Moving to Colorado Springs (or "the Springs")

...from the rock climbing capital of the world, Orlando, Florida (insert laughs here). Practically all my rock climbing experience is from a gym just outside Orlando - a cool little place called Aiguille Rock Climbing Center (but its about a half hour from my house so I only go there about once a week).

I went rock climbing for the first time in 2012 on vacation in South Dakota at a place called Sylvan Lake and became addicted... it scared the sh!t out of me because heights really intimidate me... but I love being scared and feeling so alive afterwards... after that I immediately began looking for places close to Orlando to climb... I found the Aiguille gym and I screwed holds all over my garage... and then I found out that Historic Banning Mills in Georgia has the worlds tallest freestanding rock wall... so I drove there and climbed that... then last year my wife and I traveled to Holland to visit friends... and Holland has the 2nd highest freestanding wall, Excalibur... but you have to lead climb it and I didn't have any knowledge of lead climbing... I tried to book a class with Aiguille, but I didn't do it far enough in advance... so I watched youtube instructional videos and got the hang of it in my garage... so I lied to the guys in Holland and told them I was experienced at lead climbing(not a good idea, I know... I KNOW), and I climbed Excalibur (I asked to climb the easiest route)...

Anyway, I decided I can't live in flat Florida anymore and at the end of this month I'm moving to "the Springs" and would like to know what places are really good for a beginner to start toproping... not too high (I only have a 50 meter rope right now) and preferably with minimal gear... I'm working on building my rack up, but I got a ways to go. Also, I would prefer routes of 5.9 or lower right now, as my experience is more with manufactured "holds" instead of actual rock.

Sorry, the post is a little long... I wanted to give a little history (and "little" is the extent of my rock climbing history).

By the way, I hope I'm using this forum correctly... if not, I apologize, I'm not really forum savvy.

Locally there is a top rope wall at the Garden of the gods, however Im not sure your 50m will work (just get a 60-70 you're limiting yourself so much!). There is a park in town called Ute Valley that has some short top ropes, but the rock quality isn't the best. N. Cheyenne Canyon also has a top rope area but you need some more equipment to make top ropes from trees, as there are no anchors.

As for outside the springs......the world is yours my man. There are more climbing areas in Colorado than books in the Bible.

Castlewood Canyon State Park is in between Colorado Springs and Denver. Plenty of toproping there from 5.5 to 5.12. Some long slings and basic trad gear will expand your options.

There are also several walls at Red Rock Canyon Open Space (south side of 24 directly across from Garden of the Gods) with the tops easily accessible for top roping.

Congratulations on your move to CO Springs. You will love it here, there is a ridiculous amount of climbing here only a short drive away.

I second what Dan said. You will need a longer rope. When I moved here all I had was a 50m, and had to leave a bail biner on a couple of 30m+ sport routes when I couldn't lower all the way down.

Always remember to knot the belayer's end of the rope!!!

Thanks for the quick responses and advice... I love the Garden of the Gods and I'll look up the other places you guys mentioned... I'll be jobless when I get there so I'll have some time to check out those places until I find work... I'll have to teach my wife how to belay... I hope she didn't take out a life insurance policy on me.

Looks like I'm gonna need bigger rope... I figured that. I just ordered a few oval carabiners and 2 more locking ones (I have 2 now so that'll give me 4), along with two 24 inch cordlettes... I plan to buy about four 24 inch slings, and two 48 inch slings... I have a couple of quickdraws which I guess I could use on bolts for an anchor... Does that sound pretty good for starting out?

Anyway, I know I'm gonna love it there.... me and my wife visited in May 2014 for the first time and loved it so much we spent Christmas there that same year. We came back up this February to find an apartment.... I can't wait to live there.

Once again, thanks for the great free advice... "free" is right in my price range.

Duane,

I moved here with my wife in November and didn't have a job. I climbed until february almost every day! Job market isn't terrible, and the springs isn't got awful expensive so you have some breathing room typically while hunting. Hut up one of the local gyms and I am sure you will find people willing to show you around. Feel free to PM me as well when you get out here.

Say Dan how's the local climbing nearby the Springs?

How's the traffic going north / south to the Denver area?

The traffic is at times unbearable. Such as today. I went up to Boulder to Boulder some overhanging projects, and it took forever.

The local climbing is good. I just prefer Elevenmile, which is 45min to an Hour west. I find the rock to be super bomber and more my style.

Shelf is the same distance but that place is a zoo. Elevenmile is still peaceful, especially places outside the park like Heavens Gate.

Dan,

Great to hear from someone in a similar situation... I'll definitely bug you with a PM when I get there... thanks.

Duane Skinner wrote:Thanks for the quick responses and advice... I love the Garden of the Gods and I'll look up the other places you guys mentioned... I'll be jobless when I get there so I'll have some time to check out those places until I find work... I'll have to teach my wife how to belay... I hope she didn't take out a life insurance policy on me. Looks like I'm gonna need bigger rope... I figured that. I just ordered a few oval carabiners and 2 more locking ones (I have 2 now so that'll give me 4), along with two 24 inch cordlettes... I plan to buy about four 24 inch slings, and two 48 inch slings... I have a couple of quickdraws which I guess I could use on bolts for an anchor... Does that sound pretty good for starting out? Anyway, I know I'm gonna love it there.... me and my wife visited in May 2014 for the first time and loved it so much we spent Christmas there that same year. We came back up this February to find an apartment.... I can't wait to live there. Once again, thanks for the great free advice... "free" is right in my price range.

Duane,

I don't think 2x24 inch cordelettes are going to do you much good. Did you mean 24 foot? What are you planning on using the cordelette for? Slinging trees/boulders for top roping?

You may be better off just ordering a long length of mil-spec or climb spec 1" webbing for top roping anchors. Cordelettes are typically used in multi-pitch trad routes, where you have to carry the cordelette up the route with you, so you want something that is somewhat compact. Webbing is much cheaper (mil-speck can sometimes be had for $0.25 / foot), and is just as strong if not stronger than a cordelette. Order about 30 feet or more. You will be able to use the webbing in much the same way as a really long cordelette.

If i am setting up a TR on a bolted anchor... I use 2 quick draws if it is just me and my climbing partner, climbing the route one each. Or, for a group of people, I usually just use 2 x 24" slings with lockers opposite and opposed.

cyclestupor wrote: Duane, I don't think 2x24 inch cordelettes are going to do you much good. Did you mean 24 foot? What are you planning on using the cordelette for? Slinging trees/boulders for top roping? You may be better off just ordering a long length of mil-spec or climb spec 1" webbing for top roping anchors. Cordelettes are typically used in multi-pitch trad routes, where you have to carry the cordelette up the route with you, so you want something that is somewhat compact. Webbing is much cheaper (mil-speck can sometimes be had for $0.25 / foot), and is just as strong if not stronger than a cordelette. Order about 30 feet or more. You will be able to use the webbing in much the same way as a really long cordelette. If i am setting up a TR on a bolted anchor... I use 2 quick draws if it is just me and my climbing partner, climbing the route one each. Or, for a group of people, I usually just use 2 x 24" slings with lockers opposite and opposed.

LOL... yeah, it was actually (2) 20 foot cordelettes that I just ordered (I was probably thinking of slings when I typed that).

Thanks for the info on the webbing and the quickdraw usage... I wish I would have joined MP and asked some questions before I started buying stuff. I bought a Toproping book from Falcon Publishing and it suggested what might be a decent start out inventory, all information I could have probably found on the internet... but, oh well, I like flipping through pages. I'll make sure to buy some 1 inch webbing too... I just won't tell my wife how much stuff I'm buying for climbing right before I move somewhere with no income yet(whoops)... but $0.25 per foot is pretty managable... of course I just realized I'll have to buy her a harness to belay me (that's a purchase I can't hide from her)... jeez, how do you guys afford this? LOL.

Rock climbing gear is kind of pricey. Just wait till you start buying trad gear. But there are many other hobbies/sports that are much more expensive... Golf, mountain biking, skiing, motocross, fly fishing. Compared to any of those, climbing is cheap.

Since you already bought 2 x 20' cordelettes, and a handfull of slings, you can probably skip buying the 1" webbing for now.

As for harnesses, if your budget is really tight, you could always buy one of these... gearexpress.com/abc-student…
They are one size fits all, and work fine for top rope belay. But they aren't comfortable to hang in and have no gear loops. Your wife will like you more (or hate you less) if you buy her something like blackdiamondequipment.com/e…

I just though of another desperate option.
animatedknots.com/harness/#…

As long as you tie it correctly, this will work fine, but if you make your wife use it, she will probably think you are crazy. And if you spend much time hanging, she will probably divorce you ;).

LOL!!! Yeah, I think I'm gonna have to spring for the harness... She would divorce me before I finished putting that on her!

cyclestupor wrote:Since you already bought 2 x 20' cordelettes, and a handfull of slings, you can probably skip buying the 1" webbing for now.

Oops.... I didn't see this post yesterday... I looked straight at your next post about the harness made out of the webbing... I already bought a 1" x 30' length of webbing... "D'OH"!!!

...oh well, better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it... at least it was a cheap purchase ($13.50).

I also said "the hell with it", and bought another rope. I found a 70m Elderid Granit 9.8mm for $129... I figure that will suffice for now.