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Inaugural Crag
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Ascendancy 
Face-Off 
Fallen 
Giuoco Piano 
Ramp, The 
Rise Above This 

Inaugural Crag 


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Elevation: 8,500'
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Administrators: Ben Mottinger, Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monomaniac, Tom Erickson
Submitted By: Richard M. Wright on Jan 25, 2009

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A commemorative route on Inaugural Crag: January 2...

Description 

What were you doing on January 20, 2009? The first route on the relatively diminutive Inaugural Crag was put up shortly after the inauguration, hence the commemorative name. IC is a south facing crag composed of almost perfect granite. It should be host to half a dozen routes from low angle slabs to gently overhanging faces. IC gets good sun most of the day. While the hill-side above IC is very broken up, there are other good granite crags with potential for much longer routes. The first route in on IC has been called "Ascendancy", in recognition of Barack Obama's election. Ascendancy was bolted and cleaned on Jan. 20th. A run through the next day revealed it to pack a lot of strenuous punch in 60ft. Presently there are six routes established on the crag.


Getting There 

Traveling west on I-70, Inaugural Crag is approached from a pullout 1.9 miles west of the exit 232 sign for Empire. The pullout will get a car far enough off I-70 that the police won't tag the vehicle. IC is readily visible low on the hill side 0.1 miles east of the pullout. No specific trail exists at this point although a system of cairns maps an easy way through the fragile terrain.


The Classics

Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Inaugural Crag:
The Ramp   5.9     Sport, 1 pitch, 90 feet   
Giuoco Piano   5.10-     Trad, Sport, 1 pitch, 40 feet   
Fallen   5.10     Trad, Sport, 1 pitch, 50 feet   
Face-Off   5.11a/b     Sport, 1 pitch, 60 feet   
Rise Above This   5.11b     Sport, 1 pitch, 80 feet   
Ascendancy   5.12a     Sport, 1 pitch, 60 feet   
Browse More Classics in Inaugural Crag

Featured Route For Inaugural Crag

Ascendancy 5.12a  CO : Georgetown : Inaugural Crag
Best route at the crag, Ascendancy fires up a nice face and dihedral system at 5.11 climbing to a difficult arete sequence. A no hands rest comes just before the left arching finale and after standing on top of the arete. Cruxy work comes in getting established on the arete and then moving up it via a powerful pinch. I was spit off the arete on a red point burn, where upon Mark clinched the FFA with a nice solution to getting established on the arete and then powering straight up it. Despite bol...[more]   Browse More Classics in CO


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By Dankasaurus
From: Lyons, CO
Aug 28, 2012

What was I doing on 1/20/2009? Praying for "Hope and Change" from the anointed one.

And what did we get? I deeply regret my vote for Obama.

A crag to commemorate BHO's inauguration? How pathetic. At least it's a pile.