The classic desert route Jah Man collapsed a few weeks ago, but local climbers have already established a new start where the pitches had fallen off. The route climbs the southeast face of Sister Superior in Castle Valley.
Climbing guide Gaar Lausman said, “Crew of four locals, Mark Howe, Jake Warren, Dave Sadof and myself reclaimed JahMan. We established three new pitches that link into the original line. The new climb is fairly clean, fun, and engaging.”
The new route adds a 5.12b/c pitch, which ups the grade quite a bit from the original 5.10. The top of the new pitch three ends on a natural ledge and joins the original route. Mark Howe wrote on Mountain Project: “unstable and actively settling. Spontaneous rock sliding in the impact area is occurring and continuing over the 50′ rock band below the base.”
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“A major portion of the south terminus of the tower is fractured and has serac-like features that appear potentially unstable. There are spontaneous and sporadic sand spin drifts propagating from the fractures in this area indicating movement.”
Approach with care and be wary of loose and unstable sections.