In the late 1930’s, professional mountain climbers gave their attention to Devils Tower. Although the summit of the giant formation had by then been reached a number of times by means of the ladder which Rogers had built in 1893, no one had reached the top without this device. With the consent of the National Park Service, three mountain climbers, all members of the American Alpine Club of New York City, led by Fritz Wiessner, in 1937 made the first ascent of the Tower solely by rock-climbing techniques. They reached the top in four hours and forty-six minutes. This party made many scientific observations and brought down samples of the rock as well as vegetation found there. Eleven years later 16 members of the Iowa Mountain Climbers Club, after reaching the summit, hoisted bedding and food and spent the night. As of December 31, 1975, there have been 4,051 individual ascents of the formation by skilled climbers. It was not until 1955 that James McCarthy and John Rupley made the first ascent on the west face. At the present time, there are 49 different routes and all sides of the tower have now been climbed. [Illustration: Devils Tower from the southeast along Tower Trail, showing the following climbing routes: (1) _Durrance_; (2) _Sundance_; (3) _Pseudo Wiessner_; (4) _Wiessner_; (5) _Bon Homme_; (6) _Bailey Direct_. _Courtesy National Park Service._] In the fall of 1941 the Tower made the headlines of the Nation’s leading newspapers. This was brought about through the foolhardy stunt of a professional parachutist named George Hopkins. Without the consent or knowledge of National Park Service officials, Hopkins, who held a number of United States and world’s records for spectacular jumps, on October 1 parachuted from an airplane to the top of the Tower. His plan was to make his descent by means of a one-half inch 1,000-foot rope which was dropped from the plane. However, this rope landed on the side of the Tower and Hopkins was unable to get it. The Park Service was confronted with a serious problem, and newspapers throughout the country made the most of the predicament. Telegrams and letters offering advice on how to rescue Hopkins came from all over the United States. Meanwhile, food and blankets were dropped to him while Service officials considered how to get the man down from the giant formation.