Needles Rock Climbing

(California, Sequoia National Forest)

Before trying to wade through the information on this page, I recommend
Alexander Cooper's Needles Mini Guide
for its beautiful set of topos and route descriptions for most Needles routes.
I have linked a few of these topos below, but he has many more.
We hope to do more "research" and add further topos and updates to our pages!

Sources:

Route lists

  • updated 1/25/08: corrected The Seven Year Itch - route name on Sorcerer's Apprentice, FA info, topo
  • updated 11/9/06: added Shikata Ga Nai, Road to Perdition
  • updated 6/23/06: added routes from E.C. Joe and Dick Leversee guide, added first ascent info
  • updated 9/3/05: added some new routes
  • updated 7/26: adding all routes from MVP guide, plus newer routes

    Maps

  • added 7/21/05: new area map (properly scaled, based on aerial photo)
  • updated 6/17: JH maps split into 2 pages
  • added 6/16: USGS topo maps, USFS road map, aerial photo

    Topos

    Many of these topos are adapted from the Rock&Ice guide of 11/87 (VM), using the Lechlinski/Vernon corrections of 1/88. Many others were drawn by E.C. Joe.
  • updated 8/30/08: corrected links to Alexander Cooper's topos
  • updated 8/30/07: Warlock NE Face topo - rappel from top to Howling chains is more than 100'
  • updated 4/9/07: added links to several of Alexander Cooper's topos, corrected links to E.C. Joe's new vertical20.com site
  • added 9/2/06: Warlock E Face Right topo, Warlock NE Face topo, Witch E Face topo
  • added 9/2/05: Sorcerer's Apprentice
  • updated 7/26: rotated Magician, Demon photos to landscape mode
  • added 7/21: enlarged Liquid Sky/Harlem Shuffle topos
  • added 7/21: enlarged West Side Story/Double Trouble topos
  • updated 7/21: corrected Wailing Banshees rating
  • updated 7/21: corrected White Punks on Dope rappel route
  • updated 6/17: enlarged Necromancer
  • added 6/15: Strange Brew, Voodoo Chile, Crossbones
  • The Hermit Mark & Susan Robinson's 1992 routes

    Links

    For several years, David Hickey and Patrick Paul were working on an updated Needles guidebook.
    Progress was slow, and recently they lost much of their work in a computer crash or theft, and gave up on the project as a result.
    The material they had accumulated was given to Kevin Daniels, who is in the early stages of planning to make a Needles guidebook.
    We wish him success in his work on this.