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East Face Complete 
Inside Passage, The 
Less Talk, More Sauce 
Satan's Toy 
Weak Sauce 

East Face Complete 

5.7

   
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Type: Trad, 6 pitches, 930 feet
Consensus: 5.6 [details]
FA: R. Cassady & J. Nading, 1994.
Submitted By: Leo Paik on Apr 8, 2001

You & This Route  |  Other Opinions (7)
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Looking from the belay inside the arch at me doing...

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Description 

Bit of an alpinish romp. Some details here may prove useful. This description here was our attempt to follow close to the line described by Rossiter's Flatiron guide.

Approach via Mesa Trail off CO Hwy 170, W of 93. N on Big Bluestem, then cross country. Somewhat hard to find. Get a good bearing on it before you're off in the woods. Once you are in the trees, it becomes harder to spot the flatiron. 3 rocks looked suggestive. Finally, it's higher.

We started about 50 feet L of the nadir of the rock.

P1. Per Rick Blair: Roach has the start a few feet left of the low point at a 3 foot high roof then angel up right to a big tree about 120 feet up, it goes 5.6, is steep for the Flatirons and quite run out.

Alternatively: Up a ramp 220 ft to a tree on a ledge. Light pro. Could be split into 2 pitches but belay stances were less obvious.

P2. From this ledge, you can go up a bowl, loop a flake, sling a tree, up to a tree, 170 ft.

P3. Up R across a slab to a chimney/slot, 60 ft. Belay somewhat au cheval.

P4. You can go up R to the edge but it may be better up middle of slab. 200+ ft. #4 Camalot useful.

P5. Up & traverse L , up a middle rib, to a ledge on the R. 190 ft. 2 wireds + #2 Camalot.

P6. Go up a rib & down, thru arch (airy) from R to L. Pull on a block, up a finger rail to the top. 80 ft.

Rap 55 ft to the N. Hike to Fatiron & then down.


Protection 

Flatirons rack to #4 Camalot.



Photos of East Face Complete Slideshow Add Photo
Lots of people on the summit, with me in the foreground on a summit above the Flying Flatiron.

Lots of people on the summit, with me in the foreg...


Comments on East Face Complete Add Comment
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By George Bell
From: Boulder, CO
Sep 29, 2003

This climb is quite easy up until the last pitch or so. The last pitch is quite wild and memorable. From inside the arch, you are tempted to tug on a loose block to exit onto the ramp. It is not clear exactly what is holding this block in place, so be careful!

By Rick Blair
From: Denver
May 17, 2009

The start in the description above was obvious but not the same as what Roach has in his book. Roach has the start a few feet left of the low point at a 3 foot high roof then angel up right to a big tree about 120 feet up, it goes 5.6, is steep for the Flatirons and quite run out.

By Julius Beres
From: Boulder, CO
Oct 14, 2011
rating: 5.7 R

Even by Flatiron standards, I thought the first pitch was run out enough to warrant at least an R rating. I was practically done with the pitch before getting in any pro. The hardest move is right off the deck and then it gets easier, but it has more lichen than most, and hence it is a bit unnerving to be that high without gear. The rest of the climb was mellow, although the route description wasn't very helpful after P2.... I just went up belaying at trees until I hit the final pitch, which was fun, and pretty easy. First move off the ground seemed like the hardest (I went straight up just left of the low point over the roof).

By Rick Blair
From: Denver
Jul 6, 2012

Julius had the same experience as I did. There is a small pocket halfway up the opening face that takes a red or pink tricam and is bomber, if you don't find that you only get one more piece near the top. In the Haas book, we are referring to the "East Face" route which matches the original route in Roach's book. This way appears much more exciting than the one listed above.