East Face, North Side 

I'd agree about the protection, especially some of the belays are very poor. We ran out a 50 meter rope on the 3rd and 4th pitches and were nowhere near a decent belay both times. After the 4th pitch, just before crossing up and right to the summit ridge, the belay was just a couple of marginal tri-cams stuffed into the same pocket. Add to this the fact that it was sometimes necessary to climb 40' from these belays before placing the first piece of protection off the belay, and really this route is more serious than a lot of the other "S" rated Flatiron climbs in my opinion. To be consistent with other ratings in Gerry Roach's flatiron rating system, I'd give this F5 - S, instead of F4. Although the climbing was easier, it felt as serious to me as Satan's Slab, which Roach says is "not for the casual flatiron scrambler".

Cool - I thought "F4" felt like a sandbag. I would probably rate this 5.4 if I had not seen a guidebook rating. Glad I didn't solo it as I had originally considered.

My belays were all pretty good, but I used every inch of a 60 meter rope and did a tiny bit of simulclimbing to reach the tree at the end of the crack. I had at least one very good piece at each belay(and a firm stance), so maybe a 60 meter rope should be considered mandatory to keepthis from being vs.

For those of us who hate to carry a rope when climbing east faces in the Flatirons, there is a way of descending the Fifth without rapping from the summit. On the north ridge, just before the last stretch to the summit, there is a notch in the ridge with a large block wedged in it. Squirm through the hole under the block (pretty tight for me- I'm 6' 150lbs). Carefully downclimb the mossy slab to the lip where you need to pull a slightly sketchy reverse-mantle (pretty reachy for me- again I'm 6' tall) to lower yourself to a ledge 10 feet off the ground. It didn't feel any sketchier to me than downclimbing the south face of the First and its certainly less exposed. However, you may want to upclimb this descent sometime before committing to climbing the Fifth without a rope.

After climbing this route this morning, I can confirm that it is considerably more difficult than the F4 (5.0-5.2) rating given in the Roach guidebook. This is not, in my opinion, the easiest route on this rock. That honor goes to the East Face, South Side route, which is also cleaner and more enjoyable (if not quite as long). I have soloed the South Side route more than once, and would probably not solo this North Side route. A better rating would be F5 (5.4).

Of course, it's always possible that I just didn't find the easy way up...but I've climbed it twice now and it felt pretty thin both times.

I'll second Mark's comment that this route is harder than the E. face South Side. The rock tends to be lichenous, and thus a bit suspect, protection opportunities are sparse, and the most difficult moves are harder than what I encountered on the South side.

That said, this is a fantastic route can be done by starting at and staying very near to the north margin of the rock. Great exposure and good climbing for the 'moderately serious though outwardly casual Flatiron scrambler'.

Not F4

Just climbed this for the 2nd time today, here's a way to do it so that with a 60 meter rope you at least get decent belays. On the 1st pitch run almost to the end of the 60 m , drop into the chimney slot and belay on a really nice level spot down in the chimney. This is also nice and cool on a hot day. There's a nice easy vertical diagonal traverse out of the chimney on huecos, or else just step out on the face just below the belay. The key is making the 2nd pitch short. Just climb 50 or 60 feet and belay on a comfortable flake, the last obvious spot before the next steep section. 3rd pitch is long again, climb up to one of the two prominent trees close to a full rope length out. From there on, 2 or so pitches end the climb. It would also be possible to make the first pitch shorter and the second pitch long, but I think the belay in the chimney is much nicer than moving left and working out a scimpy belay lower down on the first pitch.

Anyway, I think this is one of the best flatiron climbs - much better than E. face S. side, whatever the rating should be!

Used a 60m rope and did the whole thing in 5 pitches. I don't think we started this pitch in the right place. We started in a very wide gash above a large rock slab(maybe the largest crack on the face?) and the pro was very runout and the lichenous rock made it sketchy. I recommend moving up and left of that slab about 20' and starting in some smaller cracks there. I'd say the way I started it had some 5.6 moves on the first pitch. 2nd pitch got easier and I was back on route for P3. Belay stations were marginal until I reached the North ridge notch at the end of P3. Rarely placed more than 6 pieces (including natural pro) on a pitch. Leaders should be comfortable with 30'+ runout. P4 (1st north ridge pitch) was great fun and beautiful view. Got my only bomber belay station where I could place 3 nice pieces and belay in relative comfort and saw some raptors circling close by. P5 to the summit was total runout for the last 50', as I doubt the 3 small horns I slung would have held in a fall. Airy climbing and easy rap north off huge CMC eyebolt. Finding the right start would have made the first two pitches more enjoyable.

Rick Accomazzo and I found the ropeless downclimb off the Fifth Flatiron for the first time this morning. I'll elaborate on the earlier comment about how to do this. From the summit, downclimb 80' to a prominent notch in the northeast ridge. Find a hole that is just the right size and lower yourself through to a comfortable stance on a sloping shelf. A backpack will definitely not go through this hole unless it is removed from its wearer. A 200-pound person will go through. Don't ask me how I know this.

The sloping shelf is lichen-covered, but there are a few footholds that inspire confidence. At the far east end of the shelf, near a tiny tree, there are some reasonably good, positive handholds close to the edge. Use these to lower yourself down an overhanging wall to a ledge 10' off the ground. This is the only hard move and it is probably 5.4. Once on this ledge, scramble west to hiking territory.

One of the best solos in the Flatirions - continuous, exposed w/a great summit and rap off - don't forget a rope on your back. However, it should be noted that Roach's (F4) 5.0-5.2 rating for the climb belies the difficulty on the ~2nd pitch. (His line seems to move futher to the left (S.) of the crack, whereas the natural tendency is to stay near the crack for its duration up to the sm. tree.) Lookout for the flaky, bad rock on this crux portion. I'd rate the route a fairly continous 5.4 until the ridgeline.

Did this beautiful route yesterday in 5 long pitches (60m rope) and one tiny last pitch to the summit. Fun climbing. More lichen than I'm like'n but not too bad. Crux made me a little nervous on the runout but then, what would Flatirons be without runouts!? I would concur with a 5.5 S rating in several spots. 5.4 seems a bit conservative to me. I got in good gear on pitches 4 and 5. A little thunderstorm threatened our journey in middle of pitch 3, but we lucked out. The ridge was easy and fun. Thanks for the beta on this webpage. It helped my trip go smoothly. I have respect for those who would solo this route...although half the time it seems like solo on lead anyway!

What a great climb! And thanks to mp.com and its wonderful users, the beta on this page for pitches, raps, and descent (south side, thanks George!) is spot on. We did it in 5 logical pitches with no simulclimbing. They were all ~60m except for a short final summit bid.

The 1st was a pretty sketch anchor but a comfortable ledge (I thought route crux was on this pitch). 2nd was a solid tree with at least 2 other solid trunks within 10m. 3rd was comfy on ridge, 4th was in big system just under summit.

Again, the great, previous info on this page will lead to another great Flatiron summit!