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Thanks for the view from the top. I have been to the tower but never ever in my life would I be able to see the top of it and the view from it with out this video. That is one place I can say I will never ever get to stand on that piece of ground.

AWWW Shucks!!! You mean you didn't find a UFO Spaceport at the top? I thought there was one up there!!! Thanks for the trip!!! You're a Brave Man!!!

I totally have a fear of heights . I could never do this. More power to you Shawn, you got guts! Great view from up there!

@Backroad_Junkie

6 ай бұрын

I'm with you. I climbed a few of the rocks at the base of the Tower. I got about 10 feet off the ground, and that was too high for me, lol....

Wow! You’ve talked the talk and climbed the climb. Respect.

When I was climbing back in the early 70’s we pounded iron into the rock which caused problems. I have not used the new cams and too old to climb now. Thanks for the memories…….

super amazing! I know that I could not do this climb! I am almost sweating, just watching it! Thanks for sharing! (I was a bit disappointed to see that you could not land a large size alien spaceship up top, with a full compliment of scientists and army personnel, though ;) )

@siralee4975

6 ай бұрын

I know right?! I was thinking the same thing 🤔 😅 😂

@DownhillAllTheWay

4 ай бұрын

Um ... I think the aliens usually land at the bottom of Devil's Tower. That was a great movie - and Devil's Tower was the perfect setting for it.

Stuff of nightmares! What courage you climbers have! Thanks for taking us with!!

@andrewmagill4229

6 ай бұрын

My thoughts exactly.

As a native Wyomingite, I have walked Devil's Tower as a child, adult and Geology student. My brave silly son climbed part way up free handed. I did not know of this until he was down! Thanks much for the top view!

Years ago I'd gone up from Boulder, CO to Devil's Tower to climb it with my buddies. Unfortunately I was coming down with the flu, and it was a hot summer day, so I sadly chose to stay at the bottom taking photos with a big sports lens and keeping a wet bandana on my dizzy head while the 3 of them climbed the Durrance route. But I will never forget the echos from off the tower rock, and the sound of one of my pals about 2/3 of the way up yelling, "5.8 my ass!" I nearly collapsed from laughing. It's hard to carry enough water for a hot day on Devil's Tower. Thank you for the video.

@shawnwillsey

5 ай бұрын

I felt the same way on our climb. Hardest 5.7 ever.

I visited for my first time 2023. Not a climber but totally loved seeing the top thru your experince. Love your insight and rock knowlege

Also, my brother climbed Devil's tower. I remember he needed a lot of special protection because of the large cracks. He and his climbing buds carried a small Dino (from a Sinclair gas station) up to the top. And everywhere else they climbed that year.

Next time you climb to the top, have someone on the ground take a video of you at the top from the bottom! I took some pictures of people who were near the top, they are tiny little dots. People don't have a good concept of how tall or big Devil's Tower is. Seeing a person from the ground on it give you a new sense of the scale of it.

Longer ago than I would prefer (early 80s), our rock climbing class at UW climbed Devil's Tower after the spring semester was over. We went up Durrance, which I think is the easiest route (5.8, IIRC), including the jump traverse, which was ... memorable. It was a kick, but we were a large group and we didn't get started right at dawn, so our descent was after sunset. Rappelling in the dark with small platforms that you had to hit to start the next pitch of the rappel was definitely interesting. If you like crack climbs and haven't been there, you might want to try climbing at Vedauwoo, just off I-80, near Laramie. Beautiful place with a huge number of excellent routes.

It’s amazing to see this.I was there in 2009...it was an official spot on my “bucket list”! I watched the tiny specks of climbers going up, really only noticeable through binoculars...I was fascinated to see the binocs revealing dozens of climbers pretty much invisible to the naked eye! The Missouri Buttes nearby are fascinating to me because they can represent what the tower looked like in the middle of the eons of erosion. For some reason, maybe due to the presence of the Belle Fourche River, Devils Tower has eroded faster than the Buttes.

Well, this is my first virtual rock climb. Actually my only rock climb. Thank you for the experience and the feldspar crystals. Stay safe.

I climbed with you in spirit - thank you for all your amazing field trips!

For me, worlds collide in the best possible way in this video. I'm not a climber but I'm an enthusiastic fan of all kinds of climbing... including (especially?) crack. Just came from a Wide Boyz video of 5.14 near Moab. The geology of Devil's Tower in these past two videos has fascinating. I also live in the America west and learning the geology is just making me love it more. Thanks Shawn!

Awesome vid, Shawn! Congrats for your bravery! 👍

Thanks for taking us to a place that most of us will never see 👍

What a view!!! Something I’ll never see in person.. thanks for taking us with you 😊

Drove near there in the early 70s ,thanks for the on top view! As a old Yosemite climber,I know how great climbing and Geology go together!

I can barely climb my stairs, but DS has long been on my bucket list

Thanks for dragging me along; just another place I'll never be!

Cool video. Thanks. I'd love to see a similar climb with an attending drone videoing. I was surprised how very different the rock looked close up when you were actually making the climb.

@shawnwillsey

6 ай бұрын

No drones allowed in national parks.

My buddy and I climbed it twice by two different routes in June of 1972. Our ascents were among the first 1000. Now, apparently, 5000 parties sign in to climb it every year.

Grats on making the climb! I can't say that I would ever take on that challenge, I'm more comfortable hiking, but mad respect to Climbers.

Now _that_ was a Close Encounter at Devil's Tower. Beautiful place!

Wild! i didn't know we are allowed to climb it. Amazing experience. Thanks for sharing. Two Thumbs Way Up.

I'm completely freaked out here on my couch. Great job!

You are all very brave and courageous, you couldnt pay me enough to do that, so a great big THANK YOU.😊

Rather you than me Shawn! I got vertigo just watching the video!

This was really cool to see you are much braver than me thanks for videotaping your climb. We went to Devils Tower a couple of years ago and saw the climbers going up the side of it. Such a different perspective when you are actually climbing it.

Thanks for taking us safely along! -- charlie, sacramento CA

That was amazing. That 'tower' is such an intriguing anomaly in that landscape.

Amazing, most of us have only gazed up from the botton in awe. Catching glimpse of the other similar peaks (intrusions as you called them) interesting in same proximity.

WOW! Those flat-topped topographic reliefs (toward south?) look incredible.

Great to spur the memories. 48 years ago a friend and I did the same route up, the Durance Route and repelled down. Thanks for the video.

Wow, you’re the man! Beautiful view!

WOW ! Always been fascinated of Devil's Tower since "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" What a view and very interesting geology lessons too.

Your geology knowledge sharing is why I watch but man I really enjoy your rock climbing snippets. Thanks!

Awesome view Shawn, can't believe how high it is, thanks for sharing this video . 👍👍👍

We can’t see him! He got stuck in a rock! You guys are gutsy. Couldn’t pay me enough to look down let alone climb! I’ll leave it to you!

Excellent video! I have really been interested in seeing you combining climbing and geological discussions. Love to see more in depth like this: good vs bad rock, etc

Such a cool location!!

Wow! Above and beyond the usual presentation of most instructors! Well done. Thanks. Looked like near perfect weather for you.

Looks like some nice climbing, Strangely enough a lot of the climber friends were geologists too!

Beautiful video such views. Good job climbing.

You are brave! Thank you for the video@

I was expecting to see the space saucer from the movie. 😅 Actually I was surprised how small the top is. Thanks for showing

This is something I always wanted to do but never had the chance. Thank you for taking us with you!

Nicely done, and thank you for additional detail on climbing gear Prof. Willsey.

Thank you for sharing this. I've been intrigued by this ever since I saw Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, and it was great to see footage of you on the top of it, and the great viewpoint it offers.

That was an amazing climb you did on this mountian. The view from the top was wonderful.

Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful experience, and the views from up there with us down here (not a climber), but I am so very fascinated by it, especially Devil's Tower.. Awesome!! 😊

Another cool hike/climb to an area I’ve only seen from below. Also introduces a new rock type. And it’s great to see it up close.

Gosh, I've been there but no parking was available...super popular. It's pretty scary looking down! Wow, beautiful, thank you!

Much thanks!!!

Thanks for this. Looking up at the climbers from the base is an amazing sight, even with binoculars it's surprising how massive that tower is.

I had a wonderful time with my family hiking around this mountain. I don’t have the juevos to climb it tho lol

@joshsmith3650

6 ай бұрын

I’ve really enjoyed the videos Shawn. I never cared much for geology until the last several years. The more I learn, the less I realize I know

Love your climbing vids so much!

My brother and his friend fell while climbing “Bears Lodge/Devil’s Tower”. They had to be rescued while hanging from their ropes. No serious injuries just wounded pride. I was surprised to hear it happened because my brother is not a rock climber. He’s an idiot to be frank and thought they could do it without problems because they bought some equipment. It’s not the only story I can tell you about him.

Impressive! Cool!

thanks for that view.

What a spot to camp, gotta say. Congrats, nice climb!

Looks like you climbed Tad 5.7+ I recognize the route. I climbed it in2019 fun route

Yall must need am extra set of ropes to haul those giant testes it takes to do that. Lol I get vertigo just from watching. Awesome footage! Thank you

Okay, thanks for the up-close views. From any distance, the columns appear smoother and cleaner and more regular. The rappels gotta be terrific-

55.8 MA Eocene I’m placement along with Missouri Buttes (2018). This is when Siletzia terrane is being accreted along wa ore coastline.

Always wanted to see what the top of this looked like close up - ever since Close Encounters film. Yes i agree scary climb! Dedication Shawn but as you say it’s easy when you are passionate about something. Thanks for sharing.

So impressive...ill look to see if you have a video regarding the history n geology of this incredible rock.. Rock climbers are the most fit and brave. Thats you Shawn and Darren !

Thanks!

Incredible views and and amazing effort! How does enough soil build up and stay in place to be able to grow grass? Crazy to realize the whole thing was underground and eroded away. I visited there while going to Yellowstone.

Looks very dangerous. You were fortunate that the Devil's Tower is not at that much altitude and you did not have snow and ice to contend with! Thanks for uploading.

Verry Education al

Thank you thank you thank you

❤❤❤❤❤ thanks Shawn!

Wow! What a view! Too bad no alien landing sites😂👽

Don’t tell me you were piling up your mashed potatoes to make a tower on a your plate 😂. Great informative video as always. 😉

Wow…you made it to the top! That’s a scary climb!

Awesome!!!!!

"No climbing beyond this point" ROFL! I guess not: nowhere else to go but back down! Too funny.

Professor, you are making me very homesick😅. Wonderful and fascinating videos on, yes, the nation’s first national monument. We also had the first national park and first to let women vote. Haven’t had many firsts recently, tho. Bummer. Oh, also Josh Allen, so there’s that.

Interesting. I always wondered how they could insert an anchor. Thanks for sharing.

@DMLand

6 ай бұрын

Active cam anchors were brand new technology when I was a climber. I think I owned just one because money was so scarce. Our protection consisted of passive devices called "nuts," "chocks," and "hexentrics" of various sizes. Placement of such passive protection is an art form … that you bet your life on.

@gigistrus490

5 ай бұрын

@@DMLand Oh my word, I can't imagine how it's possible.

@DMLand

5 ай бұрын

@@gigistrus490 It has a lot to do with being young and imagining you're gonna live forever. I don't think our host thinks he's gonna live forever, but climbing is a sport for… Well, not me anymore :-)

Wow.. climbers really have guts to do these climbs putting their life in the hands of those little crevice clamps things .. crazy scary.. glad you made it up and down ok!

Awesome ascent and video! Couple questions: how hard would you say was the grade? Also for rappelling are there fixed rings or do you somehow make anchors to repel from without using your gear? Thanks for sharing!

@shawnwillsey

6 ай бұрын

Climb was 5.7 but felt way harder because the style was so different than what I am used to. Rappel anchors exist for descent.

@brendanacord

5 ай бұрын

@@shawnwillsey I think this is pretty common with old classic routes yeah? Anyways well done, climbing Devil’s Tower has got to be way up there on most people’s life list, and that sign up top is perfection :)

Thank you for this experience. 60 years ago, I would have loved to learn all this, alas, not able now.. Please do a few rock climbing basics for the totally unknowing flat landers. The views are wonderful.

Thanks for the view, Shawn. I don't like heights. Those nice shots near the edge made my hands sweat and my legs ache. 🙂 Yikes!

Can you post some close ups of the rock? I am obsessed with porpharitic andesite and basalt and have never heard of what you mentioned here.

I'm interested in the species richness at the summit.

@shawnwillsey

6 ай бұрын

sagebrush and grass

But what do the flutes look like close up, once you've reached the summit of the base?

When I was in college, I was also taught Devil's Tower was a volcanic neck and that the columns were basalt. But that doesn't match the rock types of a stratovolcano all that much. What do geologists theorize is the source of the formation? Could it be a now-extinct hot spot?

Pretty safe to say Devil's Tower is a tad more difficult than it looks eh? 😉 Ive been there a lot because I live in the area and it always made me laugh how much more humble even the most seasoned climbers were after their climb than before especially the out of staters. Great video thanks for sharing 😊

@shawnwillsey

5 ай бұрын

Hardest 5.7 ever. Ugh. Yet I want to go back and try again n

@hollyb6540

5 ай бұрын

@shawnwillsey You absolutely should! 😃 Bring a drone to get some over the top footage. You would probably love Sylvan Lake over by Custer, SD and needles highway is simply breathtaking. 😍

I was so expecting a big UFO on top somehow 😂😂

I'm sorry man -- beyond the grueling toll that climb takes on your body, the look straight down just about maxed out the pucker factor. Gotta be an awesome feeling once you're finally at the summit but _jeeeeez_ -- I'm sorry, can't do it.

30 years ago I learned to call those camming devices 'friends.' Is that term still used?

@shawnwillsey

5 ай бұрын

Not so much anymore.

@albertlutton9920

3 ай бұрын

"Friends" was the name given to the very first spring loaded camming devices. Every manufacturer now has their own copyrighted name for their own cams, but they all basically work under the same principle. Once the cams are retracted and placed inside a crack, with a downward pull on the main stem, the cams try to expand outward, but cannot due to the hard rock surface. They stay in place due to spring tension outward on each cam lobe touching the rock inside the crack. Hope this gives you a better understanding. They are amazing pieces of technology. The inventor of the very first cams, (Friends) was an aerospace engineer!!!

Following you explanation of how the rock was formed in the previous video would like to ask a question. If the rock was cooled in the way you stated then i am assuming the surrounding land must have been above what is now the exposed tower. What happened to all that land? Erosion yes but how? Ice maybe? Just seems like a hell of a lot of material has gone if this is the case. Thanks

@sandradankowski6120

6 ай бұрын

That's a good question. I visited Devil's Tower in 2002 and was wondering that back then. I also agree that the intrusion explanation makes more sense to me based on previous video as well .

@dmc9136

6 ай бұрын

It's in a river valley, exposed by erosion.

@toughenupfluffy7294

6 ай бұрын

Two miles' worth. 50 million years is a long time.

@shawnwillsey

6 ай бұрын

Erosion of land mainly via streams and rivers have lowered the landscape.

stunning view from the top and with the rock/rubble field at the base where over the millennia where the ice has cracked it open you have to wonder how big it actually was and the base looks different so did that have the columns or was it an outer shell around the intrusion that has eroded away ? , and it has to be said that close up it doesnt look that impressive but from a distance ......

Great video. Shawn or maybe someone else who does climbing, is there any chance of the cam failing - pulling apart or slipping out?? Is a second cam and rope used as back up?

@dougsundseth6904

6 ай бұрын

Cams are very secure (and pretty expensive), but like any tool, they can fail, either because the rock they're set in fails or because of a mechanical failure of the device. When climbing up, you generally set protection every 5-ish feet or so, both to limit the maximum force of a fall (you fall twice the distance from your last piece of protection, btw) and to limit the danger if one piece of protection fails. Then the second climber in your group will remove the protection the lead climber has placed as he goes up. (The second climber is belayed from the top while the first climber is belayed through the protection from the bottom of the pitch.) In addition to cams, you can also use chocks (wedge-shaped bits of metal) or nuts (usually eccentric hexagonal pieces of metal) to insert into cracks for protection. When you rappel down, you usually have to leave a piece of protection behind (to rappel from), but popular climbing areas have bolted, permanent rappel anchors, so you don't have to sacrifice expensive gear. Rock climbing is actually remarkably safe when done following the standard procedures ("trad climbing"), though free-soloing can be very dangerous.

Great climb! 'Course, I got this thing about heights, and I'd be crying for mommy about 30' off the ground...

@rickc4317

6 ай бұрын

Me, too.