climbing comparison 1st flatirion (direct) vs South Platte Helens (fractured fairytales)

Anyone know what this route (flatiron direct) is like in comparison to fractured fairytales in south platte? as far as style, difficulty, gear, runnouts? also, I understand belaying at the eye bolts here is not always the best, but are there consistent eyebolts for each belay station? just curious, my rack is pretty light right now, cams to .3-#4 doubles for #1, set of nuts, set of torque nuts, can I make it work?

Well, I haven't climbed ff but I've hiked along side it.  It is intended to be a fairly well bolted route with bolted belays as an intro to slab without the typical south platte runouts.

The first flat iron has very few bolted belays and only a few protection bolts on the first pitch. Even with a full rack, you should expect 30 to 40 foot or more runouts.  And be prepared to build your own anchors at nearly every belay. The 3rd flat iron has mostly eye bolt belays if you can find them.  But it is closed till August 1.

Bailing off ff is probably easy.  Bailing off the first is not.  You could rap off the north ridge by slinging some boulders if the the weather went south. But that's 600 feet up.  Rapping down the route would be difficult.   So make sure the weather looks good.  Have fun.  

They are pretty comparable in terms of difficulty. The run outs on FF are on very low angle (you can almost walk) slab, the rest is very well bolted. P3 has some bolts with missing hangers I think and a couple of gear placements. The major difference is the flatiron is a trad climb and FF is really a sport route. All bolted anchors on FF, no bolted anchors on the Flatiron. Both are fun - cannot beat the Helen's Dome summit - it is spectacular and surreal with the giant potholes. Also fewer crowds. Do both!

I have done FF and it's awesome, there were some placements along the 2nd and 3rd pitches, and some pretty long runnouts. Great climb though, I loved it. good to know about making my own belay's though, thanks for the advice. mostly trying to grasp if I can push through the runnouts on flatiron 1, by comparison haha. i'll probably just go for it, waiting on some pieces to add to my rack. a few people had posted about doing it with nuts/hexes so just wondering how realistic that is, or if they are really just free soloing basically. thanks guys.

Your current rack is plenty, buying more gear will not change the runouts. I'd leave the #4 and the torque nuts behind, and bring a couple double length slings to keep the drag to a minimum. Have fun!

Em Cos wrote:

Your current rack is plenty, buying more gear will not change the runouts. I'd leave the #4 and the torque nuts behind, and bring a couple double length slings to keep the drag to a minimum. Have fun!

This is good advice. Your rack is more than enough for the first. 

I have done both. Flatiron direct is harder and much more runnout than FF. Have fun. 

Charles Baker wrote:

I have done FF and it's awesome, there were some placements along the 2nd and 3rd pitches, and some pretty long runnouts. Great climb though, I loved it. good to know about making my own belay's though, thanks for the advice. mostly trying to grasp if I can push through the runnouts on flatiron 1, by comparison haha. i'll probably just go for it, waiting on some pieces to add to my rack. a few people had posted about doing it with nuts/hexes so just wondering how realistic that is, or if they are really just free soloing basically. thanks guys.

Sorry - I misunderstood your question, didn't get that you'd already done FF. Routefinding can be an issue on the 1st, if it feels harder than 5.6 you're probably off route. P1 is the crux pitch with the polished start and sparse protection. After that, the runouts are on pretty easy terrain, so not a big deal if you are at all comfortable on slab. I really like offset nuts and tricams (there I said it) for flatirons climbing. I cannot think of anywhere you need a #4. But as Em said, bring lots of long slings. Have fun!

If your looking for a partner im free thursday and friday morning! I have all the gear too!

Colton Weils wrote:

If your looking for a partner im free thursday and friday morning! I have all the gear too!

Hey thanks Colton, I really appreciate it, it honestly would be nice to go and just know the route before I take my partner (wife) up. But alas, I work 2 jobs, don't have the time. I'm sure I'll find my way, I'm fairly comfortable on slab and runnouts (as comfortable as anyone). hopefully a party will go up ahead of me so I can just at least find the route. from what I've heard, very likely.

So you have done FF. How hard is it to find the start of the climb and the walk off. 

Todd Bruns wrote:

So you have done FF. How hard is it to find the start of the climb and the walk off. 

The Start wasn't hard to find, the trail starts to the climbers right at the base and is pretty steep, but you do have to cross the stream and wonder a bit. Now the way down was a different story, the walk off is very obvious, but at least I didn't find a clear trail, and it took me awhile to scramble down.

To climb the Direct 1st, the most important things are a good weather forecast and preferably a slightly cloudy/cool day with no direct sun. It gets HOT on the slab and your hands and feet will burn, especially if you're pitching it out which takes 6+ hours as opposed to soloing it in 45 minutes.

Routefinding can be tricky, but if you're comfortable on runout slab, it's hard to get into any terrain at all that's over your head. Just trend up and left and you'll eventually hit the ridge. Use a topo and you'll be fine.