Most info from Rock Climb Marvin’s Ear, Northwest Region (mountainproject.com)
Difficulty distribution
| 5.0 | 5.9 | 5.10 |
| P3 – 100′ | P1 – 100′ P4 – 115′ | P2 – 90′ P5 – 100′ P6 – 115′ P7 – 100′ |
Gear
- 70m rope (needed for rappel)
- 11 quickdraws (3-4 alpine)
- Walkie talkies?
Approach
This tower is BEFORE (to the right of) Mile High Club’s tower.
Pitch 1 – 5.9, 100′, 4 bolts
Scramble up to high first bolt with fun stemming on mostly good rock up high.
Leading P1
Pitch 2 – 5.10a, 90′, 6 bolts
Edges and some slab moves more or less straight up from the belay. Mind the loose rock at end of pitch.
End of P2
Pitch 3 – 5.0, 100′, 1 bolt
Walk/scramble on ledges. Clip one bolt and scramble towards the anchor.
Pitch 4 – 5.9, 115′, 9-10 bolts
Follow the bolts up the broad ridge
End of P4
Pitch 5 – 10-, 100′, 10 bolts
Follow bolts trending left towards the end of the pitch. Move past the first set of anchors (rap anchors) to the next set of bolts farther left. This will set you up the belay the following pitch. 100 feet (10 bolts)
Pitch 6 – 10b, 115′, 9 bolts
Cruxy move over bulge leads to another cruxy section. Rope drag was an issue, but could be managed by extending a few draws.
Pitch 7 – 10-, 100′, 9 bolts
Cool traverse left then up through a fun corner and to the anchor just below the summit.
Airy traverse at start
Scramble to summit
Short scramble to the summit. Most will want to stay on belay for this section.
Descent
Reports
Marvin's Ear 2021
Overall, this climb was fun but the approach and rappels were annoying. It’s something I’d recommend doing once, but I’m not sure I’d do it again considering Mile High Club is a bit better! Really awesome that someone bolted this route though, I’m thankful for those folks! Key notes… Walkie talkies could have been useful…
Plans
Marvin's Ear 2021
Try out Marvin’s Ear! And possibly do Mile High Club again if we have time and energy. Weather Forecast at 1,000ft below start of climb: Sunny, with a high near 62. Calm wind becoming west 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. Dawn 4:54 AM, Sunrise 5:32 AM, sunset 9:00 PM Itinerary If we only…
Marvin's Ear 2021
Weather Sunday and Monday are about the same (high of 60 and high of 62, partly sunny, calm to 6mph winds) Trip report to Vesper 7 days ago… Road snow free Snow starts 0.5-1 mile in, completely snow covered after that, snow was soft enough to not need spikes or axe As of 7 days…