Vampire/Black Widow Slab - Ice  Photos:  Recent | Best | Popular Elevation:  7,400' Lat, Long:  39.9968, -105.4143 Map Page Views:  1,546. Good page?    Administrators:  Ben Mottinger, Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monomaniac, Tom Erickson Submitted By:  Leo Paik on Sep 2, 2003 Make this area a Favorite What's New   Print a Mini-Guide with routes Add Route  Add Photo  Add Comment  Add Event

BETA PHOTO: Ah, those were the days!

Description 

This is a nice chunk of granite in the narrows of Boulder Canyon. It is been largely ignored by rock climbers, with the exception of a few obscure sports climbs at its base. However, for a few awesome winters, it was a site of excellent ice farming. A number of fine 1-3 pitch ice climbs were created. Hit and Run, Meow Mix, Mellow Yellow, Book of Secrets, Brown Recluse, Winkelman, Second Leg, Virtual Recluse, Virtual Reality, Scotty Gully, The Kerbash.

Getting There 

Drive up W Hwy 119 (aka Canyon) from the villa of Boulder past Boulder Falls. As you enter the narrows, about 8 1/2 miles from the Elephant Buttresses, there is a maze of rocks on the S side of the canyon, across from Boulder Creek. Just upstream from Vampire Rock (a medium sized chunk of rock about 3 pitches high) is a slightly lower angled mass called Black Widow Slab.

The Classics

Featured Route For Vampire/Black Widow Slab - Ice

Vampire Ice WI5-6 M5  CO : CO Ice & Mixed : ... : Vampire/Black Widow Slab - ...

This crag had at least 3 terrific farmed BC ice routes. In the winter of 1997, a vision of thin ice hanging down vertical granite became a reality. It had 3 pitches of some of the best ice in the Front Range, if briefly. Left Runnel, WI6 M5, mixed it up on the far left. Nosferatu, WI5, up the center used some rock route bolts. Unfortunately, this created some controversies. Can't we climbers live symbiotically? La Belle Morte, WI5+, on the right also used some rock bolts and also gained a...[more]   Browse More Classics in CO