Front Range rope stretchers...

There is something rewarding about piecing together a long lead. (180ft+) You need to conserve your gear and watch your rope drag. Pulling the crux move at the end of a long pitch is always exciting!

Here are some of my favorites. What are some other long leads in the Front Range?

-Combine the 3 pitches on Wind Ridge (Eldo, 225ft)
-Green Spur (Eldo, 190ft)
-Grandmothers (Eldo, 225ft)
-Diffraction into Metamorphosis (Eldo, 220ft)
-Loose-J (Lumpy, 215ft)
-Last two pitches of the Barb (RMNP, 220ft)

Doing Rewritten, in Eldo, in three pitches is fun.

My fave is Lenes Dream in Eldo. You do the business of the 4th pitch of Jules Verne, continue through more awesomeness(Lenes Dream) and finish at the top of the 2nd pitch of the Naked Edge doing the 10a/b crux of that pitch. Super good, take 2 ropes to get down.

Rosy Crucifiction goes in one pitch (just) with a 60m rope - recommended!

• first 2 pitches of Solid Gold 200ft - CCC

(if you've got good endurance the last 2 too 175ft)

• first pitch of loose ends into visual aids 200ft - lumpy
• peoples choice in 1 pitch 185ft - ccc
• 2nd and 3rd pitch of center route 180ft - platte

How about the first pitch of Rincon linked into On The Crest for 200 feet of sweet climbing? One of my other favorites is Unbroken Chain linked into False Prophet (Unbroken Prophet?) on West Ridge. Though it is only 110 feet long it is full value and exciting the whole way.

I like to do the 3 pitches of Chockstone in Eldo in 1 pitch. Watch the rope drag. I think the best though is Country Club Crack in one pitch. Doing Wrinkles in Time in one pitch is always satisfying too.

Linking pitches on Bihedral Arete is cool too. Also, linking That's Weak into The Good, The Bad, and The Jacked makes for a really beautiful 12a with nice clean whips at the top.

Hmmm... for the moderate climb lovers out there, with proper sling work, you can do Gambit (on Shirt Tail Peak, in Eldo) in 2 pitches, a 70M rope is best, but I've done it with 60M ropes.

I've only climbed one day on the Front Range. We combined pitches 4 and 5 (traverse R, then both roof things), and then 6 and 7 (5.10 bolts to the summit arete) on Yellowspur.

Great fun. Without those two long classic pitches, there wouldn't really be much of a rock climb to speak of. Not to say that there wasn't climbing moves on the first 3 pitches, but they wandered and were kinda short compared to the top two.

I'll be back next year for sure.

I forget what her name was, but she was cute.

I'm with Andy. Rosy, in one pitch, is the best 5.10 in Eldo.

Or

P2 and P3 of Wunsch's Dihedral (hand crack/roof/tips corner)

Or

Yellow Spur in 3 pitches

Or

from the belay atop Wide Country/Interceptors to the top of the Bastille via Outer Space

Or

P3, P4, and the first bit of p5 (avoids hanging belay) on 'Red Wall' - Chasm View Wall

I was going to say The Naked Edge in 3 pitches, but even those are all 45m or less.

The best combos are like the one Hank describes - ways to combine all sorts of rad sections of pitches that otherwise wouldn't be climbed together.

I linked up the first 3 pitches of Ruper once by doing the easier right hand start. Epic.

Hank Caylor wrote:My fave is Lenes Dream in Eldo. You do the business of the 4th pitch of Jules Verne, continue through more awesomeness(Lenes Dream) and finish at the top of the 2nd pitch of the Naked Edge doing the 10a/b crux of that pitch. Super good, take 2 ropes to get down.

I doubt you have to worry about rope drag or running out of gear on that one!

Steve suggested linking 3 Old Farts into Psychosis with a 70M. That sounds like a good pump. Linking the first 3 pitches of Dubious Graffiti sounds like a good challenge. Linking Concentric into the 2nd pitch of Center route also looks fun.

not that I've done it, but would it be possible to link the crux hand crack and the fist crack pitches on pervertical sanctuary on the diamond with a 70m? That'd be a mondo pitch!

Also t2 to the base of the edge in one pitch with a 70m

Monty! Hey sorry we never got together while we were in town, we'll just have to do it when we get back. As for the rope stretcher, those two pitches on Pervertical don't really go together, even with a 70. The second has to start climbing, I think we were off by about 10 feet or so. It makes a fantastic pitch, even though I followed it. Talk soon!

Balance, 5.8, North Cheyenne Canyon. When your toes touch the ground you have about 6 inches tail left with a 60 meter.

was a favorite of mine in the Flatirons, admittedly I didn't climb in the Flatirons as much as I wanted to but this climb was very, very cool. It goes a full ropelength from the ground to the eyebolt on top, plus you can approach it by solo or simuling the standard route on the Third.

Monty wrote:not that I've done it, but would it be possible to link the crux hand crack and the fist crack pitches on pervertical sanctuary on the diamond with a 70m? That'd be a mondo pitch! Also t2 to the base of the edge in one pitch with a 70m

That sounds do-able. The first 3 pitches of Casual go with a wee bit of simuling. . .

My buddy used to link the enduro crack and crux pitch of Wunch's for a sweet pump.

Monty wrote:not that I've done it, but would it be possible to link the crux hand crack and the fist crack pitches on pervertical sanctuary on the diamond with a 70m? That'd be a mondo pitch!

I do know someone who has done this. Apparently it takes every last bit of the rope. That would have to be a candidate for best 5.10 (or 11a) crack pitch in the universe!

I want an 80m rope!