Coliseum Area in Twin Falls

Imagine steep, quiet, hard routes, that are bolted and ready to be clipped. The aspect of the area is conducive to Fall and Spring climbing. Minutes away from good eat's.

Here is the quick history of the Coliseum area by Chuck Odette...

"The original land owner approached us in April of 2012, while were bolting routes and climbing on his property. His name is Randy Perrine. After a fair amount of diplomatic discussion, he granted us permission to continue climbing and development. The second land owner became involved later that summer when we approached him to request access across his property as and alternate more viable future approach to the climbing in that area. His name is Herb Allen. We met with him in late summer of last year. At that time, he claimed that he owned the Box Canyon property as well.

In May of this year, I submitted draft copies of a well written 15 page long "Recreational Lease Agreement" to both land owners with the idea that either one could be the rightful land owner. We were optimistic about our chances since both land owners gave positive responses initially when they received the document.

In early August of this year, I received an email from Herb's associate, Bill Baker. Bill is a retired BLM manager for the southern Idaho region, who started his own land consulting business recently, called "BakerCon". He stated that Herb was interested in working with us, but was still reviewing the draft document. I responded that we were not in a hurry and that we were receptive to any feedback or changes necessary for Herb's satisfaction with the document.

Earlier this month, I sent an email to Bill wondering if Herb had a chance to look the document over and if he had any suggestions regarding possible changes. I received no immediate response.

Last Thursday (9/20), I received an email document from Herb's attorney, Gary Salette, in which Herb states that he will not grant permission to access his property for the purpose of rock climbing. In the letter, I was personally addressed and told to stay off of Herb's property. Randy Perrine also received a letter from Gary Salette informing him that Herb would be commissioning a land survey of the area. Once the survey is complete, he said he would be putting a fence around the entire area to prevent access by anyone in the future.

Originally, Randy stated that he would not fight Herb regarding ownership of the property since Herb is wealthy and Randy is not. However, the letter upset Randy enough that he is now working with an attorney to see what his options are to keep his ownership of the area. Randy does have the older deed and has been paying taxes on the property since his purchase in 2006. Herb's deed shows that he purchased the area in early 2012 as part of a sale of all of the surrounding properties to the north, west and east. I believe there was an error in the 2012 transaction and that Randy's lots should not have been part of the Herb Allen 2012 purchase. I'm speculating that these lots were sold, but somehow were not removed from the deed that Herb received after his purchase of the surrounding property. Two different title companies have reviewed the deeds and both claim their respective client owns the same property, which is of course, technically impossible. Suffice it to say, it's a real mess.

Maggie and I will be steering clear of the area until things are settled since I have received a notification from one of the potential land owners. Our hope is that Randy will prevail and take outright ownership eventually. This will be difficult for him despite the fact that he has a more legitimate claim to the property potentially. His financial resources are far below Herb's and Herb is vehement about taking sole ownership of the property no matter what it takes.

A couple of additional considerations...

We are working on creating an "online" petition to present to Herb Allen showing the interest locally and nationally toward climbing at the Coliseum. Herb originally expressed that he was interested in providing a viable source of recreation that would enhance tourism in the area. If climbers would bring outside money to the Jerome County area, he would be interested in allowing climbing on his property. We would submit this through his attorney to avoid potential filtering or censorship by Bill Baker.

Finally, if we could find a way to support Randy financially regarding his fight for ownership, we could convince him not to give up without a fight. Once he has outright ownership, we could continue with the recreational lease agreement option and potential Access Fund purchase of the property in the distant future. Randy would be much stronger in his convictions with more folks like us giving him support.

There are now 21 established lines in the main overhang and two projects pending. There are over 300 bolts solidly placed for years of climbing enjoyment. We still have close to 100 draws hanging on the wall still. The potential exists for at least 50-60 more lines in the main overhang and potentially 300-500 routes in the entire region. I've climbed in a lot of places over the past 35 years and this place is as good as it gets for gymnastic sport climbing."

If you want to help, come to the Clean and Crank in two weeks on OCT 12th. More details will be discussed there.
cleanandcrank.blogspot.com/

I had heard from Chuck and Maggie about the tremendous amount of work they've put into this incredible area, and it is disheartening to hear of the latest news and obstacles.

If possible, I would recommend sharing more pictures of this place. I've never been to the Coliseum, but the picture here does not do any justice to the amazing potential of the climbing in this area(from what I've heard), and climbers may be more motivated to support Randy and the Odettes if they have a better sense of the climbing opportunities at stake.

For those who are not able to make it to the Clean and Crank, please let us know if there are options for how we can help, whether it is a petition or donations.

Thank you for posting, and please keep us updated.

Does anyone know if there are any updates to the access issues here? From the pictures I've found online (Chuck has some amazing pictures on his 8a scorecard) this place looks incredible...and is only 1.5 hours from Boise! I'd love to hear if anyone knows any updates or ways to help!

As of now the area is still closed to climbing. Southern Idaho Climbing Coalition is currently looking into all possible options. You can contact them via facebook for more information.

Chuck put an incredible effort into the Coliseum on two fronts - the route development and the access issues. When access was closed off it was disheartening to say the least. This area could have been an Idaho gem.

It’s been a few years now, and I don't remember most of the details, but the outlook was grim when access shut down. However, I think there’s still a chance for this place to get opened back up and developed... with some effort. What it really needs is a community to fight for it.

The area was so new and was just beginning to be developed when it was closed, that there wasn’t an awareness of it, or the potential held at the Coliseum. I think community involvement certainly could have helped to keep access open. Chuck did what he could with some help, and got close, but in the end it just didn’t work out.

Here are a few photos to hopefully get some stoke going. I’d love to see it open again.

Oh, and for those that don’t want to crank .12's, .13’s and .14’s all day, there is a substantial amount of rock waiting to be developed that would yield .9’s, .10’s, and .11’s.

Good luck from NW Washington,

-Brejcha

Any status update? 

I heard that Herb Allen passed away in April this year. Can anyone locally confirm the current status of the property? It might be good timing to alert the Access Fund to see if Herb's next of kin will be receptive to possibly selling the parcel containing the big cave. 

I'll ask around, but have not heard anything since Mr. Allen blasted a road into the canyon opposite the crag.

Any updates?

The property is held by the family who are attempting to sell it as a large single parcel.  They have said they do not want climbing on the land.  So currently it is still closed, though SICC is monitoring the situation and will do everything in our power to hopefully open it back up one day.