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Drumstick Direct

5.10d, Trad, 2 pitches,  Avg: 3.9 from 180 votes
FA: Dan McClure and Mark Hesse. Doug Snively and Dan McClure (from CGNA)?
Colorado > S Platte > Turkey Rocks > Turkey Tail
Warning Access Issue: NOTE: Access only from Turkey Rocks Trailhead. DetailsDrop down

Description

The first pitch is long and stellar. Bring two ropes to rap of the first pitch at the shuts. You should know how to crack climb and have some endurance if you hop on this baby.

You can't miss this thing, especially if you locate the heinous-looking flaring fat roof of For Turkeys Only. Our route is just to the right and has plenty of chalk on it (you don't need any). Look for a crack parallel crack system that starts off a small pedestal/ledge about 15-20 ft off the ground.It steepens and switches from a left-facing to a right-facing dihedral about 1/2 way and leads to a roof. Now you can't miss it.

Start in a left-facing corner and stem upwards to a small ledge, continue about 6 ft. up to a second small ledge to enter the parallel crack system. The right crack is part of a left-facing dihedral initially. You will most likely favor the left crack initially and eventually move to the right crack. Continue on this steepening crack. It switches to a right facing dihedral crack, eventually capped by a roof. Move upwards to the roof via stemming and jamming. Move out the left roof crack, up a few more feet, and onto an easy face to gain a ledge. Move right on the ledge to the rap anchors.

This thing is stellar. I can't believe that Hubbel doesn't give it any stars when it deserves 3. Come to think of it, he didn't give Gobbler's Grunt (2 stars IMHO) any, either. This thing is long and fairly sustained. I say it is easily better than Quiver and Quill. This is one of the best pitches I have done at the Platte - at least as good as the P1 of Straw Turkey and P2 on the Center Route.

Protection

Standard rack, up to a #4 Friend/#3.5 Camalot. Double on hands and small hands. I placed a #4 Camalot, but it was not necessary. Note: I did not do the 2nd pitch, which is a short 5.8 offwidth and offwidth/chimney section - no one does it. At the top of the first pitch, traverse right to welded cold shut anchors.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Fun stuff...Trask on DD.<br>
<br>
Photo by Tim Banfield.
[Hide Photo] Fun stuff...Trask on DD. Photo by Tim Banfield.
Roofland.
[Hide Photo] Roofland.
Final piece of the puzzle...Trask on DD.  <br>
<br>
Photo by Tim Banfield.
[Hide Photo] Final piece of the puzzle...Trask on DD. Photo by Tim Banfield.
John's favorite part.
[Hide Photo] John's favorite part.
Dana in a high stem at the roof.
[Hide Photo] Dana in a high stem at the roof.
Getting ready for the crux. Photo taken by Ben Hobgood.
[Hide Photo] Getting ready for the crux. Photo taken by Ben Hobgood.
The lower crack.
[Hide Photo] The lower crack.
Bob Horan on the Turkey Tail.
[Hide Photo] Bob Horan on the Turkey Tail.
Pat making the crux look easy.
[Hide Photo] Pat making the crux look easy.
Some guy from Boulder high on Drumstick Direct.
[Hide Photo] Some guy from Boulder high on Drumstick Direct.
Pat taking a second lap on TR after a long day of leading me up several hard classic lines on the Tail.
[Hide Photo] Pat taking a second lap on TR after a long day of leading me up several hard classic lines on the Tail.
Near the start of the route.
[Hide Photo] Near the start of the route.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

[Hide Comment] I will agree...premo climbing. The thing that torched me was the stemming, my calves have never been so pumped in my entire life. Jun 20, 2001
Dan St John
Castle Rock
[Hide Comment] I consider this route to be the best that Turkey Rock has to offer. The key to the onsight or the red point is to keep moving once you are in the corner crack. Do not be intimidated by the wide roof. Place a #4 Camalot at the lip, reach deep and high and there is a hand jam, run it out 10 feet ( clean fall) until you can stem and rest, place #1. Good Luck! Oct 17, 2001
[Hide Comment] You can rappel off this route with a single 60 meter rope in 2 rappels. There is another set of cold shuts below the set described in the route description. Peter Hubble is wrong about where the crux is on this route. He claims it is at the first off-width roof, it is definitely at the top roof. Jun 11, 2002
Dan St John
Castle Rock
[Hide Comment] The crux is the first roof, the second roof has a easy trick. HINT: look for the nubbin, and use you knees to keep you on. QED Sep 23, 2002
Matt Juth
Ridgway, CO
  5.10d
[Hide Comment] For an excellent second pitch, climb the 5.9 finger crack up and slightly righ of the anchors. There is a runout slabby section once the crack peters out. Great locks! Oct 13, 2003
TBD
 
[Hide Comment] While not technically as hard as Whimsical Dreams, over all difficulty is on par with that route for me. Huge endurance fest, with several thuggish moves. For me, he crux was certainly pulling around the bulge to the right where the crack widens to fists. The upper roof is more tecnical but not as demanding. Jul 12, 2004
Bosier Parsons
Colorado Springs, CO
[Hide Comment] The original line goes out left at the belay on hook moves. Free climbed by Kerry Gunter at 5.11R. Aug 29, 2004
Chris Barlow
  5.10d
[Hide Comment] You can rap off the cold shuts on top of the first pitch with a single 70m rope. Just barely, though. This also an easy way to toprope Turkey Turd as the anchors are directly on top of this route. Nov 13, 2004
Rob Dillon
Tamarisk Clearing
 
[Hide Comment] Spanker! Unplug yourself from the spray box, and go do it. Now. Apr 11, 2005
Chad Kuhlman
Fort Collins
[Hide Comment] As of 5/30/09, this route's current state makes it very unpleasant to climb. It is coated in bird crap, so much so that as you climb through the main jams of the route the crap will leave skid marks across your arms and makes it more difficult to climb from the slickness. Very, very, dirty right now. Maybe in the colder months this climb is cleaner and more enjoyable. Jun 2, 2009
stevecurtis
Petaluma California
[Hide Comment] I think this is one of the best one pitch crack climbs in the country. Even though I nearly heaved on my first go. I've done this about 300 times. Last week added a few more laps. Very little bird shit, but there is a spot of urine. Jun 4, 2010
Cindy Mitchell
Denver, CO
  5.10d
[Hide Comment] Holy Shit, Batman. Yep, lots of poop on this route. Good climbing, though. S U S T A I N E D ! Apr 15, 2011
Neil Wachowski
Lander, WY
 
[Hide Comment] Indeed, an insane amount of bird shit. Like sticking your mitts in crunchy peanut butter. I know I would love this climb if it were clean. Sep 22, 2013
Deke Doty
Fort Collins, CO
[Hide Comment] Legendary crack climb! Does a 10d have to only have one crux ? I'm usually a little flamed after the stem box. I can hardly wait to look for St.John's trick nubbin. Nov 3, 2013
Chris Dickson
Ophir, CO
[Hide Comment] In honor of his recent passing, I'd like to see the FA history corrected for this climb. According to Jeff Achey's "Climb!", it was Dan McClure and Mark Hesse who climbed the FFA. Jan 31, 2014
[Hide Comment] I did the first free accent with Mark Hesse.So it was not a first accent and I did not do this climb with Doug Snively. The guide books of Stewart Green do have the correct information. Hope this info helps. Have fun climbing on and on and on. Apr 24, 2014
Jason Haas
Broomfield, CO
[Hide Comment] Greg German, Greg Barnes, and I replaced the original anchor on this route with 1/2" stainless steel bolts. The old 3/8" wedge bolts spun out with scary ease. The exact same holes were used. Someone recently added new plated steel chain to the anchor, but we swapped that out for stainless steel rings. If you were the person who put the chain on there and would like it back, please contact me. Oct 5, 2014
Owen Murphy
Fort Collins, CO
  5.10c/d
[Hide Comment] Probably the best single, ground-up, 5.10 pitch in CO. Secure jamming the whole way. A 70m will be close, but it gets you back to the ground. The roof is glorious. Carrying one 4 and three 3s was perfect. Oct 16, 2017
Kyle O
  5.11a
[Hide Comment] Shorter climbers will likely have trouble stemming in the stem box. 5’6” didn’t seem to cut it. Don’t let that intimidate you, though. The crack is good. You may be a bit more pumped for the upper crux is all. Oct 25, 2024
[Hide Comment] This is the best pitch of 5.10 I’ve climbed ever, anywhere. This route is long, varied, and sustained with great pro throughout.

When I climbed it, I foolishly underestimated the length of the route and took too light of a rack.… I ended up climbing the final 40’ only placing nuts. It was still secure but felt exciting. Dec 11, 2024
Bruce Hildenbrand
Silicon Valley/Boulder
[Hide Comment] If you like offwidths, the second pitch is a pretty fun 5.9 excursion. I did it with a #7 tri-cam, but 5-6" cams would probably be better (no, definitely would be better!). Aug 30, 2025