The Mendenhall Towers (at least the part people care to share)

John Svenson's "The Mendenhall Years" was the last real article chronicling the climbing activity in the Mendenhall Towers.  His last recorded ascent was in 1984.  Since then there has been a tremendous amount of climbing that has gone unreported.  Much of this was done by Jacek Maselko and friends.   Jacek is a notorious sandbagger and has no real interest in promoting any of his climbs.  That being said he and I both agree that since people (like myself) are attempting to create climbing histories for the region the information should be accurate.

I am certain that this will not be a complete history by any means.  If you the reader has something to contribute I would appreciate if you did.  If it makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside to keep your adventures and memories to yourself then by all means do.  Know that I am not doing this for my benefit but to help others plan out adventures in the mountains I have grown to love so deeply.

The first known activity in the towers went unreported (appropriately).  In 1969 it is believed that the only tower to have been climbed was the West Tower.  The simplest and most logical line of ascent is the West Ridge.  I have no information on this climb so for now I attribute the first ascent of the ridge to John Svenson and Scott Fischer 1984.  The highest point on the massif is the summit of the main or third tower.  The first ascent was done by local enthusiasts Joe and Kay Greenough, Dick Benedict and Craig McKibbon in 1972.  Using the South Couloir and West Ridge of the Main Tower they established what is now referred to as the Mountaineer's Route.

Variations of peak names makes the next bit of history a bit hazy, but in 1972 John Svenson and Van Sundberg climbed a "spooky" couloir on the Third Tower claiming the first ascent of said tower.  At the same time the Greenough team made the first ascent of the Fourth Tower via a winding route on the South Face.  John had gotten his feet wet and was to return for a block buster year.

1973 was a big year for the Towers.  As usual the number of ascents was relatively small, four for the season.  Svenson, Mike Clark and Rick Daday made the first ascent of the West Tower's East ridge as well as the Midget.  It was the first ascent of the Southeast Ridge of the Main Tower by Svenson and George Fisher (1976 a party consisting of Malcolm Moore, Craig McKibben, Brian Cox and Sharon Moore claim to have made the first ascent of the Southeast Ridge of Main Tower and the South ridge of the Third Tower, commonly thought to be the Main Tower.  Who knows what is going on there?) and the visionary first ascent of the South Pillar of the Main Tower by Svenson and Clark that should have opened the climbing world's eyes to the possibilities available in the endless crack systems of the Towers.  It didn't.

Svenson returned in 1974, once again with Fisher to climb the North Side this time.  Bigger, darker, wetter and by all accounts chossier the North Side of the Mendenhall Towers is no joke.  There chosen line was the North Dihedral beneath the large gendarme referred to as the Rabbit Ears.

Fast forward to 1979.  Jan Ebeltoft, Dick Wilderger and Svenson climbed the North Wall of the Fifth Tower making it's first ascent only to find their friends Mike Clark and Carrigan Daugherty topping out the South Buttress.  So much for solitude.  The winter of 1979 also saw the first winter ascent of the Main Tower via the Mountaineers Route by Morri Whitney and Dick Ellesworth.

There isn't much out there about the 1980's.  Maybe people were too busy bolting and shopping for Lycra.  1980 saw another of the prouder features climbed.  Ed Fogels and Scott Visscher climbed the mega steep Southwest Buttress of the West Tower. Two years later Dick Ellesworth and Bruce Lela completed the West to East Traverse of the massif possibly making the first ascent of the Sixth and Seventh Towers (unlikely in my mind.  I have seen other route lines drawn in from an earlier period with no credit).

Enter into what I'm going to call the Polish era.  From 1984 until 2001 there was quiet period where people were either shopping for Lycra or quietly crushing.  Having spoken with Jacek and others I know it to be the latter.  More information about ascents is coming but for now here is what I have.

1984-2000.  Just right of the South Pillar of the Main Tower Maselko and Steve Cashen climbed a fantastic line.  On the Fifth Tower Cashen, Maselko and Sefan Ricci climbed a face to the ridge.  That ridge was carried to summit of the Third Tower solving the main problem of the East to West Traverse.  Maselko along with Chris Chiles climbed a new line on the lower South Face of the West Tower gaining the ridge.  They then carried that ridge to the summit of the Main Tower.  River Jamal Elkin and Maselko climbed the North Face of the midget from the Southern saddle as well as a couple of routes right of the Mountaineers route on the Main Tower.  It is unclear if any of those routes top out.  Maselko also climbed some chossy South facing routes on the Sixth and Seventh Towers and some awesome routes around the base of the Fifth Tower.

Finally. in 2001 people started spraying again!  Dave Sorric, Maselko and fellow Pole Ryszard Pawlowski established "Rain Heavy at Times" on the North Buttress of the Main Tower and "Who Needs Cable" on the North Side of the Rabbit Ears.  This was the first ascent of the Main Tower from the North it has not been repeated to date.

After having a slow education on the standard routes I showed up in the winter of 2008 with Sam Magro and made the first ascent and first winter ascent of the North Face of the West Tower.  By 2009 my loud mouth brought in Blake Herrington and Jason Nelson.  Over a ten day period they climbed four routes and made three first ascents from the South.  "Resisting a Rest" and "The Iron Curtain" were the first direct lines on the Curtain.  "Resignation Arete" (named in honor of the eighteen month term Sara Palin served as governor) climbed the obvious South Buttress on the Fourth Tower.  It should be noted that, from a technical stand point, these were among the hardest lines done to date.

In 2011 Gabe Hayden and I snuck in an amazing first free ascent of Svenson and Clark's line on the South Pillar of Main Tower.  A strange weather event in October of 2012 allowed Gabe and I to sneak in an odd line in on the West Face of West Tower.   Most recently Gabe, Jason and I did a direct line up the South Face of West Tower.

Last summer was a blockbuster year in the Towers.  The South Buttress of the Fifth Tower was climbed 9 times!  The Mountaineers route saw some love too.  If you are interested in visiting the Mendenhalls and don't want to try something new those are both great lines, but don't be afraid to try the West Ridge of West Tower or the Southeast Buttress of the Main Tower they are classic as well.

Again this is just a draft. I'll be updating and editing this constantly.  I am working on overlays, but I will not be including topos or grades.  I think I have already done enough to take away from the mystery and adventure that can be found in the towers.