[Hide Comment] The start of this route is at a good-sized tree that is at the bottom of a great looking slab with a right-facing corner on the left and a left-facing corner on the right. The first bolt was easy to find, but I never saw the second. Sep 10, 2001

[Hide Comment] Please don't tell me you had intentions of clipping those bolts! Dec 4, 2002

[Hide Comment] We finally found both bolts on this route this morning, after climbing it many times. Mike's comment helps to find the first bolt. The second is even harder to see, and is a few feet left of a plumb line up from the first bolt (and about 200' higher!). It does lie just right of a water groove. Both these bolts are pretty lousy and mainly useful to confirm you are on this route! Dec 11, 2002

[Hide Comment] Just to throw in my two cents:

What a great slab climb this is...

If you chose not to use the bolts (probably wise), there is very little available in the way of protection. I did not see a great deal available until you reach the supposed belay areas (we soloed it so it was hard to sort out where the belays would be). The leader should regard this climb as a solo adventure for practical purposes...

WT Dec 11, 2002

[Hide Comment] I can't picture those bolts holding anything. This was fun - it's like a bunch of marbles cemented in place. Jun 12, 2004

[Hide Comment] From the picture, it appears that someone has hammered the first bolt back into its hole. I remember it sticking out about a 1/4-1/2 inch and being bent down.

These bolts should not be replaced for historical reasons. It is not to often you find one of these little treasures on a route. Nov 14, 2004

[Hide Comment] Both bolts have been replaced with new, modern 1/2" Petzl Bolts. This was a pleasant surprise when I did the route today, because the bolt on pitch one is the only real protection. Apr 1, 2007

[Hide Comment] It's too bad these guys were replaced. They added a lot of character to the route. A big fat shiny bolt will be an eye sore.

The first pitch has not had any reliable pro for the last decade. It was one of the few, no-pro pitches of the grade in the Flatirons. Apr 2, 2007

[Hide Comment] The new bolts are not "Shiny". They are painted to match the rock and are not visible from the start of the climb. Apr 2, 2007

[Hide Comment] Did this climb today, great climb to bring a beginner up! Be prepared to solo the first pitch though, I completely missed the first bolt and didn't get anything in till I made an anchor. My partner pointed the bolt out on her way up, but neither of us saw the 2nd bolt.... A single set of TCUs plus a 1 & 2 Camalot and 6 trad draws is all you really need. Apr 11, 2010

[Hide Comment] Great fun for an easy family climb. This was our first family multi-pitch climb together. Me, the wife, and our two boys ages 4 and 6. If you're the leader for your group, be ready for a solo more or less. I found one of the two bolts on the route. This is the only pro besides slinging a horn or two. For gear, bring #0.75, #1, #2, #3 Camalots for the frist belay. The seconed belay there are some nice boulders to sling if you have a 20' cord. We rapped off the first tree just down and NW of the summit. I don't think this was the rap described, but it worked just fine and provided a comfortable flat area for the kids to hang while setting up the rappel. BTW, if anyone spots a black Lowe camera case, I sure would like to get it back. Sep 26, 2011

[Hide Comment] Fun route, but not even close to 420 feet. I soloed and brought my wife up 2nd. I ran my whole 70m rope out for the first pitch, was about 30 feet from the summit. My guess is 250 feet. Jul 12, 2013

[Hide Comment] I don't know, Paul B - it seems about 420ft to me. Aug 10, 2013

[Hide Comment] Fun climb. A few thoughts: The "right-facing dihedral" referenced above is more of a right-facing flake system IMO. The bolt on the first pitch is almost directly in line with what is now a dead tree at the base and was the first pro I came across. Falling in most places on the first pitch would be bad. After the first pitch, the climbing was very secure and easy. Apr 12, 2014

[Hide Comment] Did this as a solo outing today. My main takeaway is to stay generally in the Northern gully, which aside from a few spots was good old Flatiron slab. I got super off route and definitely made some more difficult moves than 5.2 to get back on route. I ended up re-climbing the route and did find some nice new-ish looking bolts, but they are definitely hard to find. When on route, it's a great one. The downclimb was fairly straightforward to onsight, just follow a ledge down the northern side around a mini-arch. Dec 13, 2014

[Hide Comment] I climbed this route yesterday, May 13, 2015, with Aaron Nichols leading. Never found the bolts, found a flake with enough cracks for an anchor about 100' feet up towards the right side. We then discovered the rap slings were missing off the tree on the ledge that is located on south side after a short downclimb. There were new rap slings replaced there last fall, which should not have been removed. We installed a new cord and rap ring and would appreciate if this is left in place. This route is used for beginning climbers who cannot be expected to downclimb the backside descent. May 14, 2015

[Hide Comment] The rap sling has been bootied again, but the downclimb is really quite easy. Jun 4, 2015

[Hide Comment] If you belay at the first gear/ledge at 120 feet, you can reach the top from here with a 70. So, no more than 360 feet total....

You might not want to use this tree anymore. It's very dead and barely holding a big, loose rock. Jun 14, 2015

[Hide Comment] Pretty short, P1 is the business, and P2 and P3 are basically 4th Class or maybe 5.0 and are probably about as long as P1 combined. The groove in the description is a jug haul. This route was fun but better suited as an approach to Skunk or nearby Flatties than it is as its own outing, IMO.

I definitely can't see this being anywhere near 5.6 or 5.7 unless you were crazy off route. Assuming the entire slab between the massive left flake and right dihedral are on, I found P1 to be about as consistently hard as the first 50 feet of Freeway proper (the slabby crux). Jun 2, 2025