Summit Tunnel Route

Basically the easiest climbing/spelunking route to the top.

Boulder up to the small tunnel on the south face of the bluff. Squeeze through tunnel and emerge on the north side of the bluff. Ascend ramp on your right to top of bluff. This will deposit you on the "summit plateau" of the East side of Shiprock.

To be sure you actually summit, locate the large boulder near the east end of the summit plateau. Attain the summit by scrambling up the West end of this boulder and walking all the way to its Eastern tip. If you have not done this you have not summited Shiprock. Warning: the "summit" may cause extreme vertigo.

Maybe Xanax to treat the following phobias which are likely to be encountered on this route:

Claustrophobia - from squeezing through the tunnel Agoraphobia - from the embarassment of climbing this thing Acrophobia - from the vertigo one experiences on the summit