The Guides’ Beta: The Nose of Looking Glass Rock
May 1, 2025
forreststavish
Route Beta
The Nose, Looking Glass Rock, 5.8 Grade II, 400′
Introduction:
Since 1966 The Nose of Looking Glass Rock has been climbed by thousands of climbers. Both newer climbers and experienced climbers have found themselves on mini epics of The Nose. While the route is mostly straight forward, there are some nuanced approaches to how it is climbed and descended. The rich history combined with the unique climbing style and beautiful backdrop of the blue ridge mountains are what make The Nose of Looking Glass a true classic climb.
The History:
The first ascent of The Nose was on December 19, 1966 by Steve Longenecker, Robert Gillespie, and Bob Watts. This was the first time the mountain was climbed via 5th class rock climbing, and thus was an historic moment for rock climbing in North Carolina and the southeast. The three men climbed the route ground up wearing stiff-soled, leather boots. They had a rack of pitons for protection, only needing to pull on one for aid during the first ascent. Check out this article at the Carolina Climbing Museum to learn more about this historic first ascent.
The Season:
Though the first ascent was in December, the best times of year to climb The Nose are the spring and fall. The summer months can be good too, especially with an early morning start. The Nose faces WNW, shady in the morning with sun in the early to late afternoon. If you choose to climb the route in the summer, consider that afternoon thunderstorms are very common in the area. However, with normal weather pattern you can usually see the storms coming before they get to you.
The Approach:
The approach to The Nose is straight forward, but it’s always worth providing detail for first-timers. The trailhead is located at Gumstand Gap along Headwaters Rd (FS Rd. 475b) at the Sunwall Trail. Here are the coordinates: 35°18’36.7”N, 82°48’00.0”W. In the winter months 475b can be closed on the southern end near the fish hatchery. If that’s the case, the trailhead can be accessed from the northern end of 475b via Pisgah Hwy (U.S. Route 276). Once at the trailhead parking lot, take the signed trail south of the kiosk. Don’t follow the public trail just to the right of the kiosk. The trail is a short ½ mile hike with ~360 feet of elevation gain. Once at the base of the rock you will be standing near the start to the other Nose Area classic, Sundial Crack. From the start of Sundial Crack follow the base of the rock a short distance (~100 ft) climbers’ left/north to an obvious eroded area at the base of the rock.
The Rack:
I always find it interesting how vague guidebooks can be when discussing the rack for a specific route or area. Often the language you read is “standard rack.” That leaves a lot of room for interpretation, and probably for a good reason. For The Nose, I find that a single set of cams from 0.3 to 3 (Black Diamond sizes) with doubles from 0.4 to 1 work well for the entire route. I don’t find stoppers to be useful and don’t feel the need for tricams. However, tricams do work great in the flaring eyebrows if you want to use them as a supplement to your rack. With that said, the route is easily protected using only cams.
The Route:
Pitch 1:
The first pitch of The Nose starts at the lone birch tree near the base. This pitch follows the weakness (identified by a lighter-colored streak) up the slab for ~100 feet to a comfortable belay ledge with a bolted anchor. The pitch goes at 5.5, but don’t let the grade fool you. Many people find the first pitch to feel harder than its given grade, but once used to the style of climbing it feels appropriate. To protect the first twenty feet off the ground, you can place a 0.75 size piece and then a 0.3 size piece immediately after. The 0.3 protects the low crux on this pitch. Once you’ve made the crux move, you have a few good options for gear. As you get closer to the anchor, there is another cruxy section that is well protected with a 0.5 size cam.
Pitch 2:
Pitch two can be executed in a variety of ways and is the first real crux of the route. If you want to climb the route the way the first ascensionists did, go left from the anchor and up to begin to gain the angling ramp feature. From here, you traverse back right. This pitch is what gives The Nose its name. When drawn on a topo, the route is shaped like a nose. The other option for this pitch is to climb straight up from the anchor. This is a harder variation and be aware that it appears to protect better than it actually does. The way most people go is right to some big flakes and then up to the ramp. The crux is gaining the ramp and is well protected with a Black Diamond 0.5 cam in a mailbox slot. This slot also serves as the hand hold for getting into the ramp. After you pull the thin move to gain the ramp, make sure to add some protection for your follower here. There’s a sneaky 0.4 size crack as soon as you stand up onto the ramp (see photo on left). Follow the ramp up and right until it ends near a ledge. From here climb straight up to the next set of bolted anchors.
Pitch 3:
The start of this pitch is the second crux of the route and arguably the harder crux. For this pitch I tend to “plus clip” my first piece while leading the pitch below. This allows for a toprope through the thin moves off the anchor and protects my ankles if I were to slip here. Check out this blog post for more on plus clipping. The first piece of gear on this pitch is critical. It’s a Black Diamond 0.4 size cam in a shallow slot up and to the right of the anchor (see photo on right). Once you’ve made it past this piece of gear, the climbing eases off significantly. Pitch three ends on the classic parking lot ledge. Many people go for the anchor bolts positioned at the lower end of the parking lot. If you’re looking for a more comfortable position, clip a draw to one of the bolts at the anchor and continue up to the back end of the ledge. Here you find some options to build a gear anchor. For this anchor I tend to use a Black Diamond 1, 2, and 3.
Pitch 4:
The final pitch of the route can be wet depending on how long it has been since it rained. If this is the case, you can either end on the parking lot and begin your descent or follow the fourth-class terrain to the left to by-pass the wet rock. If it’s dry, head straight up from the parking lot following the path of least resistance to a set of bolted anchors just below a giant flake. From here you can rappel back to the parking lot. Make sure you have two ropes, a tag line, or an alternative solution to getting down. One rope (even a 70m) won’t get you to the rap anchors on the parking lot. If you wish to tag the summit and enjoy the view with the hikers, then I suggest you skip the bolted anchors and instead build an anchor on the pine tree above the flake. From the pine tree you can carefully un-rope and walk to the summit.
The Descent:
The descent is straight forward if you have two ropes (60m or 70m) but becomes a little more complicated with a single rope. Newer climbers that may not be familiar with other methods of descent with a single rope should stick to bringing two ropes. If you choose to bring a second rope and you’re climbing as a party of two, then please don’t have your follower drag the rope behind them as they climb. There are a few reasons why this is not a great practice. Firstly, The Nose is a popular route and you’ll often find folks queued up at the start. When you trail your rope, it can be inconsiderate of the people climbing behind you as they must wait for your second to arrive at the anchor and pull the rope up before they can start climbing. Often, I’ve seen people not even pull the rope up and just leave it dangling beneath them the entire route which is even more inconsiderate. The other issue with trailing the rope is that you run the risk of the rope being blown around by wind and getting stuck in a crack. This could lead to an inconvenience or even worse, having to self-rescue. So, my suggestion would be to have the leader trail the second rope treating it like the lead rope and clipping it to the gear and then pulling it up before they put the second on belay. The other option is to have the second carry the rope in either a backpack or “backpack coiled.”
Descending with Two Ropes:
From the last anchor you’ll rappel down to the parking lot with a set of rap rings on climber’s right-hand side of the ledge. From the parking lot anchor, you’ll rappel straight down the face to a bolted anchor down and right of the pitch two anchor. Take your time here, it can be easy to rappel past these anchors. However, you can rappel all the way to the anchor on pitch one of Sundial Crack. I don’t advise doing this if there are people climbing Sundial. From the rap anchors below the parking lot, you’ll make one more two rope rappels to the ground. If you did make it to the Sundial anchors, then you can rap to the ground with a single rope. Anytime you are rappelling we advocate to backup your rappels with a friction hitch or firefighters belay. We also advocate for climbers to pre-rig their rappels to effectively double check each other’s systems. To learn more about pre-rigged rappels check out this blog.
Descending with a Single 70m Rope:
If you are not familiar or comfortable with more advanced rope systems, I would not advise you to do this descent with just a single rope. No matter what, I absolutely would not advise doing the descent with a single 60m rope. From the top of the route there are a few ways to get down with a single 70m rope. With a tag line you can use a knot block (reepschnur) to safely make it to the parking lot anchor. You can also rappel the route using a Beal Escaper; however, I don’t like using that tool as my plan A. I usually carry the Beal Escaper with me for the “what if” moments.
Final Remarks:
The Nose is a true classic with its exposure, sweeping views, unique “eyebrows,” and rich history. While I have climbed The Nose well over one hundred times, I still find myself enjoying the route and the beautiful scenery. I hope you find this post useful as you prepare for your ascent of The Nose. Stay tuned for our next installment of The Guides’ Beta!
Forrest Stavish
AMGA Assistant Rock Guide, Ice Instructor, WEMT-B
Great post about The Nose! I never knew how it got that name. Appreciate the gear beta as well: great for new climbers and those who haven’t climbed it in awhile as well!