Desert Southwest - The Checklist Edition - Lady Mountain - Zion National Park - September 2014

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Immediately above the blocky chimney, we arrived at what one would normally consider the start of the technical stuff - a roughly 20-foot high smooth slope of slickrock next to a wall on one side, and next to open air on the other. There are small steps carved into this slope, greatly easing the difficulty, but the exposure is still there. Last year we got out the ropes and fully belayed this section, but then later did not bother to use ropes on the way down. As it turns out, the steps (often referred to as 'moqui steps') are quite positive and there are plentiful handholds. With a bit of care, this bit of exposed easy 4th-class scrambling is quite doable unroped. Which is what all of today's climbing party elected to do.

courtesy RHanel

courtesy PChen

Shallow Chimney

Moqui Steps

Climbing the steps

courtesy RHanel

Steps section

Scrambling ever higher

Skipping a rope-up exercise for the first obstacle gained us yet more "efficient-time" credits, and we were soon making our way along the alternately-hiking / alternately-easy-scrambling bit above the moqui steps. In addition to the faint path from other climbers' footsteps, there were occasional faded but large yellow paint markers on the rock - back from when this used to be an official trail.

Generally speaking, the route traversed left (to the south) for a bit, scrambled up a few steep and blocky sections, then resumed travel on a faint path across another earthy slope dotted with trees - all the while angling back and forth upwards towards the next (much larger) cliff band.

courtesy BConnell

Scrambling ever higher

Airy Point

Stopped for a breather

courtesy RHanel

Scrubby Band

Forested Slope

Decent little path

Twenty minutes' worth of herdpath hiking and easy scrambling brought us to the base of the next obstacle - a steep scrambling route straight up to the base of large cliffs. The base of this scrambling route is the hardest part of this segment - a trickly little step with some mostly-worn off moqui steps. If one can get past the first five feet, the rest of the climbing is easy. I went first this time around (Roland did last year), and from the top (maybe 20 feet higher) dropped down a handline to whoever needed or wanted it for assistance.

courtesy JInnes

courtesy PChen

Pre-Chimney trickiness

Top of tricky bit

Pro climbing move

courtesy RHanel

courtesy JInnes

courtesy PChen

Searching for a way

Waiting above

Hand line setup

After the tricky step, a steep ramp with easy climbing led up and around to the base of the crux of the entire ascent - a 25-foot climb up a big chimney that had formed between the main mass of the mountain and a huge detached chunk. The first part of the climb is the trickiest and most exposed. From our experience last year, though, I estimate that the actual climbing difficulty is no more than a low 5.x (maybe 5.2) on the Yosemite Decimal System climbing scale.

courtesy RHanel

Steep Ramp

Main Chimney in sight

Break before the Chimney

Despite the relatively easy grade, we still felt this bit of the climb warranted the rope, so we got out the rest of our climbing gear in prep for a belayed climb. I did the honors this year and led the chimney, with Caroline giving me a belay. And, just as I remembered from last year, it wasn't all that hard. Even so, I put in a cam and a nut (always good to practice), then set up the top belay from the huge eyebolt that is anchored into the rock up near the top of the chimney.