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Suburbia
5.10b/c,
Sport,
Avg: 3.4 from 466
votes
FA: Bob and Carrie Robertson
Colorado
> Canon City
> Shelf Rd
> Sand Gulch
> Contest Wall
Description
This is an excellent climb, rightfully popular. Climb the left wall of an inside corner about 1/4 of the way down Contest Wall (left side of Sand Gulch) - Metropolis and Miller Time are on the right wall and right arete. Climb through fun moves past the first few bolts and puzzle out the continous upper moves around the upper bulge before you pump out.
[Hide Photo] Great climb. The bolts are a bit runout, but nice shelves provide needed resets for pumpy moves to the top. One of my favorite climbs on Shelf Road in the 10s.
[Hide Photo] Getting close to the anchors on Suburbia.
[Hide Photo] Kylie mantelling past the second bolt on Suburbia. Photo by @adamonthego.
[Hide Comment] Note to the complete moron who rebolted this route:
You drilled your new holes WAY too close the the existing holes (ie about 1/2 inch above). The new holes are starting to chip out at the bottom side, and are beginning to form fractures to the old holes. Please get a clue, and in the meantime hand over your drill to somebody who actually knows what they are doing. Your little action has only added bolt hole desecration to the rock, and could become a safety issue if people are whipping on the bolts.
Sep 25, 2002
[Hide Comment] Why did somebody rebolt this? I was on it just a few months ago and it seemed fine. I hope that the first bolt wasn't raised too. It is a hard enough reach already. I will be anxious to see this first hand. Whoever did this.....what was your reasoning? J/K.
Sep 25, 2002
[Hide Comment] Friday, Oct. 13,1995, Carrie soloed the first assent of Time Square (No Bolts), lowered down Suburbia, and retro bolted the last two bolt; she chopped the old 3" by 3/8" bolts with 4 1/2" by 1/2" bolts. The last bolt was moved to a better spot that has a small face crack line -wich circled the new bolt with a radius of about four inches. She looked at it yesterday and nothing has changed.Sense then, Robert has rebolted the lower bolts. He did not want to destroy this climb (like Heavey Weather, Unusual Weather, Jim Arete, and many other previous thrilling ventures have been), so he did replace the 3/8" by 3" bolts (he drilled by hand in 1988) with 4" by1/2" bolts to close; Thanks for the comments. There is only one bolt that does have a thin crack STARTING TO FORM from the mistake; Carrie and Robert WILL KEEP A EYE ON EVERY BOLT.Do me a favor, IF YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN ON A TRADITIONAL MISSION, PLEASE, DON'T PLASTER PLASTIC THOUGHTS OUTSIDE. I SPEND AT LEAST TWO HOURS REMOVING SHELLS AND BAD BLOCKS -WHILE PUTTING IN A NEW LINE WITH MY DAD; We have decided to stop describing each climb on line, because, two many scary insults are DICKTATING to many unseen dreams.
Oct 26, 2002
[Hide Comment] Good ledges to rest, shake out, and think for a minute. The moves are there with positive holds all the way to the top. This definitely kept the mind working and the feet edging.
Dec 30, 2002
[Hide Comment] This is a great route, pretty consistent at the grade, with fun moves and lots of chances for a rest. Save some strength for the top! Making the 1st & 2nd clips could be substantially harder and more dangerous for a shorter person.
Oct 9, 2007
[Hide Comment] I agree with Brandon & Matt, best 5.10 here? I have not climbed a better one yet. It only feels harder than 10b at the top because that sneaky pump catches up to you!
Jun 14, 2008
[Hide Comment] Long, Fun and spicy. The last bolt is sagging out of the rock and does not inspire confidence. However, fairly spaced bolts and semi-sustained climbing makes it a true gem!
Apr 5, 2010
[Hide Comment] I went up this bad boy test piece of endurance for the first time the other day, was well on my way to onsighting, and then at about 75 feet some piece of work decided to beta bob the route to me from 75 feet below, but either way it was great. I will say, I'm 200lbs, I felt secure if a fall was needed, especially if I landed on the bloated CO Springs Asshole at the bottom.
May 10, 2011
[Hide Comment] Wow, this is the best sport route I've climbed in a long time! Small, sustained sub-piches, available but difficult moves for 5.10. Climb smart, climb hard, rest at the ledges. I wanted to lead it but was sketched by the bolts being so far apart and ledges to fall on....
Oct 21, 2012
[Hide Comment] The bolting is pretty old school, and blowing the second bolt would be a deck for sure. It's not the crux, but it's not trivial either. Be confident in getting there. I would have no problem if somebody put another bolt between the first and second in the future.
Feb 24, 2015
[Hide Comment] You are correct, Adam, you will deck if you are not playing attention. This doesn't mean we need to add another bolt. It would most likely get chopped....
Feb 27, 2015
[Hide Comment] Bob's chain was added to the 2nd bolt this weekend. Now climbers of all heights should be able to reach the clip from the ledge.
Mar 15, 2015
[Hide Comment] No chain on the 2nd bolt as of Nov. 7, 2015. I'm 5'7" with 0 ape index, I was able to clip the draw into the 2nd bolt by making one or two moves from the ledge, then I downclimbed to the ledge to clip the rope into the draw. The moves felt pretty solid to me, but reading these comments now, I can see someone with a shorter reach may have a bit of trouble with the 2nd bolt.
The chalked up flake getting to the last ledge (between the 5th and 6th bolt) is a little loose now. There is a white X on one part of it, but the whole flake moves when you knock on it. I avoided using it, but my climbing partner pulled on it and it stayed. With enough people yarding on it though, it may eventually come off.
Nov 7, 2015
[Hide Comment] I really don't understand the desire to make sport routes unnecessarily dangerous. This is an amazing climb with terrible bolting. The first clip would still be high if it were clippable from the good feet, instead of 3 feet higher. The second bolt should absolutely be clippable off of the huge ledge, there is not a single reason to make someone climb into decking territory to clip on a sport route. Whoever bolted this must have either been blind or bolting on top-rope, not caring where they were putting holes in the rock. I exclaimed when clipping the second to last bolt, "What the hell? An easy clip!? What were they thinking?" For such an incredible climb, the bolting is a huge detraction.
Jun 13, 2016
[Hide Comment] As someone had mentioned above, the last bolt is sagging out of the rock a bit. I noticed one or two other bolts on the route that also appeared to be coming out of the rock a bit.
Oct 7, 2016
[Hide Comment] Climbed this yesterday morning, and I have to say it's probably the best lead I've personally done so far (to be fair, I haven't been climbing that long). The bolting definitely made you feel pretty exposed, but it felt like more of a mental challenge than an actual issue. Like someone else said, I had to do move my feet up from the first ledge and get a higher handhold to clip the second bolt, but it was very easy to downclimb and continue resting at the ledge.
At the fourth bolt, I think, there's a leftward-angling flake, which moves away left from the fifth bolt. On my first lead, I went right, on a series of pretty tenuous holds, and there was definitely a sequence to be had. On my second lead, however, I went up the flake where it was easier to clip from a very good sidepull position. To me, it felt like the flake variation was 10b/c, and the right variation was more solidly 10c, maybe 10c/d.
As an aside, I think I only used seven draws, so unless I missed a bolt, perhaps one's been chopped/removed? Anyways, awesome climb, I'd highly recommend it.
Oct 10, 2016
[Hide Comment] Fantastic climbing and movement. A few of the protection bolts could use replacing or relocation. Shoes well suited for front pointing small pockets are an advantage! :)
Oct 21, 2019
[Hide Comment] I have always previously found the movement of this climb to be enjoyable; however, climbing it recently it has become too polished for my taste. When you combine that with the already sandbagged grade and the very spacy bolting, this climb becomes pretty dangerous for a 5.10 leader. Climbing scary polished feet aren't fun when half of your falls are ledge/groundfalls. Have to say I can't recommend this one anymore unless it gets bolted more tightly.
Feb 27, 2021
[Hide Comment] I really loved this route, but the bolting is unnecessarily spacey, especially the first couple, and often a couple tough moves past a good clipping stance or even a big ledge. Even if you accept the number of bolts, it just seems like it could have been done better and more safely.
Sep 23, 2022
[Hide Comment] Bring a strong mental game to this one, because falling in many spots will have consequences. The tallest person in our party could reach bolts 1 and 2 from the good stances, but I couldn't. Bolt 1 required a committing move from a right toe pocket, and blowing that would be very bad. Bolt 2 required a small step up from the ledge which was not a big deal, but blowing that would also result in a groundfall. The rest of the bolts were slightly runout - some with clean falls and some with ledge strikes possible.
Oct 31, 2022
Avg: 3.4 from 466
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You drilled your new holes WAY too close the the existing holes (ie about 1/2 inch above). The new holes are starting to chip out at the bottom side, and are beginning to form fractures to the old holes. Please get a clue, and in the meantime hand over your drill to somebody who actually knows what they are doing. Your little action has only added bolt hole desecration to the rock, and could become a safety issue if people are whipping on the bolts. Sep 25, 2002
Colorado
Scottsdale, AZ
CO
Golden, CO.
Boulder
Colorado
Fort Collins CO
Colorado Springs, CO
Castle Rock, CO
The chalked up flake getting to the last ledge (between the 5th and 6th bolt) is a little loose now. There is a white X on one part of it, but the whole flake moves when you knock on it. I avoided using it, but my climbing partner pulled on it and it stayed. With enough people yarding on it though, it may eventually come off. Nov 7, 2015
Chattanooga, TN
Colorado Springs, CO
At the fourth bolt, I think, there's a leftward-angling flake, which moves away left from the fifth bolt. On my first lead, I went right, on a series of pretty tenuous holds, and there was definitely a sequence to be had. On my second lead, however, I went up the flake where it was easier to clip from a very good sidepull position. To me, it felt like the flake variation was 10b/c, and the right variation was more solidly 10c, maybe 10c/d.
As an aside, I think I only used seven draws, so unless I missed a bolt, perhaps one's been chopped/removed? Anyways, awesome climb, I'd highly recommend it. Oct 10, 2016
Shoes well suited for front pointing small pockets are an advantage! :) Oct 21, 2019
Denver, CO
Denver, CO
Longmont, CO