The local book covering the Fisher Towers.

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The Fisher Towers are quite a breathtaking view when gazing up from the Colorado River. To a devoted tower enthusiast or desert rat, these huge monolithic freestanding rock towers somehow end up being absolutely desirable, yet completely intimidating at the same time. For many, the first journey up one of the Fisher Towers is a confirmation that they are definitely climbable, it's just the climbing itself that may be sometimes unconventional.

Located about 25 miles up the Colorado River from the North end of Moab, these odd formations are made of Cutler sandstone, which is quite hard actually. The catch is that the rock has mud all over which forms a soft crumbly layer over the harder rock. You can see where it looks like the mud is even dripping down the towers in some places. Also, the rock fractures less, so you end up with less of the "perfect" cracks that the desert is known for. This leads to climbing that can be quite loose and scary at times.

The tallest of the Fisher Towers, the Titan, was the first to be climbed. In 1962 Layton Kor, Huntley Ingalls and George Hurley made the first ascent of the Titan and the route is called Finger of Fate. After this ascent, Harvey T. Carter wasted no time summiting the other major towers. It was when Jim Beyer showed up in the Fishers that the hardest lines were done. Beyer has pioneered some of the most scary and difficult lines in the Fisher Towers.

One ultra-classic multi-pitch free climb does exist in the Fishers: the famous Ancient Art. This climb summits on the most improbable feature, a tiny corcscrew shaped pillar with tremendous exposure. The summit puts you perhaps 500 feet off the ground, although the line that you climb is actually not as long. This route is not to be missed! At 5.8 A0, a lot of climbers will have no issue making the moves, but the actual summit is a mental move. The exposure is so great that some folks have trouble psyching up to do it!

If you're excited to climb in the Fisher Towers, just remember it's specialized and you'll likely need more than cams and nuts on many of the routes. Come on down to Pagan and learn what you can. There are plenty of good literary and online resources as well. See you on the mud!