Ragnarok Rock Climbing

The approach is fairly long, although with some idea of where you are headed it doesn't have to be that strenuous. Pedal your bike along forest road 538 until you get to the Slabbo/Boulder Pile parking area. There is a faint trail on the north side of the Slabbo right below the rock- Follow this. Pick your way through open forest to the saddle between the Boulder Pile and Ragnarock, but the route is around the backside. Don't go too far before cutting uphill to the saddle, as the [further] gullies are steep and unpleasant. Now pick your way down and around to the SE face of the crag through the burn, watching for poison ivy along the base of the rock. You will see some old bleached slings hanging from the rock that make you feel like you are in the twilight zone, no one has climbed here in a long time.

Per Dave Clark 5.10: 1. Bike the closed road from the parking area at CO Hwy 126 to and past the former Top of the World Campground for a total of about 3.5 miles. The last half mile is mostly descending and passes the well-marked Colorado Trail crossing. Right after crossing a low point in the road there is a roughly 90-degree right-hand bend in the road with an obvious old closed road on the outside (left) of the bend, with a barrier and "tank trap" earth berm.

2. Follow this closed road uphill for a couple hundred yards. It's possible to ride a mountain bike on this road, but it is not easy. Stash your bike somewhere and continue about 150 yards past the old plywood sign near the high point on this road.

3. Looking SE from here you can clearly see Slabbo in the foreground and the BoulderPile/Ragnarok combo beyond. Bushwhack downhill off the right side of the road, aiming to go around the east side of Slabbo. There are no trails of any consequence, so find the path of least resistance that stays within about 100 feet of the bottom of Slabbo's NE face.

4. Continue towards the left side of the Boulder Pile and across a wide saddle between Slabbo and the BP. It isn't obvious, but you can start to see the narrow gap between BP and Ragnarok. Aim for that gap, but don't go too far left to avoid the steep gully on the NE side of the gap.

5. As you reach the gap, it becomes a narrow (150 foot?) saddle with Ragnarok on your left and BP on your right. This is a good place to leave any gear you don't need on the climb because you can scramble down a 4th-class gully back to this saddle after topping out on Ragnarok.

6. Descend SE from the narrow saddle, and circumvent the bottom of Ragnarok around to the left (east) until you find Fun Climb 101.