Intro

My sister Jenny had recommended Tucupit Occidentalis as one of her favorite routes in Zion. So when Chris and I were looking for good free multipitch routes in the 5.10–5.11 range, this one quickly landed on our list.

Tucupit Occidentalis is a sustained, well-protected line that links wonderful cracks and corners to the top of the west face of Tucupit, in the Kolob region of Zion. The route is in a stunning backcountry setting, with only minor sandy sections near the top to remind you that you’re in Zion. Rock quality is mostly phenomenal, and the climbing stays engaging from bottom to top.

"Tucupit" is a Southern Paiute word meaning “wildcat.” "Occidentalis" is Latin for “western” or “of the west.” Together, "Tucupit Occidentalis" essentially translates to “the west face of Wildcat.”

Because the descent requires double-rope rappels, we decided to haul a small pack to keep weight off our harnesses. The pack carried extra water, food, layers, and some of the cams. This style also pairs well with fix-and-follow. We led in blocks, with me taking the first block (Pitches 1–4) and Chris taking the second block (Pitches 5–7). That gave us each two 5.10+ pitches.

My block featured a lot of classic, meat-and-potatoes wide climbing—we brought 2x #5s, 1x #6, and 1x #7—while Chris’s block involved more technical and headier face climbing. Every pitch was high quality, with interesting features. The climbing was physical, varied, and consistently engaging. Both of us agreed it’s one of the best routes we’ve climbed in Zion.

Since the descent follows the route, we dumped the biggest cams along the way, leaving the #6 and #7 at the anchor on top of Pitch 3 and one of the #5s at the anchor on top of Pitch 4.

The route faces west, so we didn’t get sun until around 1:45 p.m. Kolob Canyon also sits at a slightly higher elevation than the main Zion Canyon, making this a generally cooler climb. That said, it was unusually warm for December (a high of about 60°F in Kolob), and with the physical climbing we were perfectly comfortable in light layers. I wore an R2 TechFace hoody while both climbing and belaying and stayed comfortable all day.

This page includes a route overlay, time stats, rack, and pitch-by-pitch photos for Tucupit Occidentalis. What an amazing day.

Pitch-by-Pitch Photos

Approach

2nd

Park at Middle Fork of Taylor and hike trail to cabin. Turn of at the cabin on a well worn social trail the goes towards the north face of Tucupit. Take a right fork up the sagebrush slope to the base of the west face.

GPS track.

Pitch 1

5.10, 35m

Climb the slab left of the oak filled slot and move right into the chimney which protects with a #6 and optional blue bigbro of #7. Tech up the finger crack into the alcove and belay on gear and fixed pins or link into P2, for a full-value 60m pitch avoiding the worst belay stance on the route.

Pitch 2

5.10+, 25m

The classic free pitch of the original West Face passes two drilled angles (Bills' originals) into a cruxy transition to a finger crack and onto the featured face, finishing with a leftward traverse to a two bolt belay at a decent stance.

You can leave the #6 and #7 at the top of Pitch 2 and retrieve on rappel, but you bypass this anchor on rappel so you will have to remember to swing over to collect the cams. It may be better to leave the gear at the top of Pitch 3 so you don't forget to pick them up on the way down.

Pitch 3

5.8, 35m

Move left into the clean chimney that protects well. Exit left on a ledge at the base of the corner system that appears 25 m up and climb either the left-trending shallow groove (5.9 PG) or continue left to the splitter finger crack (5.7) up to a two bolt belay at a good ledge stance.

If you did not leave them at the top of Pitch 2, leave the #6 and #7 at the top of Pitch 3 and retrieve them on rappel.

Pitch 4

5.10+, 55m

Climb the beautiful sculpted face split by a finger crack into the long, low-angled off-fingers corner, through two pods then out the steep tight hands bulge. Catch your breath (or set an optional belay) at the pod then charge up the sustained flaring #5 offwidth to a comfortable 2-bolt belay.

If you brought two #5s, leave one at the top of Pitch 4 and retrieve it on rappel.

Pitch 5

5.10+, 40m

Move up and right to a handcrack, up a slot, and into the acute left-facing corner above. A short, hard crux defends the amazing rocker block belay. There is a new two-bolt anchor here.

Pitch 6

5.10, 20m

Follow discontinuous right-leaning cracks off the rocker block to a delicate leftward traverse protected by two bolts. Between the second bolt and the arete, move up then left around the arete to avoid the hollow feature below and continue to a shoebox-sized ledge left the corner and set a gear belay.

Pitch 7

5.10+, 52m

Climb the huecoed corner into the soaring, left-leaning off-fingers crack out onto the north face. Bask in the position and jam up the impeccable tight-hand crack. Build an optional belay with a #3 at the sit down stance on top of the crack or continue up and right to a 5.8 mantle on a shallow ledge and gear above in a horizontal crack. Continue 15 meters to the top following the best rock along the blunt arete to a two bolt anchor directly above the rocker block belay below. Keep in mind that the goal for this pitch is to end above the rocker block belay to facilitate an efficient descent.

Descent

Rappel

Five double rope rappels. All rappels equipped with two bolts and chain. See the topo for rappel locations. You skip the tops of Pitches 6, 2, and 1 (there is a dedicated rap anchor just left of the top of Pitch 1).