The Urban Alpine Crag Rock Climbing

Urban? Alpine? This diminutive wall in Deer Creek Canyon has a uniquely North Face feel only seconds from a busy road. Urban – well-bolted, moderate, sport routes with interesting and cerebral climbing on fairly solid gneiss/schist with a Clear Creek feel and a 45 second approach. Alpine – said approach is horrendously loose and steep; lichen, moss, dirt, and a bad weather magnet give a distinctly un-sport crag appeal. Add in some rattlesnakes, unstable ground, and aggressive vegetation and you have the making of an adventure within sight of DTC. This little fin of rock will give you your money’s worth with some tenuous, inobvious climbing, and “thinky” routes. All the routes are short and as mentioned, very well-bolted. This is a great little crag for those after work burns on the Southwest side of the Metro.

Due to the nature of the rock and difficulty of getting above, most routes are not top-rope friendly with the exception of K2 and Morin a Minute. Plan on leading. All the routes can be easily done with a 60 meter rope. The very friendly nature of the bolt spacing makes these excellent first time leads at the grade. The starts are usually the most difficult section of the routes, and although the climbing can be tenuous, the rock is very well featured. Since this is a new crag, it still is being cleaned, and there are little pockets of loose rock. It is best to protect the belayer here. It is North-facing and shady even in the high summer.