This route is the only line up this formation. Perhaps it should be called the Urethra Route, as the tower is so obviously phallic. Start from down and right on the northeast side, actually under the saddle between Islet and Blocktop. The first two pitches are scrotal scrabbling, sweaty, dirty and chossy.

1. Climb up a steep 5.9+ right-facing flake, into a face crack above. Follow this to a ledge system. Here I traversed left into the loose corner/gully under the tower, and belayed.

2. Easy (5.7) but loose climbing gains the saddle, right next to the tower. Now the fun starts.

3. Traverse left (C1) along the obvious Friend crack, to a hanging belay at the start of the Urethra proper (this is a great spot to fix ropes from).

4. Surge up the urethra. No route-finding doubts here. Lots of wires (I recall leapfrogging some of the smallest), a few pods where small/medium cams fit nicely, and the seam eventually dies out at a trio of very bad aid bolts, leading to a hanging three-bolt anchor. It would be nice to have the tiny wiggly curiosities of this bolt ladder replaced with some more modern hardware, so it might be prudent to bring a hammer and drill and a couple bolts. Please don't use the hammer anywhere else!

5. More of the same. A flared thin section is tricky, but eventually reach easier ground, and a ledge, just below the bulging bell-end.

6. A straightforward 5.8 summit pitch is protected by a strange bolt ladder (maybe Trout finished in the dark?). EDIT: Ken Trout told me they finished in snowy, stormy weather, wearing Sorels or similar...

As a hard clean aid route, this is just, well, orgasmic...On the first clean ascent, I left the hammer in the truck, so ensuring that there was no temptation to use it. It seems really great to me that the Park have forbidden more hammering on this route, so it will remain a real challenge to skill and subtlety, instead of being hammered into an ugly mess. Wingate does not take repeated nailing very well, as it dinner-plates and scars so badly. The four (?) nailing ascents have left scars only just visible from the ground, yet just big enough for clean aiding. Oh, and be assured this will not ever go free.

Ascents are, so far as I'm aware, few and far between. Eric Bjornstad's original book lists the first three ascents:

1. Ken Trout and Bruce Lella, 1976

2. Bill Ellwood, Brian Hansen, et al, 1983

3. Kurt Langford, Jim Barnes, 1985.

Other ascents I know of are:

4. Jim Bodenhamer, Rob Slater, 19935.

Steve Bartlett, solo 1996.

6. Dave Light, Boulos Ayad, 199(9?). I expect there are more ascents than this. Maybe half of Moab has done this. The register was trashed by 1996. Bring a new one perhaps.

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Routes in Islet In The Sky