Climbing is great, don't do this if you aren't SOLID leading 5.8

West Face of Tower

Six to Nine

Y-Crack (aka Old and in the Way)

Pigeon Crack

Whiskey a Go-Go

Ezra Brooks

Blinded by Lust

Death of A Salesman

Easy Tower Route

Green Zipper

Ten High

Eagle Rare

A Dish to Pass

Rebel Yell

Little pine

Garnish

Tower Route

Dakota Farms Cheese

Straight No Chaser

Y Not

Early Times

Probably the first bolted route in Wisconsin, Death of a Salesman starts off the block immediately right of Whiskey a Go Go.  

  Bolts protect a thin seam that eventually runs out. Here, the route continues up Y-Crack (gear needed).

This climb starts out at about 5.6, and quickly gets more difficult.  You’ll find the crux on the final move to top out. 

If you were handed the keys to a Ferrari 488 gtb ( 660 hp and 0- 60 in 3 seconds) and told "Go ahead , wail on it !"  What would you do? Wail on it of course. Sending this climb is akin to wailing on that Ferrari. Up the straights and thru the curves. Super car super climb. Channel yer inner Mario. To summarize....3 words to describe this climb , " Line of kill ".  2 words , " obvious crack " . 1 word....." Ferrari" .    On a side note: nothing unusual about the First lead ,Lemon was day dreaming about drinking wine with the Dali Lama which provided the extra incentive for me not to fall. At least he was good for that.     Also nothing special about the route name, just a classic blue grass song we listened to way too much. Probably one of the best climbs in Wisconsin.

This is the obvious chimmney left of Whiskey A Go-Go.  Climb up on good face holds (Gear?) to reach the cleft.  There are good holds inside and out on the left towards the top of this section.  After that's over, work up two cracks to the anchors of Whiskey A Go-Go.  This is a really cool pitch for the grade and the rock quality is good throughout.

Whiskey a Go Go climbs the wall just left of the saddle between the wall and the spire. The climb follows discontinuous cracks up the steep face.  

  The bottom of the face is heavily featured and offers 5.10ish climbing up to the second bolt. The features eventually run out and force the climber into exceedingly thin and dynamic moves to link the widely spaced cracks. Once past the crux, some welcome pockets await; however, they offer little reprieve. A classic top out deposits the climber on a ledge with anchors.  

  All in all: 50 feet of climbing, increasingly strenuous moves with no rests on perfect, beautiful sandstone. I call it the best hard route in Wisconsin. 

  Note: Dave Groth (FA) intended for the last bolt to be clipped and for the climbing to remain on the face the whole way. Bailing left before the last bolt and climbing easier rock to the top is considerably easier and is NOT the original route.

This route is the obvious crack on the south end of the Y Wall just to the right of Rebel Yell.  The crux is not far off the ground at the small roof.  After that there is better gear as you work your way up to the shoulder.  From here climb out and left towards the top of Rebel Yell.  Good exposure here and a great view. Continue to top.

This route, originally put up on natural gear by Rich Bechler, is a lesson in sandbagging. Since the route has been aggressively labeled a "squeeze job" and it lacks discernable natural placements at the crux, it was long forgotten and was subsequently covered in bird sh*t, lichen, and broken rock.Recently rediscovered and bolted, it took some community involvement to figure out the route's roots. Many holds were broken in the process of cleaning the route - the instability of the original rock further confirms that Rich was more of a man than all of us internet types put together. The crux sequences now rely on smaller, albeit trustworthy holds. Expect a large fall at the crux, and (if you're sane and choose to clip the bolts) hang a long draw from the fourth bolt. By WI standards, some may still refuse to give this anything harder than 5.6+++, but the rest of the Nation would probably put it somewhere in the 12+ range.For credit, Nathan Nelson managed to put together the second-FA/whatever you want to call it now. A solid effort to bolt, clean, and send. Props to both Rich and Nathan.

EASY trad route on the SE corner of the tower to the chains up above "The Tower".  Good way to access "The Tower" if you are feeling lazy.  Good beginner trad climb.

Brent and I put this up at the same time we put in Dakota Farms Cheese. It was later removed by somebody and that was not a problem for me. The route was a bit ill concieved (can barely be led on gear I think) and a crucial hold broke up at the crux (above the top bolt position) and kind of rendered the whole thing dumb. We called it "Black Toe" and it was around mid to hard 5.10. Somebody didn't like the route and cut the studs. I have been meaning to still mix a little rock dust with epoxy and cover those stud spots.  

  The route more or less stays right of the corner now then drifts a bit further right at the top and climbs through the little flap right of those old bolt locations. Originally we had it going straight through the bolts but hold broke and really it was a contrived line at that. I have led this thing on gear since myself and more or less understood the folly...

This is second trad line left of Whiskey. Start out at parallel seam/cracks on the right side.  Do some strenous moves to get to small hand slot 12' up or so (#.75).  Continue up into the stem box section climbing on the right.  At the ledge find some gear, and then climb off and just slightly to the left using an undercling to reach for bigger holds.

Move up slab on big holds toward hanging arete.  Pass hanging arete on the right and follow resulting inside corner to the top.  This is a great beginners route.  Easy, but unasthetic climbing leading to a beautiful view at the top.

This is the contrived-looking route to the immediate left of Y-Crack. Thin moves lead past three bolts to one bolt with a quick link (the anchor).  

  I thought little of the route (it doesn't even go to the top of the wall) until I got on it. I found a very difficult move passing the second bolt followed by some long moves, almost lunges, linking crimps. 

  The rock is perfect and the moves are engaging. By the time I reached the anchor, I was happy that it was only three bolts long. Take that for what you will...

A classic lead originally done with only the two SMC bolts and gear. Dave added a bolt higher up which makes the route safe. Start up ledges towards a seam to a small overhang. Crimp past the overhang on the right and work into the scooped out face on right never straying too far from the arete. Move left at the glue in ring bolt around the corner into high crack to finish on the left of the arete. Good moves throughout and some decent exposure as well. Rebolted in fall of 2021.

Start 7 feet north of early times, climb straight up toward little pine and end at early times bolts.

Something to do while you wait for routes to open on the road side, or just a different way up.

This is the main route up the center of the tower behind Y-Crack Wall.  

  A hard start gives way to easier climbing, angling leftward to the corner (it is harder than 5.10a to bypass the corner and continue straight up). The bolts eventually bring the climber back out on the narrowing face. Here the climbing is very special: the holds become patina-like, and the lichen stands out in technicolor splashes. 

  Upon completing the route, the climber is treated to one of the best summits in Wisconsin (behind Cleo's Needle, of course). From the small point of the tower, the climber can look out to the Petenwell Lake area or gaze with wonderment at the harder routes on Y-Crack wall. A rap from the two bolt anchor completes the experience.

The other bolted route on the main tower, this line ascends the steep arete to the right of the more classic 5.10 Tower Route. 

  Tenuous moves lead up to the second bolt. Here, the climbing eases in difficulty but offers a nice view up the exposed arete. End at the chain belay/rappel anchors at the top of the tower.  

this great variation to y-crack(aka old and in the way)is a classic lead ,takes good gear and will pump you up.i remember rich got bamboozled into leading this right after he broke his finger in the ditch on zodiac because he thought some rookie was gonna do it before us.great picture to follow.

This is the obvious link up of the two overlooked (but worth doing) sport lines on the face to the left of Y-Crack.  Crimp your way up A Dish To Pass, but instead of doing the final deadpoint to the jug, traverse left through the gray streak to gain the crack on Death Of A Salesman.  Climb the crack until you are forced back right onto the last section of Y-Crack.  All in all, a really nice and continuous climb up one of the finest walls in the state.

A surprisingly good line originally lead on gear and a bit wandery. The retro bolted version takes on the plumb line. The route offers quality moves on good stone and is also a good warm up for the harder lines nearby.

 Some hard moves off the deck take you to some jugs and past the first two bolts. The third bolt is a horizontally reachy clip (hollow rock closer in...). Some crimps, a finger lock, and a good side pull take you up to some jugs and a mantley finish.

 Early Times is a cheap whiskey and a subtle salute to the DLFA and the bravado of Rich who would lead anything back in the day whether the gear was there or not. Often with a belly full of swill. I think he’d be happy to see so many people climbing this line. And I bet it does see gear ascents every now and then.

This is the crown jewel of Necedah. A Y-shaped crack splits the center of the wall (hence the name) and a few bolted routes exist on either side of the crack. The wall is completely sheer and overhangs at about 20 degrees. Hands down, there is no better cliff for hard climbing in south-central Wisconsin.  

  To access the top, scramble up the north toe of the formation (fourth class), and around to the east side, also fourth class. 

  It's worth noting that the routes between "A Dish to Pass" and "Death of a Salesman" are on The Tower.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in 02. Y-Crack Wall