In Boulder for two weeks to climb - suggestions!

Ok, time for a tick list from those-in-the-know.

My wife and I arrive in Boulder today for 2 weeks of climbing...

How about some suggestions for Eldo, Boulder Canyon, and the Flatirons?

Up to 5.10+ trad, 5.11+ sport.

We're looking for the must do classics in Eldo, high density and quality cragging in Boulder Canyon, and good days out in the Flatirons. No horror fests please, just good, clean climbing fun.

Thanks for the tips...
Andy

Well. I'm sure the crowds will be really low today and tomorrow all over the front range. I'd recommend an umbrella.

Tip your hat to Layton Kor and check out his Eldo and Lumpy classics. Anything on Sundance in Lumpy and then make sure you tick off Yellow Spur and Green Spur in Eldo.

Andy Laakmann wrote:Ok, time for a tick list from those-in-the-know. My wife and I arrive in Boulder today for 2 weeks of climbing... How about some suggestions for Eldo, Boulder Canyon, and the Flatirons? Up to 5.10+ trad, 5.11+ sport. We're looking for the must do classics in Eldo, high density and quality cragging in Boulder Canyon, and good days out in the Flatirons. No horror fests please, just good, clean climbing fun. Thanks for the tips... Andy

Upper Dream Canyon and Animal World for sport.

You should plan on a few days at Lumpy while you're here. Here are some of my all time favorites for Lumpy and Eldo.

Lumpy: Fat City to Cheap Date, J-Crack with the Loose J start, Pear Buttress, Loose Ends, The Nose, Turnkorner, Mainliner, Climb of the Ancient Mariner, Melvins Wheel, Romulan Territory, Pressure Drop, Gollums Arch.

Eldo: Superslab, Rosy Crucifiction, Outer Space, Hair City, Naked Edge, Green Spur, Rewritten, Yellow Spur, Disapearing Act, Over the Hill, Center Route, Rincon, Xanadu, Chockstone.

Is this with or without a kid in tow? That changes things immensely.

I woould vote for none of the above. Those are all good choices for the areas you mentioned. However, I highly suggest you head to the S Plate for great trad climbing. If your open to the S Plate here are some suggestions under 5.11(this list could be very long, but here are 5 good choices):

Center Route
Queer Bait
1st 2 pitches of Rambling Rose (one of my favorite 5.7 ever)
Turkey Shoot
Drumb Stick Direct

Some favorites good for this time of year are ones that get substantial sun at some point of the day if not most:

ELDO:
The Bastille (excepte hte W. face) and Peanuts will be shaded this time of year. GO elsewhere. Wind Tower will be cold by the creek, and shaded until lunch time on the West Face. THe West Ridge is the warmest sunniest place in Eldo, the higher the better.

• Gambit, a trad 5.8 on Shirt Tail would be great on a warm day without recent rain, and would provide GREAT views back into the fresh snow on the peaks.

While there, enjoy other area trad fun such as Cro Magnon (10a), Serraded Jam Crack (10a) or if you want to get squirley (and are tall) you can do the mixed-pro route, The Throne (11b/c) with a bolted crux. Great route, but be ready for it.

• Point Break (11a) is just around the corner on Rincon Wall. The 11a pitch is bolted, the 10d pitch has bolts and pins, and the rest is more mellow but requires trad gear.

YOu can join the fun gang-banging the first pitch of Rincon (5.9, trad) or the ever popular trad/TR's of 5.8 crack and 5.10 crack (can you guess the grades?

• Over The Hill (10b, trad with pins at cruxes) is a great climb that is supposedly 3 pitches long. I generally do it as one 65 meer pitch. The 5.9 fingercrack finish is excellent, as are the opening corners. Do Emerald City (trad 5.9) while you are there- it's 10 meters to the left. You can set a 70M toprope on Ariel Book (11a, trad) from a scramble down the ledge after the dihedrals if you want something harder, but don't want to do the insecure lead on thin gear. It's a fabulous pitch.
• Green Slab Direct (5.8) is a great climb and somewhat undertraveled compared to others in the area. Gear is no always present, but the climbing above gear is very reasonable. Do this on a warm day because P1 might be shaded or cold this time of year. If it gets downright warm, then perhaps you should also do Darkness Til Dawn (5.9+) in teh cold shadey dihedral to the right. It takes a 70M rope to lower off all the way, but a 60 and great attention to the ledge can be employed in substitute of a longer cord.
• If you end up in that general area, you'd be silly to miss Grandmothers Challange (trad 10c) which should take a 4" peice or #4 camalot or #10 hex... but hat's not for the crux. save a 1 or 1.5" cam for the crux after the wide bulge. Finish on Green Spur (5.9) to teh top... or for that matter, come back down and do the entire thing... the first two pitches are awesome. I prefer Green Spur to Yellow Spur, overall.
• Alice in Bucketland (5.8+) is a superior alternative to Upper Ruper if you want to do a long trade route and you feel good abou the day's weather. Take a double set of cams at least in the hand sizes for the long initial pitch- it takes occasional cams in craacks and you'll want to get them when you can. It is a great route- Access that climb from Ruper to the Rover Dihedral to the 3rd pitch of Ruper if you want to avoid the wide stuff on Ruper, or pass someone. It's a better pitch anyway!
• For mid-day short climbs in the sun, there are several at the area as for The Flakes (5.9), Whistle Stop (5.9), Cest la Morte (5.9) and the first pitch of Cest La Vie (5.9+). All are long single pitches with a 5 minute approach.
• Tagger (10c) gets afternoon sun and is a fun 3 pitches. Gear is thoughful, but not lacking. The 10c roof on P3 can have up to 3 aliens and a thin-hands cam to protect overhead through the crux, and you'll be done before your knee passes them. 5 minute approach again.
• Allisaur (trad 5.9) and Morning Thunder (5.9+, smaller gear) are on the South Buttress of the West Ridge, and get earlier sun than some other West Ridge climbs. Good times, short approach!
• Xanadu (10a, trad) is one of the best pitches of 10a in ELdo. Take a lot of smaller gear. Finish on handjams through a roof by adding Whiplash (10c, trad) as a 2nd pitch. Bushwack Crack (5.8), Chockstone (10a +, trad) and others int eh area are great. Don't let the grade of 11a on Muscular Dystrophy scare you. The crux is short and gear is at your waist Beta is on-line for the best placements.

FLATIRONS:

I'll spare you any speaches about the Iconic East Face slabs. But I will say this:

• The 3rd is frequently closed- now is your chance. * The Standard Route on the 1st may be mobbed. Fandango (5.5) is just as good and will be empty until they merge. Butterfly (5.7) is equally good.
• The NE face of the fifth is a nice option if you prefer some privacy and it has a great ridge on it.
• Satan's Slab (5.8, R) has a southern aspect to it and though the approach is longer, the route harder, and somewhat runout (yes, really) the route is amazing and the upper part sunny til near sunset. It is closed most of the year.

There are plenty of non-slab options in the flatirons:

• Waiting FOr Columbus (10c, mixed) faces south and is a good diversion after rapping down from teh 3rd flatiron, as are Friday's Folly and Saturday's Folly (both trad), Also the West Face (10c, trad) takes great cams in fingerlocks for the crux and you rap down the 3rd to the base of it!
• Fern Canyon has an assortment of single pitch climbs that get sun from before lunch until afternoon. There are sport and trad pitches at whatever level you might like. I enjoyed Leprechan Pramenade (10b, mixed) Lucky Charms (10d, mixed, take RP's) Irish Spring (9, mixed) Lightning Bolt Arete (11b, pins and bolt- gear may suppliment) and Superguide (9, mixed, hard start if you are short)

Some of these have a slight northward aspect and might be shaded until afternoon.

• Dino Mt, as Matt suggested, has all kindsa stuff for cooler day and the hike in atr Sunrise is Jaw-droppingly pretty. I liked the following in particular:

Dangling Fury (11c, sport) Cloud Walker (10c, Sport) Back In slacks (11c, Sport) Hell Freezes Over (11d, sport), Touch Monkey (11b, sport), April Fools, 11a, sport).
Stone Love (10c, trad) is an odd climb, but everyone I';ve been on it with LOVES it. I think it's worth the visit, and it ges sun by mid-day!
The 5.10 'Flake' route on square rock is a bonus-point pitch you can hit on the way out the trail if you end up with 10 minutes to spare. It should take OK gear and is easy at the grade. I on-sight soloed it in tennis shoes in '04.

Have fun Andy & Co..!!

Welcome to Boulder ~ Best wishes for a fun & safe time :)~kirra

Andy,

Welcome. Some good suggestions so far, here is my .02.

The Naked Edge-a bit out of your requested range at 11b trad, but one of the all time, must do climbs of Eldo. Get used to the area and then make it your best day.

Outer Space-excellent 5.10, several ways to approach from 5.8 to 5.11. Shady, but I just climbed it Monday and it was fine. (We should get some warm weather).

Yellow Spur-You would be crazy to miss this one. Questions?

Captain Beyond-another multipitch, trad 5.10 in a super cool setting.
Excellent.

Vergin on Perversion-11c mixed route, cruxes bolted, near Captain Beyond. Way fun, but skip the last pitch and finish on Perversion.
Or do Perversion if you are more in the mood for 5.9 after Cap Beyond.

Rewritten with Great Zot 1st pitch-5.8+, I've had several people tell me this is their favorite climb. Faces west.

Superslab or Superspar-then?

Rosy, Handcracker Direct, Ruper, Over the Hill, etc.

A day cragging on the West Ridge is well worth it!
Many great lines to choose from.

Vertigo-another 11b trad, but with some fixed gear at cruxes.

Also, if you need more beta than MP gives????? or need to borrow a guidebook, PM me. I leave town on Thurs.
Have a great time and post a TR eh?
Cheers,
Mark

Do Ruper, Le toit and Rincon! They are AWESOME and would be sunny! Have a great trip! Come up to Vedauwoo for a change of pace if you have an extra day!

Andy, sometime during the 2 weeks you need to get a Devils Head tour. Some of the best bolt-chasing in the state.

Great stuff everyone, thanks for the tips! Looks like perfect weather once this rain passes through in a few days so we're psyched.

Any if there are any beer nights planned, let me know ... it'd be fun to put faces to names.

Thanks again~!

My advice would be to avoid the crowds and go to the South Platte.

Looking for some realtime advice....

Would the Unsaid area be good for a day like today, clear and cold? Plenty of sun from mid-day on?

Thanks
Andy

You nailed it: plenty of sun midday on. It would probably be pretty chilly in the am, but quite reasonable after noon.

Andy, with the sun, it could be good...bring layers. However, there is at least one forecast with predictions of cloudiness/moisture later today...although it doesn't look like it from looking at the sky.

Thanks guys, Unsaid it is.... looks like a nice way to get introduced to Eldo as well.

Xanadu area would be just as good and have no trees at teh base shading the belayer. Sould be warmer! Plus, Xanadu is a GREAT climb.

Wendy and I had an excellent two week stay in Boulder.

Thanks for all the great route suggestions and the fabulous MP beer nights! I think we climbed 10+ days in Eldo out of the two weeks. Needless to say I'm horribly jealous of your local "cragging".

We'll be back for sure!

Andy and Wendy

TR Andy! Highlights? Favorites...hairy moments...climbs you didn't like as much?