Caver's Route

Caver's Route is probably the oldest roped route in the RRG. No one knows for sure, but it dates back at least to the 1950s when a group of cavers were practicing their rope skills on the cliffs that towered over the Red River. The route ascends a gigantic fracture that splits the south end of Tower Rock from the rest of the monolith. The route is clean, fun and will leave you worn out.

Caver's Route can be done in various ways, but for optimum communication between leader and second, four short pitches is the way to go.

P1 - Starting at an obvious off-width crack, climb to a spacious ledge and belay. 5.3, 25'

P2 - From the ledge, work your way up into the first chimney and climb to another ledge, clipping a single bolt in the chimney about 30' up. 5.3, 50'

P3 - The cave pitch. From the belay, scramble up on blocks into the cave, then crawl slightly downward to a passage where you can see through to the other side of the tower. Worm your way through the passage into a narrow corridor, where you can stand and bring your partner(s) through. 50'

P4 - From the corridor, move up into the squeeze chimney above and climb past large blocks to a tree ledge. Climb a short flake feature to a spacious corridor topped by a bombay chimney. Find a way to gain the chimney (possibly the trickiest move of the whole route), then continue up to the top of the tower. 5.4, 100'

After enjoying the view and photo opportunities from the top, look for a pine tree with slings and rap rings on the west side of the tower. A short rap from here will bring you to a ledge and another slung tree; from here, a 60-meter rope will barely reach the ground for the final rap.

Starts on the west side of Tower Rock at an obvious off-width crack, about 20' right of Razor's Edge/Curving Crack.

Minimal to none. Nuts and/or tricams can be used for belay anchors; a Big Bro is handy but not vital to protect the chimney moves.