The North Six Shooter is a sliver of sandstone in Indian Creek, Utah. Two classic rock routes adorn its east face – Liquid Sky and Lightning Bolt Cracks. Lightning Bolt is an all-time classic on most desert rats’ bucket list of desert towers. Liquid Sky is its infamous brother widely known for its suffocating squeeze in a roof and sustained off width climbing.
Pamela Shanti Pack is an off-width aficionado who’s made her mark putting up wide first ascents. The standard path on Liquid Sky entails a tight squeeze up the inside of the tower avoiding the Bombay style roof that juts over space a few hundred feet above the jumbled talus cone and a thousand feet over the desert floor. Pamela wanted to change that. Enrolling Scott Turpin’s help for rope work and logistics Pamela headed south.
My hope in documenting the attempt was to catch her somewhere in the slot, upside down, with the desert floor in the distance. Unfortunately, lines didn’t work for what I had in mind. As I was hanging above with Pamela struggling below I pulled into the wide crack looking for possibilities. As she pulled into the roof there was a moment where I could make out a face and eyes. I pushed the shutter hoping for the best. This image was one of the few that came through.