The Thimble | E6/6C (approx) Trad climb at Needles Eye Area

United States / South Dakota / Custer County
mountainproject.com

A pioneering 'very high highball' with V5 climbing, done ground-up in 1961 by John Gill. It is alternatively considered as a route which probably makes it the first 5.12 in the USA. The car park fence originally extended into the landing zone but has since been removed. The climb is now usually attempted above a large stack of pads.

Ironically, the climb is somewhat outside Gill's normal style: it is thin, technical and high whereas John would more typically focus on large gymnastic moves.

The rock is somewhat fragile and it is likely the route has changed since it was first done. Most notably a large hold around half height seems to have broken off. [2]

References

[1] https://americanalpineclub.org/legacy-series

[2] Kris Hampton talks about trying the line in 2026 https://open.spotify.com/episode/1P4yKmMiwDLWXdJ2ka2VR4

Contributors
TdG
34 contributions since 26th January 2026.
18 contributions since 26th February 2021.
2 contributions since 26th January 2026.

Pics + Vids

No pics or vids yet.

Ascents

3 successful ascents and 2 unsuccessful attempts recorded.

Climber Style Ascent Date Suggested Grade
First ascent.

A truly remarkable ascent for it's time. It was worked from the ground up, without the benefit of climbing shoes or bouldering mats.

An early repeat, 30 years after the first ascent. Ground-up with a thin makeshift pad.

It's starting to get dark. So I start heading up it. And this time I find this, you know, triple match sequence on these little knobs the size of sugar cubes. And finally get my left hand where I want it. I'm like, whoa, okay, here we go. And I reach out right to this crystal that I haven't been to before.

I'm going like, okay, now this is it, man. Once you let go of that left hand, you're going to the top. And at that point, for want of a better way of explaining it, I had my out of body experience.

I've only had one. But I remember the feeling like I was floating behind, you know, like maybe five feet behind, like drone’s eye view of the boulder or whatever, watching myself climb. And it was utterly effortless.

I just went from hold to hold. I remember, like, there's all these tourists down there. You know, popular tourists pull out. It was dark enough that the flashes on their cameras were going off. The rock would light up and then go dark and light up and go dark. And this one woman says, “Oh, he's climbing just like a monkey up there.”

And I was like, whoa. … [it was an experience] like nothing I'd ever had in my life, nothing I ever believed was possible. And then one move from the top, I snapped out of it. I'm like, oh, motherfucker, I'm so far up here! And I go lunging for this big crystal at the top and grab it and pull over the top.” [3]

References

[1] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/943441849055324

[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/CamuImWuc8i/

[3] https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-nugget-climbing-podcast/id1497082818?i=1000552418912

Chuck's fall from the high crux is immortalised in the film 'Friction Addiction: Black Hills Gold', which also features interviews with John Gill.

References

[1] https://youtu.be/jiJdntnqWNU?t=1078

References

[1] https://open.spotify.com/episode/1P4yKmMiwDLWXdJ2ka2VR4

I considered my greatest failure to be my efforts on the thimble. I could see that even if I worked on it forever I would never achieve it.