Dates: August 25, 2014 (Mon) & November 23, 2025 (Sun)

Partners: Dow Williams & Marina Novikova

Route Overlay

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2014 Trip Report and Photos

The following is taken from my Zion 2014 trip report.

• What better place to start my Zion climbing experience than The Headache, one of the finest and most classic free routes at Zion, good enough to have been featured in Climbing magazine on at least one occasion. The route features pitches of mostly 5.10ish hand crack climbing, with plenty of features and variety along the way to keep things interesting. The route might have gotten its name from the fact that it is easy to bonk your head when exiting the pod at the top of the third pitch.

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Photo descriptions:
a. The Headache is accessed by a short climbers trail that ascends left of the tunnel.
b. Looking up Pitch 1, which is 10b according to mountainproject. This was my first pitch of climbing at Zion. Splitter!
c. Dow leading off Pitch 1. So I could follow in pure fun.
d. Looking up Pitch 2, which is 5.10- according to mountainproject. My second pitch of climbing at Zion. More great stuff, and a bit more technical than the first pitch.
e. Shadow climbing.
f. A bolt on the route.
g. Looking down while climbing Pitch 2.
h. Dow starting up Pitch 3. This pitch is 5.10- if you have small hands, 5.10+ if you have large hands.
i-j. What a view: Mt. Spry, The Twin Brothers, and The East Temple across the valley.
k. Datura. Interesting fact: Most parts of the plants are toxic, and datura has a long history of use for causing delirious states and death. It was well known as an essential ingredient of potions and witches' brews.

2025 Trip Report and Photos

I first climbed The Headache in 2014 with Dow Williams, on my first trip to Zion. It’s one of the park’s finest and most classic free routes—classic enough to have been featured in Climbing magazine. The climbing is mostly 5.10ish hand cracks, with plenty of features and variety to keep things engaging. The name may come from the notorious pod exit at the top of Pitch 3, where it’s all too easy to bonk your head.

This time I climbed it with Marina. It was her first-ever climb in Zion—and actually her first time climbing sandstone. When I climbed the route with Dow in 2014 I had followed, so I was happy to take the sharp end this time. Both of us climbed it clean: no takes, no hangs, no falls.

Another party was on Pitch 1 when we arrived (Rogerio and Ethan on route, Dan at the base—super nice guys). They generously let us pass, so I linked the first two pitches while going by. I always feel a little guilty making another team wait at a belay, but it worked out smoothly. We topped out in about an hour and a half and cruised through the rappels.

Such a fun midday outing with Marina. Photos are below; the route overlay is at the top of the page.

Approach

2nd

Park at the pullout at the last switchback before tunnel. Hike along the road past kiosk, take climbers' trail let just before tunnel.

Pitch 1

5.10

Pitch 2

5.10

Pitch 3

5.10

Descent

Rappel

Two rappels with double ropes.

Date: September 1, 2014 (Mon)

Partner: Dow Williams

Route Overlay

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Photos

The following is taken from my Zion 2014 trip report.

Kung Fu Fighter (5.11-, 3p)

• Our first objective of the day was Kung Fu Fighter. You definitely want to do this route when you are fresh, as the sustained 5.11- offwidth of the second pitch is a fight. Kung Fu Fighter is the most popular (and rightfully so!) route on the Kung Fu Theater wall. It was actually the first route done in the area. The first three pitches are great, but the fourth is rather junky, so most climbers forego getting to the top of the formation and rappel after climbing the first three pitches. It was a hot day when we climbed this route (100° a we drove out of the Park that evening), so an added benefit to the route is that Kung Fu Theater wall is always shaded and is some of the higher elevation climbing in the Park. Descent: rappel (double ropes if rappelling the route, or a single rope will work if you rappel the new anchors of the recently-established route next door called Operation Condor).
• Note on gear for Pitch 2 (the offwidth): Four C4 #4's and four C4 #3's is the ticket on the crux second pitch. The 3's are nice because you can get them further in the crack and thus not be in the way of your feet. A C4 #5 protects the top, but is not necessary.
• Click here to go to Dow's excellent description for Kung Fu Fighter on summitpost.org.

Photos:

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Photo descriptions:
a. Pitch 1 goes up the right side of a small tower following the hand crack to a fixed anchor. It is rated 5.9, but is pretty soft. There is a variation to Pitch 1 that goes up the left side of the tower. We climbed this when we climbed Pu Corner. I felt both options were about the same difficulty (I led both), but the right was more travelled.
b. Dow racked up at the base of Pitch 2 (you can see the offwidth crack behind Dow's head). Bring your large gear! (Note on gear for Pitch 2 (the offwidth): Four C4 #4's and four C4 #3's is the ticket on the crux second pitch. The 3's are nice because you can get them further in the crack and thus not be in the way of your feet. A C4 #5 protects the top, but is not necessary.)
c. Dow leading up Pitch 2. This pitch is the crux of the climb and involves a full on sustained large fist splitter crack.
d. Looking down while climbing Pitch 2. I'd never climbed such a sustained and splitter fist crack. My fists weren't big enough for secure jams, but found that the armbar technique worked quite well for me.
e. Looking down Pitch 2 from the anchor at the top. What a pitch!
f. There was a bird nest sans bird just left of the route. This nesting spot gives Pu Corner (directly below) its name.
g. Looking up Pitch 3 of Kung Fu Fighter. This is a fantastic pitch for the grade. Continue up the crack to the roof and traverse right under the large roof, pulling over the arête to below a smaller roof out right. Chimney up this short section and pull out of it via a hand jam and follow the hand crack up to a comfortable fixed belay. The exposure is first class.
h. Looking up Pitch 4. This pitch is called "junky" on MountainProject and is "not highly recommended" by the SuperTopo guide, so like most climbers we did not climb it. We had too many other good pitches on the wall to pursue.
i. The view out towards Mt. Spry from the route.
j. We had a single 70m rope. This would allow us to reach the anchors at the top of Pitch 2, but this is somewhat tricky due to the roof. Instead, we rappelled the recently-installed anchors of the recently-put-up route Operation Condor. With double ropes you could rappel down to the Pitch 1 anchors of Kung Fu Fighter.

Pu Corner (5.10, 2p)

• Just left of the second pitch of Kung Fu Fighter is a nice looking 5.10 corner called Pu Corner (probably named for the bird droppings above and on the sides of the corner). Despite the bird droppings, it still looked like a fun pitch. So after climbing Kung Fu Fighter, we climbed Pu Corner, accessing it via the left start option for Pitch 1. Both pitches featured good climbing. You can either stem or climb the finger crack in the corner straight on (I climbed it straight on since I have small fingers). Descent: rap the route.

Photos:

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Photo descriptions:
a. We accessed Pu Corner by climbing the crack system on the left side of the small tower. This is the left variation to Kung Fu Fighter's Pitch 1. I felt both the left and the right side crack systems were about the same difficulty (I led both).
b. Pu Corner. 5.10. You can either stem or climb the finger crack straight in. Since I have small fingers, I found it pretty straightforward to climb straight in, while Dow found it to be a little thin for his fingers.
c-d. I suspect this is how Pu Corner got its name. Despite the bird droppings, it is a good pitch.

Operation Condor (5.10, first 2 pitches)

• When reading route beta for Kung Fu Fighter on MountainProject the night before, we noticed a new route that had been put up the previous day just right of Kung Fu Fighter. Given the great name of Operation Condor and a 5.11 grade by FA'ers Ethan Newman and Steffan Gregory, this route looked like it would be a great way to cap off a solid and varied day of climbing. We didn't even have to move our packs. The first pitch was easy 5.8. The second pitch was a bolted (a dozen bolts) vertical 5.10ish face climb on sharp varnished holds. Since the route had just been established, it had seen little traffic, so it made pulling on the thin edges a little spooky. But the rock was actually fairly solid. We had skimmed the route description a bit too quickly and had assumed that the majority of the third pitch was just the third pitch of Kung Fu Fighter, so we left our gear down below. But it turns out that probably the best section of the route—and probably the 5.11 crux—is on the third pitch, in the form of a wild finger crack splitting the face on the traverse over to Kung Fu FIghter. We were disappointed we had not brought our gear up to climb it. We cannot really claim to have climbed the route without climbing this section. That third pitch crack looks intriguing enough to return to climb it.

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Photo descriptions:
a. Looking down Pitch 1, a blocky 5.8 corner. I placed just one #1 and one #3 cam when I led it.
b. Dow leading off Pitch 2, a sporty pitch that follows a dozen bolts up a vertical field of sharp varnished holds.
c. A photo taken looking down Pitch 2. The rock is actually pretty solid, but it was a spooky lead due to very little traffic.
d. The wild finger crack traverse between Operation Condor and Kung Fu Fighter. We regretted leaving our gear below.
e. The dozen new bolts on Pitch 2 are painted to blend in with the rock. The FA'ers did a great job with the bolting.
f. Hot day! But in the shade and high up on Kung Fu Wall, the temperatures were actually quite perfect.

Date: September 3, 2014 (Wed)

Partner: Dow Williams

Route Overlay

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Photos

The following is taken from my Zion 2014 trip report.

The Gypsy's Curse (5.10, 4p)

• This four pitch climb is one of Dow's (and now my) favorite free climbs of its grade in Zion. It is at the east end of Cragmont on the Tunnel Wall area. The first pitch is a short hand crack to a twin crack system. The second (crux) pitch is a marvelous corner that starts as fingers and progressively widens to fists. The third pitch involves squirming up a deep narrow chimney. The fourth involves a somewhat dirty corner and a ramp to a rather cool belay spot under a giant roof. Descent: Four rappels will get you down. The first and fourth are single rope raps while the second and third are double rope raps.
• Click here to go to Dow's excellent description for The Gypsy's Curse on summitpost.org.

Photos:

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Photo descriptions:
a. Looking up the first pitch, twin cracks up a corner, 5.9+.
b. The climb was quite dirty in places, due to the thundershower system that had blown through the previous week and washed a bunch of sand down onto the route.
c. Looking up the last part of Pitch 1, some easy chinmeying behind a giant block.
d. Dow leading off Pitch 2. The 5.10+ crux of the route, this pitch follows a beautiful corner with a progressively-widening crack (start off fingers, end with fists).
e. A photo of the beautiful corner on Pitch 2. There is a cool chimney system just right of it.
f. Looking up the deep narrow chimney of Pitch 3. It is nice to be thin for this pitch. The chimney is protectable in the back.
g. Looking up the last part of Pitch 3, which goes up a somewhat runout 5.10- ramp.
h. THere is a bolt at the base of the ramp on Pitch 3.
i. Looking up Pitch 4, a dirty corner. There is an offwidth move near the top of the corner that is the 5.9 crux of the pitch.
j. Pitch 4 ends with an easy ramp to anchors underneath a giant roof.
k. The view of East Temple from the anchors at the top of the route.
l. A close up of the cross-bedding of the sandstone of East Temple across the valley. According to a wikipedia article about the geology of Zion NP, "cross-bedding is especially evident in the eastern part of the park where Jurassic wind directions changed often."
m. A view of the routes just left (east) of The Gypsy's Curse. From L to R: Cornback Rattler (5.11), Picking on the Fat Kid (5.10+), and Feast of Snakes (5.11) (see annotated overlay for locations).

G-String Divas (5.10, 1p)

• This one pitch climb goes up an obvious wide splitter crack cutting the face. The crack is fist to offwidth, depending on your hand size (definitely offwidth for me). The climb seemed sandbagged, as both of us found it more difficult than the 5.11- offwidth of Kung Fu Fighter we had climbed a couple of days previous. Nonetheless, it is a great line and a good climb, especially if you want a workout! Descent: rappel with a single rope.
• Note on gear: The crack takes only #4 cams for much of the climb, so the ideal rack would be a light rack to 3" with about five or six 4" and one 5" cam (the latter to protect the first 10 feet). Needless to say, our rack with only two 4" cams was entirely insufficient and resulted in a lot of walking and back-cleaning and eventually aiding for safety.

Photos:

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Photo descriptions:
a. Dow starting up the splitter offwidth.
b. The anchor at the top is a single good bolt and a fixed nut.
c. Dow's offwidth rash he contracted during the climb. Word of advice: wear long sleeves if attempting this climb.
d. We found a shell fossil near the base of the route, a reminder of Zion's sedimentary geologic history.

Date: November 27, 2025 (Thu)

Partner: Geoff Hill

Route Overlay Smash Mouth (5.11, 4p)

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I spent Thanksgiving weekend in Zion climbing with my friend Geoff Hill, and we lucked into staying at his friends’ place about 20 minutes from the park—my first real bed, shower, and kitchen in a couple of months. Plus some very photogenic goats.

On Thanksgiving Day we wanted to squeeze in a climb before dinner, and I recalled that my friend Wayne Wallace—after reading my recent trip report on The Headache (5.10, 3 pitches)—had recommended Smash Mouth (5.11, 4 pitches). The route has a short approach, great belay ledges, beautiful rock, and four pitches of fun 5.10–5.11 crack climbing, all fully rappel-able. It turned out to be an excellent choice; Geoff and I both deemed it a great short multi route. We swung leads, with me leading the odd pitches and Geoff leading the even pitches. The route, including rappels, took us just under two hours base-to-base.

With plenty of of daylight left, we hopped on Inner Chi (5.11+, 1 pitch), a striking corner right between the car and Smash Mouth. I started up, but when the crack pinched to tips and the feet disappeared, it felt suspiciously 5.12-ish. I lowered, and Geoff gave it a go—spotting the chalked face holds (kinda obvious really...) that avoid the worst of the tips section. The last few moves were still the crux. Nice lead by Geoff.

We hiked out and made it back just in time to clean up and head to Thanksgiving dinner.

Photos Smash Mouth (5.11, 4p)

Approach

2nd

Park at the pullout at the last switchback before tunnel. From the uphill end of the stone retaining wall, a faint trail switchbacks to the base of the wall above. Smash Mouth is to the right.

Pitch 1

5.10

(There’s some discrepancy between the guidebook and Mountain Project on this pitch’s grade. This is the grade I’d give it.)

Pitch 2

5.10+

(There’s some discrepancy between the guidebook and Mountain Project on this pitch’s grade. This is the grade I’d give it.)

Pitch 3

5.10+

(There’s some discrepancy between the guidebook and Mountain Project on this pitch’s grade. This is the grade I’d give it.)

Pitch 4

5.11-

(There’s some discrepancy between the guidebook and Mountain Project on this pitch’s grade. This is the grade I’d give it.)

Descent

Rappel

Rap route with single 60.

Photos Inner Chi (5.11+, 1p)

Photos Thanksgiving Dinner

Date: August 30, 2014 (Sat)

Partner: Dow Williams

Photos

The following is taken from my Zion 2014 trip report.

• This fun route is a great way to finish up a day of cragging. It sees less action than the routes around the corner, perhaps because the first pitch is a bit dirty. But the second pitch is one of the best splitter 5.10 hand cracks in Zion. The route is west-facing so it was perhaps not the most comfortable choice for an afternoon climb in August (it was hot!) but it was worth a bit of suffering in the sun to climb the second pitch. Descent: rap the route.
• Note on gear for Pitch 2: We had singles to 5", along with an extra 1" and five total 2" (eight would sew it up).
• Click here to go to Dow's excellent description for Cynthia's Hand Job on summitpost.org.

Photos:

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Photo descriptions:
a. We got back on the Zion shuttle and rode it up to the Big Bend stop.
b. Just 200 or so feet up the road from the shuttle stop is the Cerberus Gendarme area, where Cynthia's Hand Job is located. The second pitch of this route goes up the shaded corner in the photo just left of center. The first pitch goes up a crack system below and left of this just right of the shaded chimney.
c. Looking up the first pitch, which I led. This pitch features 5.9ish varied crack climbing and ends at a bolted rap station on the edge of a brushy terrace. From here we scrambled up the terrace to the base of the second pitch.
d. Dow leading off the second pitch. This pitch climbs a beautiful open book. It is mostly a splitter hand crack, but also includes a fist/OW section that requires some bigger gear. Note on gear for Pitch 2: singles to 5", an extra 1", and all the 2" you got (8 to sew it up).
e. Looking down the beautiful open book of the second pitch from the upper anchors.
f. Another photo of the second pitch hand crack. We don't have splitter cracks like these in Washington. This was the most splitter crack I've ever climbed to date. It was a blast. I am going to love Indian Creek when I can finally make a trip there happen (my academic schedule—for the last ten years as a student and for the next who knows how many years hopefully thirty or so as a teacher—has meant that I am always occupied during the time when it is pleasant climbing temperatures in the Creek).
g. Moonlight Buttress as seen from Cynthia's Hand Job. This buttress has some classic Zion aid routes. Although I am not much of a fan of aid climbing, I would like to do the 5.8 C1 route up it someday.
h. Afternoon light on the Zion canyon as seen from near the Big Bend shuttle stop. This is a spectacular area to crag in.
i. It was a hot day!

Photos

SOME RANDOM PHOTOS FROM CRAGGING AT NAMASTE WALL

More climbing fun!

Date: November 26, 2025 (Wed)

Partner: Brett Hughes

Climbed at: Namaste Wall, South Fork (near Namaste Wall)

Routes (ordered by grade):
• Last Rites 5.10d, 1p, trad, South Fork (near Namaste Wall)
• Dost Mitra 5.11a/b, 1p, sport, Namaste Wall

Namaste Wall sits in the Kolob Canyons region of Zion National Park, far from the bustle of the main canyon. It’s a tall, overhanging sweep of sandstone riddled with giant huecos—a striking, wild place for steep sport climbing. Namaste Wall is Zion at its best: quiet, remote, beautiful, and home to just a handful of long, steep, uniquely featured routes.

I’d hiked out there on Tuesday just to take a look and happened to run into Brett, who had reached out to me back when I was in Yosemite in October (I already had plans then, so we hadn’t connected). I mentioned I was interested in climbing at Namaste, and we decided to meet up for an afternoon session the next day.

He had work in the morning and I had an Angel’s Landing permit, so we kept it short: one route on Namaste Wall—Dost Mitra (5.11a/b)—and a nearby trad line, Last Rites (10d), which follows a beautiful arching crack. We both led Dost Mitra, and Brett led Last Rites while I followed and cleaned the gear. I managed to flash Dost Mitra and got a fun video of myself lounging in a hueco halfway up—a quintessential Namaste Wall experience.

It was a great little session, and I’m hoping to link up with Brett again sometime for more climbing.

Approach

Park in the lot at the hairpin turn. Hike up the trail (South Fork Canyon) for about 45 minutes. Then canyon will narrow the farther you go. Just before scrambling is required, on your right will be an overhanging wall with several sport routes. These are all beautiful lines.

Dost Mitra

5.11a/b, 1p, sport

Last Rites

5.10d, 1p, trad

Zion Hikes I've Done on Non-Climbing Days

CLICK THE DROP DOWN TO SEE PHOTOS FROM EACH HIKE

Date: November 26, 2025 (Wed)

Partner: solo

It was Thanksgiving week, and I had a free day before a friend showed up for some climbing. Somehow I lucked into an Angels Landing permit—no small feat. I’d actually hiked it once before, in spring 2010 during a Utah photography road trip, but mostly just remembered that it was crowded and unlike anything else in the park.

Angels Landing is Zion’s most iconic—and infamous—hike: a narrow sandstone fin that rises 1,500 feet above the canyon floor. The trail starts with steep switchbacks before committing to a knife-edge ridge where chains help you navigate the exposure dropping away on both sides. The summit is tiny, the views are huge, and the whole thing feels a bit unreal.

These days everyone needs a permit to hike it. The system grew out of the lessons learned from metering hikers in 2019 and 2021, and from the shuttle-ticket model the park used during COVID in 2020.

My round-trip time was 1 hour 40 minutes (50 minutes up, 40 minutes down, 10 minutes for summit and checking out the Toilet Tech Solutions infrastructure), and I ended up being the first person to the top that day—even beat the rangers. I suppose I could’ve saved myself the $9 permit fee, but the stress of trying to sneak it wouldn’t have been worth it.

After the hike, I spent the afternoon cragging at Namaste Wall in Kolob Canyon (see Namaste Wall section on this page).