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Narrows Proper

Colorado > Carbondale Area > Narrows

Description

This is the main hang at the Narrows, with the cleanest rock and the longest pitches. It's essentially a 20-foot-wide corridor with water-polished granite walls on either side. There is one sport route here and the rest is trad. All the routes have bolt anchors. Bring a 60-meter rope.

The main drawback is that the southeast side of the corridor, over the little hump and facing the highway, is very steep and slidey. Your best bet is to leave all your stuff on the little hump, using it as basecamp, and then access the routes from there.

I haven't seen any spontaneous rockfall in this zone, but it could happen. A helmet isn't a bad idea.

Getting There

Follow the approach trail as described for the Narrows area overall. About 20 minutes up the trail, you'll dead end right below a nice, 90-foot-tall slender buttress with little seams up red granite. Head right under this buttress and across talus, aiming for the obvious corridor 100 feet away, to the southeast.

Routes from Left to Right

5.10+ 6b+ 21 VII+ 20 E3 5b
 10
Chiroptophobia
Trad
5.11 6c+ 23 VIII- 23 E4 5c
 8
The Village Idiot
Trad, Sport
5.13 8a 29 X- 30 E7 6c R
 2
The Cement Garden
Trad, TR
5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a
 33
Jenga Buttress Crack aka 10a Crack
Trad
5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a
 15
People's Rebolt
Trad
5.10+ 6b+ 21 VII+ 20 E3 5b R
 4
Other People's Crack
Trad
5.8+ 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c
 18
People's Crack
Trad
5.11c 6c+ 24 VIII- 24 E4 6a
 13
Deep Eddy
Sport
5.12+ 7c 28 IX 27 E6 6b
 1
Screwheads
Sport
5.13a 7c+ 29 IX+ 29 E6 6c
 8
Red Faction
Sport
5.9+ 5c 17 VI 17 E1 5a X
 0
Fudge Judge
Trad
5.13a 7c+ 29 IX+ 29 E6 6c
 2
Cantaloupe
Sport
5.11c 6c+ 24 VIII- 24 E4 6a
 10
Choss Ninja
Sport
5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b
 26
Snap, Crackle, Pop
Trad
5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b
 29
The Art of Breaking
Sport
5.10d 6b+ 21 VII+ 21 E3 5b
 1
Sloppy
Sport
Route Name Location Star Rating Difficulty Date
Chiroptophobia
 10
5.10+ 6b+ 21 VII+ 20 E3 5b Trad
The Village Idiot
 8
5.11 6c+ 23 VIII- 23 E4 5c Trad, Sport
The Cement Garden
 2
5.13 8a 29 X- 30 E7 6c R Trad, TR
Jenga Buttress Crack aka 1…
 33
5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a Trad
People's Rebolt
 15
5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a Trad
Other People's Crack
 4
5.10+ 6b+ 21 VII+ 20 E3 5b R Trad
People's Crack
 18
5.8+ 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c Trad
Deep Eddy
 13
5.11c 6c+ 24 VIII- 24 E4 6a Sport
Screwheads
 1
5.12+ 7c 28 IX 27 E6 6b Sport
Red Faction
 8
5.13a 7c+ 29 IX+ 29 E6 6c Sport
Fudge Judge
 0
5.9+ 5c 17 VI 17 E1 5a X Trad
Cantaloupe
 2
5.13a 7c+ 29 IX+ 29 E6 6c Sport
Choss Ninja
 10
5.11c 6c+ 24 VIII- 24 E4 6a Sport
Snap, Crackle, Pop
 26
5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b Trad
The Art of Breaking
 29
5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b Sport
Sloppy
 1
5.10d 6b+ 21 VII+ 21 E3 5b Sport

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

The Narrows Corridor.
[Hide Photo] The Narrows Corridor.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

[Hide Comment] The 2008 edition of the Rifle guidebook, which includes the Narrows, indicates a 70 meter rope is required to lower off some of the prouder lines in this area, including Village Idiot. Jun 30, 2008
Derek F
Carbondale, CO
[Hide Comment] Bring a helmet for the belayer! The climbing is fun, but wedged blocks are everywhere, and there's nowhere to hide in the narrow corridor. Sep 28, 2010
Dana Piombino
Boulder, CO
[Hide Comment] I have scouted this area twice in the last month and there seems to be at least 10 to 15 fully bolted sport routes that have gone up since the information on this page has been last updated. I intend to slowly update with new routes as life permits. May 29, 2015
Alvaro Arnal
Aspen, CO
[Hide Comment] Thanks, Dana! All the new routes in the Narrows (and across the Western Slope) will be included in the new guidebook that's "hopefully" coming out this fall. May 29, 2015
BJ Sbarra
Carbondale, CO
[Hide Comment] Fall might be ambitious, but we'll see! Also, Dana, there are around 120 routes at the Narrows with not even 50 listed here. Happy exploring! May 29, 2015
[Hide Comment] Regarding the approach, the trail continues up and past the "slender buttress", rather than coming to a dead end. Besides this, I found the beta to be dead-on. Oct 4, 2021