking towards the Arete

The summit arete as climbed by the first ascent party

At this point the climb became very interesting and exposed. At one point I was standing on a platform about 4 feet in diameter that dropped off for 700feet in two directions. The final two pitches were some of the most exposed and difficult of the entire route. However with a large amount of fixed protection and bolts we were able to make it through this section without too much trouble. We finally reached the summit around 3:00 with a total of 13 hours of climbing on route. The view from the summit is unrivaled compared to the numerous desert summits I have found myself on the top of. After about a half hour of resting and taking in the view we began the 800 feet of rappelling to return to the base. We arrived at the base just as the sun was setting and began the trail hike through the dark back to our car and the pizza waiting in Moab.

Standing on the Summit

Pat at the base watching the sun set

The next day we took it easy sleeping in and getting a late start on a small tower in the Bridger Jack towers in Indian Creek called Easter Island. This tower is only two pitches and a 20 minute hike from camp. Although moderate at 5.10 this tower still remains one of my favorites based on the quality of climbing and tiny summit. We climbed the tower in two teams of two with our friends we met at the campground and had a great time hanging out on the summit on a beautiful desert day.