I have wanted to climb in Needles, South Dakota for as long as I have been a climber. I saw photos of impossibly skinny spires and heard stories about John Gill sending the Thimble when there was a damn railing under the thing. Coming here and getting to touch the rock, I knew immediately it was exactly what I expected—beautiful formations with terrifying routes. This is definitely a place where you have to get very used to climbing really far above terrible gear. And if you send, you get to simul-rap off a summit smaller than the counter in our van. We only got in one day before the rain absolutely nuked the entire area, but it was worth it.
