Climbing Devils Tower. In May of 1937, Fritz Wiessner submitted a formal application to the National Park Service to climb Devils Tower National Monument. What he wanted to do was unprecedented: a technical rock climb up the 867-foot monolith, unaided by artificial devices. Although several people had been to the summit of the Tower, all who had done so accomplished the climb by means of a stake ladder built in 1893. Wiessner wanted to use ropes, pitons, and his technical climbing abilities. The park service gave him permission.