The North Gym  Photos:  Recent | Best | Popular Elevation:  7,100' Lat, Long:  38.6395, -105.215 Map Page Views:  17,951. Good page?    Administrators:  Ben Mottinger, Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monomaniac, Tom Erickson Submitted By:  Monomaniac on Mar 15, 2011 Make this area a Favorite What's New   Print a Mini-Guide with routes Add Route  Add Photo  Add Comment  Add Event

Teenage Prostitutes Area (the northern half of The...

Description 

"The North Gym" is a generic name for the section of cliff that extends from the north end of The Gym to the south/east end of The North End. The cliffline faces more or less east, but the southern end (aka "The Arcade") faces slightly south and is less vegetated, so it tends to be much warmer than the mid-section ("Teenage Prostitutes Area") that sees little sun, making this cliff a great destination for those days in which you want morning sun but evening shade. There are currently only a handful of routes here, but they are all high quality, with several among the best of their respective grades at Shelf. The unique features found on this cliffline provide the potential for many more memorable routes should someone find the desire to put them up. There are few moderates (though Power Milk & Bagels is surely among the best 5.10's at Shelf), but many great lines in the 5.11/12 range, including one of Shelf's best 12a's, Who Left The Fridge Open?, and currently Shelf's hardest route, Apogee Pending.

This was one of the very first cliffs at Shelf to be developed. The route Teenage Prostitutes was established in October 1985 by Neil Canon, Bob Robertson & Rich Aschert. The ascent was done ground-up and included the use of at least one piton (and a star-drive), which is still in-situ to this day. For whatever reason, only five or so more routes were put in before local activists turned their attention to other cliffs. Another five routes were installed by unknown parties in the ensuing 20 or so years, before the 2011 surge in development.

Many of the routes here have high first bolts. A stick clip is highly recommended.

Routes L --> R: 

"The Arcade":
1. "Tommy" (Unnamed), 5.11, 5 red bolts, 2 RBA.
2. "Pacman Gomez" (Unnamed), 5.11, 6 red bolts, 2 RBA.
3. Power Milk & Bagels, 5.10-, 8 red bolts, 2 RBA.

Short Break

4. Closed Project, ?, ~7 bolts, no anchor.

Short Break

"Tropical Wall":
5. Observe God's Mistake, 5.10, 6 bolts, 2 BA (shared with next route).
6. Lead Farmer, Direct start to OGM, 5.12, 4 bolts, plus last 2 bolts of OGM, Shared 2 BA.
7. Closed Project, ?, ~5 bolts, 2BA.
8. Rum-Tum-Tuggernaughts, 5.11-, 7 bolts, 2 BA.
9. Here We Go Again... Again., 5.12, 5 bolts, 2 BA.
10. Earth Mama's Natural Night Camo, 5.10, 5 bolts, 2 BA.
11. Full Retard, extension to "Earth Mama's" through steep bulge, 5.13-, 2 bolts, no anchor.
12. Scorcher VI: Global Meltdown, 5.11-, 5 bolts 2 BA.
13. Who Left the Fridge Open?, 5.12-, 6 bolts, 2 BA.

Long Break

Gully

Approach Trail

"Teenage Prostitutes Area":
14. Unknown 1, 5.11-, ~9 bolts, 2 BA.
15. That's What She Said, 5.12+, 5 bolts, 2 BA (shared with previous route).
16. Power Thirteen, 5.13-, 6 bolts, 2 BA (shared with previous route).
17. Apogee Pending, 5.14-, 6 bolts, 2 BA.
18. Long Black Veil, 5.12, 6 bolts, 2 BA.
19. Flamingo Lane, 5.10+, 4 bolts, 2 BA.
20. Logan's Run, 5.12-, 4 bolts, 2 BA.

Short Break

21. "40-Year-Old Virgin" (Name Unknown), 5.11, 4 bolts, 2 BA.
22. "Black Crack" (Name Unknown), 5.9, 6 bolts, 2 BA, higher 2 BA.
23. Teenage Prostitutes, 5.12-, 8 bolts, piton, 2 BA.
24. Pimp's Main Prophet, 5.13, 5 bolts, 2 BA.

Short Break

"The Cirque":
25. Unknown #2, ?, 2 bolts + gear?, 3BA with long chains
26. Unknown 3, 5.10-, 5 bolts, 2BA shared with next route.
27. Spitting Image, 5.13-, 5 bolts, 2BA shared with previous route.

Long Break

28. Unknown #4 Rt Face of High Dihedral, ?, ? bolts, anchor?

Getting There 

Despite its obscure location, this cliff ironically has one of the shortest approaches at Shelf, due to the re-routing of the Cactus/Spiney/Gym approach.

Drive ~1.4 miles north from the (now-gated) Cactus Cliff Access Road, to a small pullout (also 0.8 miles south from the river crossing at The North End P-lot). At this pull-out, you should be more or less directly below the obvious, overhanging dihedral of "Apogee Pending". Drop off all your gear & passengers, then drive North 0.8 miles to The North End Parking (pull out on the left/west side of the road, just before the river crossing), park here, and shuffle back down the road to the drop-off point.

A steep trail heads south up the road cut, and continues south for another 30 yards or so, then begins to switch-back up the hill towards "Apogee Pending". Follow cairns, up a gully with loose red stones, past some cactus, then weaving through scattered pinon pines to the cliff base. The approach time is ~5 minutes from the road. Once at the cliff-base trail, head left for "The Arcade", and right for "Teenage Prostitutes Area" and beyond.

Alternatively, approach as for The Gym, but continue north along the cliffline for another 5 minutes or so past The Green Bonus & Bone 'n' Vein to arrive at the south end of "The Arcade". There is not much of a trail along this section of cliff, so travel with packs may be difficult.

The Classics

Featured Route For The North Gym

Power Milk & Bagels 5.10b  CO : Shelf Road : The North Gym

This is an outstanding route for the grade range, featuring excellent, sculpted pockets on a beautiful black panel. This gets shade much earlier than its neighbors to the left due to its slight NE aspect.Make easy but awkward moves straight up to and past the first bolt, avoiding some annoying vegetation, then veer hard right to the second bolt. The climbing improves drastically at this point, with a series of interesting mini-cruxes & long reaches (split by active rests) snaking up the long &...[more]   Browse More Classics in CO

Photos of The North Gym Slideshow

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Unknown #4, at the far north end of the Teen...	The original Teenage Prostitutes Area. Routes sho...	View to The Gym and beyond from the south end of T...
The Tropical Wall. Routes shown: 1. Observe God'...	Another view of The Tropical Wall: 1. Observe God...	Topo of the Cirque. 1. Unknown #2 (Gear Req...