Climbing America's Most Bizarre Rock Formation

"Climbing America's Most Bizarre Rock Formation" is a rock climbing video (30 minutes) published by Noah Kane on November 27, 2025 with 1.7 million views. Available to watch free on CouchClimbs.

Devils Tower rises from the Wyoming plains like something out of a fever dream — a massive column of hexagonal basalt columns that looks less like a mountain and more like a giant's bundle of pencils shoved through the earth. In this film, Noah Kane and Ethan Heinrichs take on two classic routes on this iconic and deeply unusual formation: the sustained crack climbing of El Matador (5.10d) and the historic Durrance route (5.7+), while digging into the rich and sometimes contentious history of one of America's most recognizable landmarks. What makes this film worth watching goes beyond the climbing itself. The routes weave up splitter cracks that feel unlike anything else in American climbing, and watching the pair navigate the exposure and technique required to reach the summit is genuinely thrilling. But the film also doesn't shy away from the tower's complicated story — the voluntary climbing ban that sparks real debate in the climbing community, and the cultural significance of the site to Indigenous peoples. It's a Thanksgiving release that manages to be both a celebration of adventure and a thoughtful look at who our wild places belong to.

Noah Kane · 30:43

Climbing El Matador 5.10d and Durrance 5.7+ on Devils Tower! Subscribe to Ethan's channel: @EthanHeinrichs Happy Thanksgiving ya'll! 0:00 - Intro 2:14 - Climbing History 4:44 - Climbing El Matador 5.10d 23:23 - Summit 24:26 - Climbing Ban / Controversy 26:00 - Climbing Durrance 5.7+