Medicine Man – Route of the Month

By Mike Schneiter

Every spring weekend, scores of cars pass by Colorado National Monument on their way to climbing destinations in Moab and the surrounding desert. Generally, the Monument is thought of as being a lesser climbing destination, and the mantra of “for every good pitch, there’s a bad pitch” does hold true on the majority of the routes. The 400-foot Medicine Man, 5.12, however, is a definite exception to that mantra.

Situated on the east face of Sentinel Spire, Medicine Man offers up pitch after pitch of fine desert crack climbing, with only a small amount of desert funk, even by the standards of a desert novice. Further cementing this route’s status as a desert classic is an approach that is second to none.

To get there, drive to the Monument’s lone campground, Saddlehorn, from the park’s west entrance outside Fruita. Be sure to take a left into the campground and don’t get suckered in to the right hand option that goes to the Amphitheater. Once in the campground, take the first right and make your way past the campsites until you come to the canyon rim and an excellent lookout called Book Cliffs View. Park here and make the two minute hike to the canyon rim until you can see the top of Sentinel Spire below.

Locate a couple of stout trees on the rim and fix your rope to make a speedy rappel into the canyon, leaving it there to facilitate a quick and easy ascent to the car. Once in the canyon, leave your ascenders and related hardware with the rope, and hike down to the tower, following an occasional cairn until you can skirt underneath the spire to the east face.

Four pitches of excellent climbing now await. The first pitch (5.10-) gives you a little taste of the desert funk on eroded Cutler sandstone before you finally sink your mitts into the more pleasant Wingate above. Many will want to stop at the nice belay ledge below the wildly flared corner.

The second pitch (5.11) climbs an enjoyable flared corner capped by a roof consisting of a wedged block. A couple of bolts on the face here help give you some security as you “tiptoe” gently around this block, which would surely ruin your partner’s day should it ever rip out. It’s possible to stop at a two pin belay but it’s preferable to continue on through a short section of sandy 5.11 to a recently upgraded two bolt anchor below the crux pitch.

The third pitch (5.12-) is the reason this climb gets so much acclaim. This wavy splitter cuts through the face and eats up red Camalots before a nice no-hands rest below the roof. Here, the crack pinches down for a few short, but powerful moves before finishing with an awkward mantle on to the belay ledge.

Finally, the fourth pitch (5.10) gives you a small sense of the Monument funk with thoughtful movement going left around a roof. Above, easier climbing of all shapes and sizes take you to the top where several fixed pieces and a few feet of chain await.

On the summit, pose for a few pictures and chat it up with the tourists on the rim before rappelling down the west face, where you can walk back to your fixed line and jug out to finish the day.