The Finger of Fate — Open Book
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The classic line up the iconic detached Sawtooth tower — a striking dihedral system that's the most-climbed route on one of the range's most-dramatic summits, demanding well-rounded crack, stemming, chimney and slab skills. First climbed in 1958 by Louis Stur and Jerry Fuller, it's the moderate "must-do" spire of the Hell Roaring cirque.
🥾 Approach · descent · season
Approach: From Stanley, ID-75 south ~12 mi to Decker Flat, cross the Salmon River, then ~5 mi on a notoriously rough high-clearance 4WD road to the Hell Roaring trailhead. Cross Hell Roaring Creek (can be tricky in high water) and hike ~1.7 mi of relatively flat trail to Hell Roaring Lake (7,407 ft); continue up-drainage toward the tower (base camp commonly set at unnamed ~9,000 ft alpine lakes below the Finger). Base of the Open Book is the obvious prominent dihedral on the north side.
⬇️ Descent: Rappel the route — three rappels total. From the summit ledge, anchor off a large slung chockstone below the summit block (or the two bolts on the west face) to reach the ledge accessing the west ridge; class-4 scramble, then rappel from a large tree with rap slings to a second slung tree on rappeler's right, and a final rappel down to the loose, sometimes snow-filled talus gully back to the base. A single 60 m rope works for the route and descent; doubles speed it up. Verify anchor webbing — the small unattached summit-ledge rock anchor is questionable.
🗓️ Season: Mid-July through September, once the approach trail and descent gully are clear of snow and the creek crossing is manageable.
🎒 Gear & food
Rack: Single standard rack to 3 in; most want a #4 Camalot (or equivalent) for the wide sections though not strictly required; a few nuts; lots of long runners/alpine draws for the wandering corner. One 60 m rope (doubles optional).
✅ Before you leave the trailhead
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⚠️ Hazards · fire · emergency
- Loose rock on the upper pitches since the 2020 M6.4 earthquake dislodged the summit block; combined with unprotectable runout slab/arete sections near the top.
🌤️ Live conditions
Auto-updated 20h ago · °F · tap a link for the mountain-specific picture ↓
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