Seasonal raptor closures for 2026 - Bitty Buttress, Blob, East Blob, Security Risk - open. Eagle Rock, Vampire, Black Widow Slab - closed.
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*Items added 12/30 Closet clean out. Apparel, approach shoe's, (BD, prana, scarpa, REI): Blob, Bitty, and Security Risk have been reopened on 4/21/26.
The USFS closed Blob, E Blob, Security, Bitty, Vampire, and Black Widow through 7/31/26.
5/19/25 Eagle Rock opened. 3/14/25: Bitty Buttress, Blob, & SR reopened.
2/3/25. Bitty Buttress, Blob, Eagle Rock &, Security Risk closed for raptors.
FS (3/27/24): Eagle Rock & Security Risk are now open!
2/1/24: W. McCurry: USFS annual closures in Boulder Canyon as of 2/1/24 - Blob Rock, Bitty Buttress, Eagle Rock, Security Risk.
W. McCurry: 2/10/23 Blob, Bitty Buttress, & Security Risk opened. Eagle Rock is closed - info:
fs.usda.gov/detail/arp/news….
W. McCurry, NFS, Arap./Roo. NF: USFS began annual closures in BC 2/1/23. The closures: Eagle, Blob, Bitty Buttress, & Security.
Through 7/31/23, the closures protect golden eagle nesting territory. Happy Hour, Bihedral & Riviera will remain open as long as visitors stay out of the closed areas.
The Boulder Ranger District with BCC monitors nesting progress & informs climbers re: giving eagles space to raise young.
Fed. & state laws prohibit disturbing any nesting bird of prey. Visitors help protect wildlife by respecting closures. Signs are posted at key access pts into the closed areas. Closure info: fs.usda.gov/goto/arp/eagles.
K. Armstrong, Public Affairs Specialist, Nat'l Forest Service: as of 6/8/21: BC areas reopen after unsuccessful nesting.
K. Armstrong, NF Ranger 7/29/20: following a 5 mo. closure to protect nesting eagles, the Roosevelt NF reopened Eagle Rock.
“The BC eagles successfully raised 1 strong & healthy eaglet this year,” wildlife biologist Aurelia DeNasha, USDA FS. “2 chicks hatched initially, only 1 survived to fledge, which isn’t uncommon in birds of prey.”
Visits to the nest did not reveal the exact cause of death of the 2nd chick, but climber cooperation with closures are crucial to the eagles.
“Golden eagle pairs are most susceptible to disturbance when choosing a nest. These closures allow the birds to pick the best site for survival without impact of other factors, such as human presence. Once chosen, nest sites stays closed until the eagles fledge in late July,” said DeNasha.
After the eagles’ site selection was made, unused areas opened in Apr.
The annual nesting closures include popular rock climbing spots at Eagle, Blob, Bitty Buttress, & Security.
Through 7/31/20, the closures protect a long-established golden eagle nesting territory. Happy Hour, Bihedral & Riviera remain open as long as visitors stay out of the closed areas.
It is against federal & state law to disturb any nesting bird of prey. Only employees, volunteers, & wildlife professionals under an agreement with the FS enter nesting areas for monitoring purposes. This is for the integrity of nest & the safety of the eagles, those conducting surveys, & the public. Visitors help protect wildlife by respecting all closures & leaving immediately if you should accidentally enter one.
For the most current closure information, check signs in the areas, call the Boulder Ranger District office @ 303-541-2500, or visit local climbing websites or
fs.usda.gov/recmain/arp/rec….
4/21/20, Blob Rock, East Blob Rock, Bitty Buttress, & Security Risk are open. Eagle Rock stays closed until 7/31/2020 confirmed with Matt Henry, Rec Prog Mgr, FS.
K. Armstrong, FS Pub Aff, katherine.armstrong@usda.gov, 970-222-7607: 3/20/19, Blob, East Blob, Bitty Buttress, & Security are open. Eagle stays closed to climbing & other activities through 7/31/19.
See -
fs.usda.gov/recmain/arp/rec….
Perennial notice:
Eagle, Blob, Bitty Buttress, & Security will close 2/1 - 7/31 for nesting. Depending on updated information, the closure time can be shortened/lengthened. Each year, BC raptor nesting area closures are in effect starting 2/1 through 7/31 at Eagle, Security, Blob, & Bitty Buttress. The area is monitored & closures are periodically lifted early (due to no active nest, nest site failure, or early fledging). This monitoring program is a partnership with the FS Boulder Ranger District, BCC, & Audubon Society. Check back periodically during times of closure for updates. More info at
fs.usda.gov/recarea/arp/rec….
Avg: 2.3 from 97
votes
Access Issue: Seasonal raptor closures for 2026 - Bitty Buttress, Blob, East Blob, Security Risk - open. Eagle Rock, Vampire, Black Widow Slab - closed.
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Fort Collins, CO
Colorado Springs, Colorado
anywhere
This route is the retrobolting of Gross Vogel (“big bird”), a route Pat Ament and partner climbed in the sixties, using aid. The FFA of GV was done by Steve Monk and me in the seventies. It’s called Frei Vogel (“free bird”). Jul 1, 2024
Asheville, NC
First, I looked at 'Rock Climbing Boulder Canyon' (1999) by Richard Rossiter (pages 37-39) and then 'Boulder Canyon' (2019) by Jason Haas and Chris Weidner (pages 37-39). Both Gross Vogel and Frei Vogel start left of Eagle Tricks. According to Haas and Weidner, Gros Vogel (5.8 A2) may have climbed the upper part of Eagle Tricks (.12a). This is speculation lacking conclusive evidence. I saw no pin scars or evidence of a previous ascent when establishing routes at Eagle Rock.
Frei Vogel is 5.9. According to these guidebooks, it scrambles up left on 4th Class terrain to a small tree and then traverses up and right for 180 feet, above the sport routes, to reach the base of a left-facing dihedral. Rossiter credited Dan Hare and Mason Frichette with the first ascent in 1980. 'Boulder Canyon' (2019) may have been the first guidebook to credit George Bracksieck and Steve Monk with the first ascent.
According to 'Boulder Canyon' (2019), Screaming War Eagle climbs "the easiest terrain" on both Eagle Tricks and Eagle Snacks but doesn't climb the same entire line of Eagle Snacks. Haas and Weidner still credit the first ascent of Eagle Snacks to myself, Alan Nelson, and Henry Lester in October 1998.
It seems quite possible that Screaming War Eagle could have started up the easy, left-facing corner that is just left of the start of Eagle Snacks (which pulls over a tiny roof just right of the arete and climbs the face).
It's also conceivable that Screaming War Eagle climbed the crux of Eagle Snacks on marginal trad gear. In 1988, Aliens were available.
Climbing this .10d crux in 1979, with stiff bar Friends (1"-4") and rating it 5.9 seems very unlikely. I don't think it's possible to find a 5.9 variation to avoid the .10d crux midsection of Eagle Snacks. If it's possible to take an easier indirect line, it's not the same route.
Climbing Eagle Snacks on trad gear would be very sparsely protected. I see no conclusive evidence that Eagle Snacks retrobolted older trad lines. At this point, it is pure speculation where the first pitch of Gros Vogel and Screaming War Eagle are located. Feb 5, 2026
Is ES the retrobolted FV? Or is ES just a squeeze job? I’ll let the public decide. Feb 12, 2026
Secondly, the first pitch that you and Steve Monk climbed is not Frei Vogel. I referenced two more guidebooks: Pat Ament's 'High Over Boulder- 4th edition' (1985) and Richard Rossiter's 'Boulder Climbs North' (1988). Ament called Frei Vogel the Free Variation, and his route description says "climb a right-diagonaling, thin crack for about a pitch to the base of prominent left-facing inside corner" (page 70). Dan Hare and Mason Frichette were credited with the first ascent in 1980. It was Richard Rossiter in 'Boulder Climbs North' who renamed the climb Frei Vogel. In his description of Gros Vogel, he says "the so-called free version of this route is actually a completely independent line, and so I have changed its name slightly" (page 48). In 'Boulder Climbs North', his topo drawing shows Frei Vogel a long ways left of Gros Vogel, starting with a long traverse right. It is inconclusive from Rossiter's topo if the first pitch of Gros Vogel is in the same spot as Eagle Tricks and Eagle Snacks or to the left or right.
Pat Ament's description of Gros Vogel (5.8 A2) sort of fits the line of Eagle Tricks, but a few things in it raise doubt. He says "The first lead climbs diagonally left, up a 4th Class slab, to a tree on the main wall. Climb 10 feet up the wall behind the tree, and work diagonally left to the base of a slightly overhanging crack. The crack allowed for a point of two of aid originally" (page 70). The problem with concluding that Gros Vogel is Eagle Tricks is that the short 4th Class slab start can be climbed more or less straight up to reach the small tree between Eagle Tricks and Eagle Snacks. I have to question if this is the same tree or not? Did this tree between ET and ES even exist in 1963? The upper section of Eagle Tricks would probably require more than a point or two of aid to ascend at 5.8 A2.
Furthermore, I take issue with the fact that you waited four decades to document your route on Eagle Rock. Boulder Canyon was not some backwater area. Four guidebooks with Boulder Canyon information were published in the 1980s. There was a new route info notebook in the Boulder Mountaineer. Many climbers reported their new routes to Climbing magazine that published first ascents in its Basecamp section. If you have photographs of the first pitch of your 1979 ascent, they would certainly be very useful to eliminate any doubt.
Referring to Eagle Snacks as a squeeze job is a pretty self serving statement. Given the available information in 1998, I didn't think I was retrobolting a trad line or squeezing a route next to one. Your route was undocumented at the time. Screaming War Eagle didn't appear in a guidebook until 1999. It's pretty clear that lots of climbers have enjoyed Eagle Snacks over the past seventeen and a half years, and it's also pretty clear that most climbers couldn't give a rats ass if it retrobolted or squeezed an obscure undocumented trad line.
Regardless, I think the information that you provided in your last comment verifies that you did not climb the same route as Eagle Snacks but admittedly climbed to the left. Eagle Snacks deserves to be listed as it own route with first ascent credit given to me, Alan Nelson, and Henry Lester. Feb 12, 2026
On the other hand, Ament’s 1985 edition describes, in even greater detail, where GV goes. Except perhaps for where he went out of his way to use “a point or two of aid” on pitch one, we followed the route he describes in his 1985 edition. According to my journal entry for June 6, 1978, we climbed the whole route all free. I remember following Steve up the dihedral on the last pitch of GV.
According to Ament’s 1985 edition, Hare and Frischette climbed their last pitch up the orange dihedral, which is to the left of GV. Their route follows what is now known as Screaming War Eagle, as drawn in Haas 2019.
Regarding waiting decades to report routes I’ve done, I went climbing to go climbing. I wasn’t seeking recognition. I did love exploration and often saw gaps amid guidebook rocks and routes. I never bothered to report climbs that I did. I didn’t know popular climbers; I merely enjoyed climbing with my friends. I did (and continue to) keep a journal, and I had a photographic memory and keen sense of direction. Btw, the first time I reported routes was when Steve Levin talked to me when starting work on his first Eldo guidebook. I then put together a list, and I started posting on MP, pointing out that my partners and I had climbed routes without bolts, long before people, such as Richard Wright and Steve Sangdahl, had installed dozens on the same routes. Feb 13, 2026
Pat Ament's description of Gros Vogel mentions climbing an overhanging crack, which fits the description of Eagle Tricks (.12a) not Eagle Snacks that bulges for its short crux section. If Gros Vogel (pitch 1) is Eagle Tricks (as Haas and Weidner conclude), then myself, Bob Horan, and Pat Thompson made the first free ascent in 1998.
In your last comment, you say "however, Rossiter’s Boulder Climbs North is still completely wrong about the location of GV pitch one, and it shows nothing different from the line drawn in his 1999 edition." This statement is factually incorrect. In 'Boulder Climbs North', the drawing shows Gros Vogel (pitch 1) is probably in the vicinity of Eagle Tricks and Eagle Snacks, while Frei Vogel is located a long distance to the left and follows a right-angling traverse. In his 1999 guidebook, he (or his Falcon Publishing editor) made the mistake of showing Gros Vogel following the right-angling traverse line of Frei Vogel, while Frei Vogel is not shown in either the drawing or photograph.
You also say "regarding waiting decades to report routes I’ve done, I went climbing to go climbing. I wasn’t seeking recognition." Great, but then decades later you want recognition for the first ascent or first free ascent and criticize the climbers who retrobolted or bolted next to your unreported route. So what you are saying is a glaring contradiction. I think it establishes a bad precedent to allow people to claim that a sport route retrobolted their previously unreported decades old trad line. If they are going make such claims, then photographic evidence of their ascent should be required to eliminate any doubt.
Reporting first ascents wasn't simply about getting recognition but providing route information, so future climbers would know what has been climbed along with the rating, seriousness, and quality of the climb.
To whoever changed the route name Eagle Snacks to include "P1 of Gross Vogel (aid) or Frei Vogel (free)" along with changing the first ascent information to "Retrobolted: Mark Rolofson, Alan Nelson, and Henry Lester" versus giving us FA credit: You clearly didn't do your due diligence and thoroughly research the situation, but probably just took George Bracksieck's allegation as fact. Pretty lame to say the least! Feb 14, 2026
Boulder Colorado
I’ll be reaching out to admins for permission to reset the route name and delete the historical “record.” I invite the old heads who find this debate interesting to write up the Vogel/Screaming War Eagle Saga as they see fit and leave the modern sport route alone. Literally nobody else cares about the past history of this fun one-pitch warm-up. Feb 15, 2026
My motivation is to set the record straight. If I know history is wrong, I want to fix it. If descriptions are wrong, I want to fix those. Bad info is worse than no info. Apr 25, 2026