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Intermediate Alpine Climb - Lexington Tower/North Face & Concord Tower/South Face

Moderate routes that are next step up in difficulty from Beckey Route on Liberty Bell. Far less crowded, well shaded, and gorgeous views from the top.

Takeo Kuraishi Takeo Kuraishi
September 03, 2024
  • Road suitable for all vehicles

  • Approach gully is more sandy than rocky. Head straight up from where the approach climbers trail splits to Liberty Bell and Early Winter Spires. Shorter than Liberty Bell / Concord Tower gully and probably safer with less crowd.

    Rock is relatively clean, but watch out for loose sand and gravel. Obvious belay trees / horns at top of pitches. Two single rope rappels will reach the base from summit chains on Concord Tower South Face, with intermediate chain anchors at mid-point. Two rappels on a single rope will suffice for Lexington Tower North Face as well.

Last minute team shuffle at the trailhead made this a two-person climb. Easy hike up to the base, geared up at a nice large flat area between the towers.

Tackled Concord Tower first to avoid the afternoon sun. Traversed right on sloping ledge to set up belay anchor for first pitch below the route. Moderate climbing almost up to the ridge line for a tree belay. Pitch two reaches the ridge and then traverses over to the sharkfin. For the third pitch, exposed traverse across and over the fin to the base of summit block. Get past an awkward flaring crack to top out. Leader chose to go slightly left. About two hours from base. Joined with another team to do a double rope rappel all the way down to the base from the summit chains. Had a scare with rope somehow getting stuck, but eventually got both down.

Lexington Tower route starts with an awkward crux move right off the deck, then up to anchors on rock horns. Pitch two ends up at the notch directly above the first anchor. Scramble to the summit to finish. Took about an hour.

Good reference:

https://www.mountaineers.org/activities/trip-reports/intermediate-alpine-climb-lexington-tower-north-face-and-concord-tower-north-and-south-faces