Flatirons route-finding and guidebook

I'm planning on climbing the Direct Route on the First Flatiron in mid-July and have a couple of questions.

The entire Third Flatiron is closed until July 31, right? Just making sure I'm reading this correctly. The areas listed next to "Third Flatiron" (Queen Anne’s Head, W.C Fields Pinnacle, etc.) are areas in addition to the entire Third Flatiron, as opposed to just specific areas on the Third Flatiron, right?

This will be my first time climbing in the Flatirons. I've climbed in Eldo a few times and the rock looks very similar to Eldo. Is it the same rock?

How difficult is the route-finding on the Direct Route and how much would the comprehensive Haas book help? I understand the climbing is runout and you can climb all over the face of the formation, but it would be nice to stay as much on route as possible.

Does anyone have experience with this book?

Yup, the 3rd is closed, including, Queen Anne’s Head, W.C Fields Pinnacle, etc. Some of these formations are attached to the 3rd in some way, others are just close to it. It's kinda up what you personally believe is, "A part" of a larger formation, and we may not know unless we dig under some of the dirt!

OSMP has a map of the closed area, which are fairly well-labeled,

gisweb.bouldercolorado.gov/…

So for the Third:

I have that page bookmarked on my phone, and if you turn on GPS, it should show you your location - nice to know when hiking off trail if I'm getting close to a closure!

Rock is similar to Eldo - if you've ever descended the east slabs, very similar. There's less of those rotten bands of crap on the east face routes, so that's nice.

Routefinding: Pitch 1 follows two bolts on thin slabs, then you traverse to a tree. Next pitches, go up until you get to the BBQ ledge, and keep going up to the Arete. Follow the Arete to the top, you can't miss it ;) They'll be lots of people on the route - you could get a good idea by just watching from the First Flatironette. The route will be chalked up, fer sure.

Bob Johnson wrote:I'm planning on climbing the Direct Route on the First Flatiron in mid-July and have a couple of questions. The entire Third Flatiron is closed until July 31, right?

Right.

Bob Johnson wrote:Just making sure I'm reading this correctly. The areas listed next to "Third Flatiron" (Queen Anne’s Head, W.C Fields Pinnacle, etc.) are areas in addition to the entire Third Flatiron, as opposed to just specific areas on the Third Flatiron, right?

Indeed.

Bob Johnson wrote:This will be my first time climbing in the Flatirons. I've climbed in Eldo a few times and the rock looks very similar to Eldo. Is it the same rock?

Pretty close, but the climbing is rather different.

Bob Johnson wrote:How difficult is the route-finding on the Direct Route and how much would the comprehensive Haas book help?

In mid July, unless you start very early, you can count on following a party ahead of you. Overall, route-finding is neither hard nor trivial. The book by Haas is good. The book by Roach has more details on Direct East Face. I'm not familiar with the book you linked to.

The cover photo of that book is strangely distorted. Here, I've tried to fix it,

Also, the climbs on the top of that book are for the Dome, which are really great classic trad climbs in Boulder Canyon.

brenta wrote: The book by Roach has more details on Direct East Face.

Is this the Roach book you are referring to?

Yes, that's the one.