Garden of the Gods addition - Tower of Babel

[Brian Crim]

Went down and climbed the Tower of Babel in the GoG today. Came home and looked on the topo and it appears to potentially be missing some contours. The summit of the tower is separate from North Gateway by a saddle that is at least 60 feet lower. Would this be worth adding? It would be 5th class but I'm not sure what the easiest way up is. I don't think it gets climbed much.

Lat: 38.8810
Lon:-104.8815

It's the prow on the end...

[John Kirk]

Added:
http://listsofjohn.com/PeakStats/Climbers.php?Id=141295

I assume this is lower than North Gateway? Any guess by how much?

[KentonB]

Not sure how helpful this is, but I dug through my pics from climbing North Gateway and found the picture below. Yes, North Gateway (on the left) is definitely taller than the Tower of Babel on the right. The pic also demonstrates the significant saddle between the two. Hard to estimate the difference in height.

North Gateway / Tower of Babel

For what it's worth, rockclimbing.com lists a 5.7 route to the top from the southern ridge. I have no experience climbing the Tower of Babel though. Here's a link to the page.

[Brian Crim]

"Very exposed and known to harbor bees..." Haha! Sounds like a friendly route! I checked my old guidebook and it mentions a 5.7 route as well. Must be the "easy" way. No info on the easier online, must not get climbed very often.

That photo shows the saddle way better than mine do. Here is a photo looking at North Gateway from the summit of the Tower. It's lower but not by a lot. Maybe 20 feet?

[KentonB]

Here is a photo looking at North Gateway from the summit of the Tower. It's lower but not by a lot. Maybe 20 feet?

That was my guess too. I have a picture from the opposite direction (N. Gateway to Tower of Babel), but it might not be much more helpful. Plus my hiking partner is conveniently blocking most of the view!

[StewartMGreen]

Interesting thread. There are actually 3 summits that comprise the Tower of Babel...The Tower of Babel on the west; Middle Tower in the middle--Triple Exposure AKA Snively's Route climbs the main face; and East Tower, which as far as I know has no established route. I would have to go through Harvey Carter's log book to see if he climbed it, probably he did. The Tower of Babel on the west features the route Anaconda as well as the South Ridge (5.7), a good route that I plan to retrobolt this year and also put new anchors on the summit. The Middle Tower has a 5.8 R route on its southwest side that begins in the Briar Patch AKA Hidden Valley behind the 3 towers. The East Tower, as I noted, does not have an established route and it is composed of very soft rock on the backside. Each summit is distinct from the others, with two notches, both about 80 or so feet deep, separating them. I'll try to get out there in the next couple months and get GPS readings and an accurate summit elevation as well as base to summit elevation from the Briar Patch for the 2 summits... Looking at photos I think that the Tower of Babel summit on the west is the highest of the trio.

[Brian Crim]

Thanks for commenting Stewart. I wondered if the west summit was slightly higher but is was hard to tell. Let me know when you go back to rebolt the 5.7 route. I'd love to come along.

[StewartMGreen]

Sounds good Brian. It's actually a really good climb. Very exposed to a real desert tower summit. Maybe put some pro in that Middle Tower backside route too...I haven't climbed it though since the late 70s.

[Brian Crim]

Stewart - Is there any route at all on the east summit?

[Jeremy Hakes]

Interesting thread. There are actually 3 summits that comprise the Tower of Babel...The Tower of Babel on the west; Middle Tower in the middle--Triple Exposure AKA Snively's Route climbs the main face; and East Tower, which as far as I know has no established route. I would have to go through Harvey Carter's log book to see if he climbed it, probably he did. The Tower of Babel on the west features the route Anaconda as well as the South Ridge (5.7), a good route that I plan to retrobolt this year and also put new anchors on the summit. The Middle Tower has a 5.8 R route on its southwest side that begins in the Briar Patch AKA Hidden Valley behind the 3 towers. The East Tower, as I noted, does not have an established route and it is composed of very soft rock on the backside. Each summit is distinct from the others, with two notches, both about 80 or so feet deep, separating them. I'll try to get out there in the next couple months and get GPS readings and an accurate summit elevation as well as base to summit elevation from the Briar Patch for the 2 summits... Looking at photos I think that the Tower of Babel summit on the west is the highest of the trio.

I climbed Anaconda to the 1st set of anchors a few years ago, with many, many falls to get there. Didn't do the 2nd pitch. Pretty awesome route.