Direct South Chimney

This is the obvious wide cleft splitting the south face of Blowjob Rock. Nearly two decades since its first ascent (5.10 A1), it now goes all free. One protection bolt was added with the blessing of first ascentionist John Doskicz. The crux pitch offers technical climbing that is standout and may be worth doing all by itself, although the upper chimneys are a grand adventure if you like that sorta thing.

Pitch 1: Rack up at the saddle between Blowjob Rock and Joe's Tower. Scramble up through a weakness in the limestone band to the brushy mouth of the Southeast Chimney (consider reconvening here to optimize rope management). Cut left through cactus/bush and traverse 50 feet left along the postcard limestone band into the desired South Chimney system. (5.easy) - note: the FA team approached from the left with a pitch of loose 5.10 climbing.

Pitch 2: Climb the seam past one bolt (crux). Continue up the corner system on sharp fingercracks until sudden choss forces you to make an airy step-over into a stupendous off-fingers splitter on the arete. The top of the splitter feeds into a groovy offwidth and then a two-bolt anchor in the alcove. Leave your second rope here. (5.11-, 100 feet)

Pitch 3: Amazing runout honeycombed squeeze chimney. Durable long-sleeved clothing is strongly advised. (5.9 R, 90 feet)

Pitch 4: Choose your own vortex adventure! Quest through the enormous chimney system to the top of the spire. (5.8+)

The summit is a really cool spot amidst many tall towers with a great 360-degree panorama. You can eavesdrop on pink jeep guides all the way down at Chicken Point due to some kinda crazy vortex acoustics.

This route is equipped to be rappelled.

South Chimney descent: 3 raps total. To rap the route, you must first scramble a good ways (about 50 feet of elevation) directly down the south side of the formation. It may initially seem like a suicide mission, but trust that as you keep scrambling down each little step, you will find only two 4th-class sections, both short and manageable. Still, a belay might be wise on your first time. Locate the semi-hidden two-bolt chain anchor down at the opening of the South Chimney. Two single-rope raps (about 80-90 feet each) land you at the top of the crux pitch. Do not attempt to do this in one double-rope rap as you would be gambling with an extremely precarious car-sized death-block while pulling the ropes. Anyway, finally its a double-rope rap from the top of the crux pitch to the ground.

The easiest approach, if you don't have a 4x4 vehicle or mountain bike, is from the Chapel trailhead (see formation page for alternate approach). Hike out to Chicken Point where you can say hi to the Pink Jeeps and more importantly identify the tower and the route (very obvious; see photos if unsure). Hike north along the Broken Arrow trail until it is possible to scramble up slab/gully to the notch between the formation itself and Joe's Tower, the satellite limestone-capped mudtower below Blowjob Rock on its southeast side. Total approach: 40-60 mins

With a 4x4 vehicle, you can drive Broken Arrow road to Mushroom Rock, leaving only 15 minutes of scrambling to the base of the tower.

2x (.3, .4, .5) 1x (.75, 1, 2, 3) 1x (5 and/or 6) [BD c4 sizes]

Two 60m ropes

leave second rope at top of crux pitch!