Fisher Towers

Fisher Towers
The Fisher Towers viewed from the west at sundown
Nearest city	Moab, Utah
Coordinates	38°43′26.4″N 109°18′29.88″W / 38.724000°N 109.3083000°W / 38.724000; -109.3083000Coordinates: 38°43′26.4″N 109°18′29.88″W / 38.724000°N 109.3083000°W / 38.724000; -109.3083000
Climbing Type	trad and aid climbing of towers and faces
Height	Titan: 900 feet (270 m); Ancient Art: 400 feet (120 m)
Pitches	up to 7
Ratings	Apart from couple moderate routes most climbs are at hard (up to A6)
Grades	up to IV
Rock type	Cutler sandstone capped with Moenkopi sandstone and caked with a stucco of red mud
Quantity of rock	months worth
Development	developed
Cliff aspect	south facing
Season	fall and spring
Ownership	Bureau of Land Management
Camping	free
Classic climbs	Stolen Chimney (5.10d or 5.8 A0) on Ancient Art Finger of Fate (5.8 A3) on Titan The Colorado North East Ridge (A3) on Kingfisher West Side Story (A3) on Cottontail Tower Phantom Sprint (5.12b or A3) on Echo Tower Sundevil Chimney (5.8 A4) on Titan
Stars

Fisher Towers are a series of towers made of Cutler sandstone capped with Moenkopi sandstone and caked with a stucco of red mud located near Moab, Utah (38°43′26″N 109°18′30″W / 38.7240°N 109.3083°W / 38.7240; -109.3083). The Towers are named for a miner who lived near them in the 1880s. The Tower is world renowned as a subject for photography and for its classic rock climbing routes.^[2][3]

Location

The nearest town is Moab, Utah about 16 miles (26 km) to the southwest. The area is generally accessed from Fisher Towers Road off of Route 128 which runs along the Colorado River between I-70 and Route 191. Castleton Tower is visible approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) to the southwest from different parts of the Fisher Tower's area.^{[citation needed]}

The Towers lie just south of a larger mesa which they are emerging from on a geological time scale. 1,000 feet (300 m) north of the main formation there is a tower which has only partway emerged from the mesa. The Towers are composed of three major fins of rock that run from the northeast closer to the mesa out to the southwest and into a desert valley. The fins are between 1,000 and 2,000 feet (300 and 610 m) long and separated from each other by about 1,000 feet (300 m). Each fin contains multiple towers, a number of which have been named.^{[citation needed]}

The eastern-most section of the northern most fin is dominated by a tower known as the King Fisher. The ridge line of the fin drops considerable before reaching the western formation called Ancient Arts. The Ancient Arts is composed of four separate summits the most striking of which is the cork screw summit. The Middle fin is split into two very distinct towers known as Echo Tower in the east and Cottontail in the west. The southern most fin is best known for containing the Fisher Towers with the greatest elevation and prominence, a structure named Titan Tower. The eastern portion of the southern fin is the less well known Oracle which physically connects back to the mesa.^{[citation needed]}

The area has many other named structures, such as the Cobra and the Sundial, both found in between King Fisher and Echo Tower. Each consists of balanced rocks perched above smaller supports. Another example is the Lizard Rock, a 60-foot (18 m) tower near the parking lot.^{[citation needed]}

Rock climbing

Development of Fisher Towers as climbing areas start in the early 1960s. The first notable technical climb was a route called the Finger of Fate, which summits Titan Tower and was later featured in Fifty Classic Climbs of North America.^[4] The Towers are also very well known for the cork screw summit of the Ancient Arts tower, most commonly accessed by the Stolen Chimney route. Photographs of the unusual cork screw summit have been extensively published in many settings including mainstream advertisements.^[5]

In film

The Fisher Towers were featured in the opening scene of Austin Powers in Goldmember.

Television commercials, advertisements, and even scenes from famous movies have been filmed in the area of Moab, Utah (where the Fisher Towers are located).^{[citation needed]}

Guidebooks

• Bjørnstad, Eric (1999). Rock climbing desert rock III : Moab to Colorado National Monument. Helena, MO: Falcon. ISBN 1-56044-754-0. 
• Knapp, Fred (2002). Classic Desert Climbs (2nd ed.). Sharp End Publishing. ISBN 1-892540-17-7. 
• Green, Stewart M. (1998). Rock climbing Utah. Helena, Mont.: Falcon. ISBN 1560445947. 

Fisher Towers viewed from the north. The tower most in the foreground is actually an emerging tower not part of the main formation; behind that there is the tall King Fisher on the left with the lower Ancient Arts towers to the right. behind these formation the Cottontail is visible. The other towers are hidden from this view, but in the distance the mountains of the La Sal Range are visible.

Climber ascends the corkscrew, Ancient Arts tower.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fisher Towers.

• "Fishers Towers Trail". Bureau of Land Management. 
• "Fisher Towers". Mountain Project. Retrieved 2011-05-15. 
• "Fisher Towers". rockclimbing.com. Retrieved 2011-05-15. 
• "Fisher Towers/Onion Creek Towers". SummitPost.org. http://www.summitpost.org/page/153062. Retrieved 2011-05-15.