![Zach Harrison on the first free ascent of the Southeast Face (III 5.11+ R, 520') of Zoroaster Temple, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. [Photo] Blake McCord](https://alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/a60-zoroaster-1-905x620.jpg)
Still Distant Temple: Zoroaster, Grand Canyon
In this On Belay story that first appeared in Alpinist 60, Jeff Snyder writes of completing a first free ascent of the Southeast Face of Zoroaster Temple (III 5.11+ R, 520′) in the Grand Canyon with Zach Harrison and Blake McCord. The climbing was dangerous and crumbly in a hot desert, but Snyder discovers an appeal that is rooted far deeper than the cacti that pioneering climbers once slung for protection on the Temple’s first documented ascent in 1958.