Remember Climbing Trips?

Tucson, Arizona
Winter Climbing Getaway
A Trip Report by Brian Phillips

Trip type: Rock Climbing
Destination:  Tucson, Arizona
When: December 12/9/19 – 12/18/19
Logistics: Fly to Tucson, rent a car.

If, like me, you have had to put climbing trips on hold and have been dreaming of getting away here is an option once everyone is safe to travel.  If your dreams have been of warm rock, getting away from winter, and feeding your climbing addiction there is no better place in the U.S. than Tucson.  Within 15-20 minutes you can be on Mt Lemmon and within 1.5 hours Cochise Stronghold. It is the only destination with reliably decent winter weather. 

In December 2019 Connecticut climbers, Natasha Piskunova, Dan Horwitch, Bob Dest, and Rhode Islander, Mary Stevenson, and I spent a week climbing in the Tucson area. This was my third climbing trip to the area and the second for Natasha and Mary. 

We started off the first day cragging at the Jailhouse Rock area on Mt Lemmon.  The morning hike in was puffy coat cold but, as is typical in the desert, by noon we were climbing in tee shirts. We got our climbing warm-up on single pitch sport and trad routes from 5.7 to 5.10.

Jailhouse Rock morning cold to mid-day hot

Mt Lemmon is not a single crag.  It is a 27 mile long highway up Mt Lemmon with many crags along the way.  You can pick your crag based on the weather and elevation.  If it is cold you can climb at the Hairpin Turn at 3,000 ft. or anywhere along the way up to the Summit Crags at 9,000 feet.  There is a mixture of sport and trad and single and multi-pitch routes throughout the area.  

Hitchcock Pinnacle, Windy Peak

During the trip we climbed on Mt Lemmon at Jailhouse Rock, Windy Peak, Barnum Rock, and the Summit Crags.  It was especially warm to be climbing at those elevations in December.  The ski area on Mt Lemmon was open and there was lots of snow but that didn’t deter Natasha, Dan, and Mary from climbing at the Summit Crags. I went to Tucson to get away from the cold so sat that one out.

We also drove south to Cochise Stronghold to climb.  Cochise Stronghold is in the Dragoon Mountains and was the hide-out of Chief Cochise of the Chiricahua Apache. The area was termed a “stronghold” as Cochise led his people to the safety of this mountain fortress during the defense of their homeland from 1852–1872. It is just outside of Tombstone and not far from the Mexico border. You will most likely be stopped by U.S. Border Patrol when your vehicle leaves a contrail of dust as you drive across the desert roads. On a previous trip Mary and I were stopped by machinegun wielding Border Patrol agents who made us get out of the car and sit on the ground because their dog thought our car smelled funny. (It was a rental and they let us go.)  

Sheepshead Dome (center right), Cochise Stronghold

Natasha and I headed off to climb Ewephoria a five pitch 5.8 on Sheepshead dome while the rest of the crew went cragging. After an hour and a half approach we got there to find the first pitch soaking wet.  The first pitch is shaped like a funnel and is notoriously slick even when not wet.  When it rains in the desert it pours torrentially washing the loose sand down the rock and polishing it like glass.  I offered to turn around and hike back out but Natasha would have none of that and proceeded to head up the first pitch talking to herself each time her feet momentarily slipped.  We swapped leads on this beautiful climb running it out and slinging chicken heads, both of which this area is known for.  We topped out to an incredible view of the desert all the way to Mexico.     

Typical run-out on chicken heads at Cochise Stronghold

View from the top of Ewephoria, Sheepshead Dome

If you go you want to get the guidebook “Squeezing the Lemmon III.”  Mt Lemmon is an extensive climbing area and the guidebook is 524 pages long. You can probably get by with Mountain Project for Cochise Stronghold.  I have climbed in the Tucson area in December and February and the weather has always been warm enough in the mid-day sun for tee shirts. We usually rent an AirBnB house for lodging.  You may want to avoid the first two weeks of February as that is when the Tucson Gem Show is held and lodging is at a premium. For eats I highly recommend Pita Jungle on East Broadway in Tucson.  For gear needs the Summit Hut on East Speedway.   

Brian Phillips is a CT climber who climbs two to three times a week or more in CT but lives in RI.