A climb up the 'El Matador' route of Wyoming's famous Devils Tower

There are many mountains in the world that need no introduction, and among them is one that has a very peculiar natural shape.

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Devils Tower, called Mato Tipila (Home of the Bear) by the Lakota Indians, is an impressive igneous rock formation. This indigenous group believed that its distinctive shape was created by a great bear that chased some girls to this place, who then invoked a great spirit to protect them from the animal. This spirit is said to have caused the mountain to emerge, and its columns are the remnants of the bear's claw marks as it tried to reach the summit to capture the girls.

Geologists have a very different explanation for this mountain. Its formation is believed to have occurred around 40 million years ago, formed from volcanic magma that, upon cooling, created the columns of this mound. Its summit reaches 1,558 meters above sea level and 386 meters above the surrounding terrain. Erosion eventually removed the vegetation and sedimentary rocks that covered the mountain's slopes, leaving it with the appearance we know today.

Its ominous name stems from a misunderstanding by U.S. Army Colonel Richard Irving Dodge, who reached this location in 1875. The colonel misinterpreted one of the mountain's native names as "Tower of the Evil God," which ultimately gave rise to its current name. On September 24, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt designated Devils Tower as the first U.S. National Monument, encompassing 545 hectares. However, its worldwide fame arrived in 1977 with Steven Spielberg's film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," which chose Devils Tower as the main filming location.

The summit of Devils Tower was first reached in late June 1893 by two local ranchers, William Rogers and Willard Ripley, who made their ascent by constructing a 350-foot-long log ladder. On July 4 of that year, using the ladder again, they raised the U.S. flag atop the mountain. The first woman to reach the summit was Linnie Rogers, William Rogers' wife, on July 4, 1895. The ladder fell into disuse in 1927, and the lower section was removed by the U.S. Park Service in 1972 due to its dangerous condition. The upper section remains.

The most famous climbing route on Devil's Tower has a Spanish name: "El Matador". It's on the mountain's west face and has a difficulty of 5.10D, so it demands strength and endurance. This route runs between two columns of igneous rock, with a famous 40-meter section. A month ago, Noah Kane posted an interesting video on YouTube showing a climb of this route:

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Main image: Mick Kirchman.