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Ramblin' Rose

5.10, Trad, 550 ft (167 m), 6 pitches, Grade II,  Avg: 3.7 from 88 votes
FA: Ken Trout, Kirk Miller, & Brian Hansen - circa 1983
Colorado > S Platte > Wigwam Creek/Lo… > Wigwam Dome

Description

This is another Platte classic!

P1: There are 3 ways to start this climb.

Option A: (5.6) Start left of the roof; scramble up a weakness (5.6) then traverse right to a bolted belay at the base of the giant roof. Not a great pitch, but it is easy and gives you an extra pitch of traversing under the giant roof.

Option B: (5.10) I have not done this, it looks scary and run out. Start by clipping 2 1/4 inchers then follow a right-arching crack until you can go straight up to the roof, 5.10x????

Option C: (5.9+) the best if you want less crack and more knobs, do the first pitch of Lady Slipper following bolts to a bolted belay about half way through the roof.

P2/3. (5.7). Assuming you chose option A for P1; climb up the clean, beautiful corner for two pitches. Both anchors are bolted

P4. (5.10). Tip toe up knobs passing a few bolts to a bolted anchor at a small stance. Some gear can be used between bolts. This is a short pitch that is easily combined with P4. If you link the 2, bring some mid-sized gear to build an anchor at the top of P4.

P5. (5.9 R) Continue up the increasingly runout face past 2 bolts.

P6. (5.7) Follow the easy, left-arching dihederal to a 1/4" bolted belay.

P7. (5.8?) Either step left then straight up from the belay, or keep going left until you want to go up.

P8 (5.?) Depending on your 5th pitch, take easy ground to the summit.

Per mountainmicah83 Morgan: walk off to the climber's right.

Location

To find the route look for the giant roof. Traverse beneath this roof until it dies. Go straight up on slap (crux) aiming for a left trending dihederal.

Protection

Standard Platte rack, slings, nothing bigger than a #3 Camalot.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Chuck following P3 on self-belay as Luke belays me on P4.
[Hide Photo] Chuck following P3 on self-belay as Luke belays me on P4.
Chuck's following P2 on self-belay. Notice that he's more or less hiking no hands up the low angle slab.
[Hide Photo] Chuck's following P2 on self-belay. Notice that he's more or less hiking no hands up the low angle slab.
P2 beautiful corner.
[Hide Photo] P2 beautiful corner.
Standing below our mission.  Ryan Glaze and I enjoying the view below the Ramblin' Rose Roof.  Ryan's first climb and my craziest lead.
[Hide Photo] Standing below our mission. Ryan Glaze and I enjoying the view below the Ramblin' Rose Roof. Ryan's first climb and my craziest lead.
On the topo:  "I" is Ramblin Rose.  <br>
<br>
The 5.10 first pitch is labeled J.  Needs new bolts!  <br>
<br>
The 5.4 first pitch is shown as the start for five routes; E, F, G, I, and the empty circle which is Over the Edge.  The easy start is steep and well protected (camalots #1-#3 and long runners).  Place some bomber cams in the Hill Route crack and the rope will run better for the down-climb to the bolt anchor on El Supremo.
[Hide Photo] On the topo: "I" is Ramblin Rose. The 5.10 first pitch is labeled J. Needs new bolts! The 5.4 first pitch is shown as the start for five routes; E, F, G, I, and the empty circle which i…
Scott follows the combined P3/4 for Ramblin' Rose. We did it in 4 pitches. Nice route, great day out.
[Hide Photo] Scott follows the combined P3/4 for Ramblin' Rose. We did it in 4 pitches. Nice route, great day out.
That's pretty neat!
[Hide Photo] That's pretty neat!
Great day!
[Hide Photo] Great day!
Finishing pitch four.  No more button heads!
[Hide Photo] Finishing pitch four. No more button heads!
The fun pitch under the big roof.
[Hide Photo] The fun pitch under the big roof.
Starting the fifth pitch.
[Hide Photo] Starting the fifth pitch.
Starting the crux pitch. I traversed right then straight up to the remaining bolts. Look for a good cam placement between the first and second bolts. Considerably difficult and mentally strenuous for me. Nevertheless, an awesome pitch.
[Hide Photo] Starting the crux pitch. I traversed right then straight up to the remaining bolts. Look for a good cam placement between the first and second bolts. Considerably difficult and mentally strenuous f…

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

[Hide Comment] Holy Cow,

I forgot this route is so stellar it's not even funny. Another "GEM" of the South Platte....

I've climbed it twice and each pitch is remarkable....

GET ON IT >>>>>

Like most of the Platte there won't be a crowd.... Sep 12, 2007
John McNamee
Littleton, CO
[Hide Comment] Exceptional route with great climbing and features. The crux is well protected. Take a camera.

The pitch after the crux (5.7) on knobs seemed more like 5.8 to me and the runout is spicy. The bolts are old 1/4 inchers and difficult to see before you get to them. Go straight up. Oct 1, 2007
Ken Trout
Golden, CO
[Hide Comment] This was the first route with bolts in the area. The long, leaning, corner is surely one of the most fun "easy" cracks in Colorado. From the bleay at the end on the corner, a double rope rappel reaches safe ground, so the 5.10 face is not mandatory. It would be good to put in another anchor so two single rope raps would be more easily done to escape.

11/15/07: Kirk Miller was part of the FA and named the route. Erik Winkleman led the more direct finish soon after the FA. Hand drilling these long routes was a slow, painful, process that could last several weekends and ultimatley involve many climbers. Oct 9, 2007
Ivan Rezucha
Fort Collins, CO
[Hide Comment] The "5.7 runout" pitch after the crux pitch is marked as 5.9 in both the Hubbel and Trout guides. So we felt better about bailing from the top of the 10 pitch. We had all three of us just finished John Long's new edition of Climbing Anchors which said that 1/4" bolts are essentially useless.

We started via the alleged "5.6 knobs", but couldn't find any. We instead climbed bushy cracks as for Hill's Route and then scrambled down and right to the left edge of the roof. The 2 roof pitches make a great moderate route with huge big wall feeling. The first pitch felt about 5.5 or 5.6, and the second pitch about 5.7. You can rap from the right end of the roof to the ground with one rope with two raps or two ropes with one rap (likewise from the top of the 10a pitch).

The 10a pitch was pretty hard for me. I put in gear out right between the 1st and 2nd bolts. I traversed slightly down from the 1st bolt then up to an overlap for the gear. I put in 2 small nuts at the base of the right facing corner before the last bolt. Nov 25, 2007
[Hide Comment] Definitely an excellent route. Climbed it the first time in June of '96. My friend Bill and I stopped at the Wild Horse saloon enroute to the campsite and partook of a few beers the night before. The next day, Bill was feeling the effects of one too many bud lights on the approach and the first few pitches. As I reached the end of the arch, anchored in, and hollered "On Belay!" to Bill below, I was answered by the sound of his violent retching. When he finally reached me at the anchors, he was feeling much better and was able to fully enjoy the rest of the route. He was even conscientious enough to traverse off route for his purge.

I returned this past summer to take a friend up the first three pitches to introduce him to multi-pitch climbing. Was pleased to see the new bolted anchors at the first 2 belays. Disappointed to see the old Star-dryven remained at the third. I left the #7 stopper there to back up the anchor as we rapped off. I expected the next party would be happy to score the booty. Amazing route, amazing exposure, amazing scenery...and no crowds! Dec 13, 2007
Trevor
Cottonwood Heights, UT
 
[Hide Comment] The old bolts on the "5.9" are not very confidence inspiring...a fall could be nasty. Great route though.... May 19, 2008
Jason Kaplan
Glenwood ,Co
 
[Hide Comment] I think the sane way to go about the pitch after the crux is to link them, if your really worried you could clip both bolts and equalize them at the anchor atop the 10 pitch then 2 screamers will make it relatively safe. More rope out means more stretch and less force, and on a screamer chances are you might not rip the bolts. There is definitely a lot more features to work with than on the crux I found. I was following so the crux pitch was more of a struggle for me then the run out featured rock above.

This outing really did me in as we got sleeted off the base of the crux (soaked pretty good)then came back the next day ascended maybe 30-40 feet of rope but scrambling up high as possible to a ledge where the rope was reached. It was a little scary. My partner made a few dicey moves un-roped with 70+ feet of air below him. I wanted to be on belay so that what we did. Once at the anchor, he linked the next 2 and I linked the last bit to the top via simul-climbing and the worst rope drag ever in the heat with my water back with my partner at the belay. Apparently, it was about as much fun for my partner to follow a sketch traverse wondering if he's on belay as I pulled the rope as hard as I humanly could. I barely made it back to the car sadly I was so worked from the weather and doing the hike twice (from less then a 1/2 mile from the car) etc. I thank Andy for being so understanding and forgiving, as we only did 1 route all weekend. Come prepared as I sure under-estimated the scope of this route. Oh and bring comfy shoes, my feet hurt pretty bad. Oct 1, 2008
kirkadirka
Down there somewhere
 
[Hide Comment] This was a great route!

Replacing the bolts on the pitch above the crux would definitely be worthwhile. Even if those bolts were good that pitch would still be a little exciting.

If anyone wanted to undertake that task (I don't have a bolt kit or the knowledge) please feel free to contact me through this site.

Kirk Nov 29, 2008
Shane Zentner
Colorado
[Hide Comment] Pitch 1. As mentioned above, we climbed broken rock and cracks until the traverse(up and right) to the anchor at the start of the huge dihedral. Never found the 5.6 knobs.

Pitch 2.5. Very asthetic climbing in a beautiful dihedral. Water was oozing from the roof crack. Perhaps one of the best 5.7 pitches around. This is actually two pitches.

Pitch 3 (crux). A #1 Camalot placed in the crack between bolts 1 and 2 adds a little reassurance. Reach big for the crack at the fourth bolt and smear like crazy. Climb the right side of the roof and keep your eyes on the anchor. This was mentally challenging for me.

Pitch 4. As Jason mentioned, Yates Screamers work well here. I followed this pitch and would not hesitate to call it 5.8/5.9. It's the typical South Platte runout on manky 1/4" bolts with the tin can hangers. A very long pitch. Good job, Pete.

Pitch 5. From the anchor, I traversed left protecting the traverse with small cams until I was under the hand crack that passes through a small bulge above. Climb the hand crack(5.8+/5.9), follow the crack until you are able to traverse left on broken rock, using long runners throughout the pitch(serious rope drag here). Take the path of least resistance and climb to a 'shelf'/slab below the summit.

Pitch 6. Climb to the summit over easy slab/crack.

Descend climber's right and follow cairns until you are at the bottom of the rock. The cairns disappear, so watch closely and be careful not to overshoot the descent.

Classic. Cracks, dihedrals, traverses, slabs, exposure, position. A brilliant climb in an awesome setting. Jun 20, 2009
Jay Eggleston
Denver
  5.10
[Hide Comment] The bolts on the pitch after the crux are scary! I clipped them both with screamers but this did not inspire much confidence. Getting to the first bolt on this pitch is a little hairy. You will certainly impact the belay ledge (10') below if you fall on the moves just below the bolt. Otherwise, a very enjoyable route. Jun 30, 2009
Kevin Stricker
Evergreen, CO
[Hide Comment] The challenge with rebolting on Wigwam is that it is in Lost Creek Wilderness, so no power drills allowed. Also there is not an obvious easy way to get down to these anchors from above due to the summit roofs. If someone is interested in the undertaking, email me and I can set you up with some ASCA bolts and hangers, although the 12mm Triplex I usually use take 30+ minutes each to hand drill in granite. Aug 19, 2009
Mike Slavens
Houston, TX
[Hide Comment] The two 1/4" bolts protecting the 5.9 pitch have been redrilled with 3/8" stainless steel Fixe bolts and Fixe hangers.

My dad and I drilled them on 08-24-09 by hand.

The old bolts and hangers were not removed due to difficulty pulling them (they are in there pretty solid) and time constraints as we were moving slow. Currently we do not have plans to return to pull the old bolts. Aug 24, 2009
Jay Eggleston
Denver
  5.10
[Hide Comment] Thanks for replacing the bolts! Aug 24, 2009
David HH
CR, CO
  5.10-
[Hide Comment] I think it is worth pointing out that the HUGE flake on the 2nd pitch is very loose. This is the flake just before the large roof turns back to the right. The flake is at least 10'x10'and wobbles like a diving board, I would highly recommend just staying in the corner and avoiding this flake all together. If not linking 2 and 3 will keep the flake from hitting the belayer if the leader should knock it down. Sep 27, 2009
Luke Clarke
Golden
[Hide Comment] Highly recommend the Lady Slipper start. The grungy looking hand crack is actually nice inside where you're jamming. The bolted second pitch is good for your head. Lead it and the run out Pitch 5 will feel easier. I want to do this one again already it so fine. Oct 26, 2009
Jesse Morehouse
CO
  5.10
[Hide Comment] If you go w/Option A above, you will either do the big roof in 2 pitches using the bolted belay 1/4 of the way through it or do the whole thing as one pitch with a little simulclimbing.

The anchors at the end of the roof (the belay below the crux pitch) is the worst belay on the route- 2 bolts, one Star Driven and who knows what the other is. Good gear options are available to back this up. All other belay anchors and protection bolts are great (final belay is one awesome bolt and 2 buttonhead/leepers but that one bolt is great!).

The crux sure ain't like most ".10-" (as per topo) pitches you come across these days. Super cool.

I'm curious as to how others finish this fantastic route.

We stuck to the topo more or less after the last bolted belay at the top of the 5.5/7ish (rating varies from description above and topo) arching crack. We went left and up from the 3 bolt belay but avoided the ".8 hand" (on topo) portion due to a lack of tape and intestinal fortitude in the face of that skin hungry crack. We ziged right below the ".8 crack" which was engaging for both leader and second and zaged back left to belay where the big boulder and the overhanging face meet. The topo showed going up there and seemed pretty casual about it but we found the moves a bit exciting.

Personally I felt lucky to be climbing with a self proclaimed boulderer who thought pro 3 feet off the ground on a 12 foot "problem" was way cool (Way to go, Andrew!). It was the last few moves to the top but sure was in your face for a sec. Cool end to a cool route, but if you go that way you sure can't relax until it's all over. Jun 21, 2010
GMBurns
The Fucking Moon, man, the…
  5.10 R
[Hide Comment] Best route in CO.

P4 as noted here is not 5.7. It doesn't become 5.7 until AFTER the scary bolts above the anchor at the top of the 5.10 pitch. Nov 9, 2010
jmeizis
Colorado Springs, CO
  5.10a/b R
[Hide Comment] Best route I've done in CO. The flake under the arch is kind of scary but easy to be gentle on. I thought the pitches after the first arch but before the second (where you go left again) were pretty awesome although the runout "5.9" section felt pretty similar in difficulty to the 5.10 section. Falling there would be a bad idea. If you didn't hit the ledge with the belay bolts, you'd certainly have a bad road rash.

Either way the way we broke down the pitches were:

Combine P1 & P2 (bad rope drag for my partner) we started a ways left of the arch in bushy cracks.

Combine P4 & P5.

Five pitches of stellar flakes and slab. Such cool area to spend a few days in. Jan 6, 2011
RyanO
sunshine
  5.10c
[Hide Comment] Bring a 70! Major shenanigans required to rap this route with a 60, and doubles wouldn't be much better. The walkoff may be the way to go. Red C4 and red C3 on the crux pitch. Quality route in a gorgeous setting - the view is absolutely incredible. Mar 25, 2012
mountainmicah83 Morgan
Colorado Springs
  5.10b/c
[Hide Comment] Through the other comments, it was not clear if we would encounter any 1/4" bolts or not. All bolts on the crux pitch and the following runout pitch were shiny half inch with good hangers except for one of the anchor bolts before the 5.10 section that can easily be backed up with a small nut.

That said, the runout to the first bolt on the pitch is no joke. For reference, a "regular" sport climb would have had 2 more bolts from the anchors to that one. That is all part of the Splatte adventure we love about scaring the crap out of ourselves though! Either bail or man up. It was solid friction 5.9 to get it, and it is very possible you will deck on that belay ledge if you fell on the way up. I stayed right and then traversed left about halfway to the bolt. I would not have wanted to lead that on a windy day.

Caution: A 60m rope will not reach from the anchors above the crux pitch to the last anchors. It got me about 15' short. Better to make an intermediate anchor if doing that way or just link the crux with the runout pitch and set an anchor at the first good spot.

As said in other comments, walk off to the climber's right. Mar 26, 2012
David Appelhans
Broomfield, CO
  5.10
[Hide Comment] I led the direct start first pitch (option B), in terrible hangdog form. The 1/4 inchers are not confidence inspiring (didn't fall on them), but they aren't that bad, and the rest of the pitch takes gear. The arching crack is harder than it looks, has kinda dirty feet, and is hard to see your gear when you are placing it (but the gear is good). I'd rate this option 5.11 rather than 5.10X.

With a 70m rope, we did the climb in 4 pitches. For our 3rd pitch, I led the crux and continued beyond past an anchor and two bolts (5.9) to a gear belay 50 ft up a left-leaning crack (5.6). One more pitch from there meandered to the summit. A downclimb to climber's left led to a rap tree for a short single rope rap and then a gully deposited us back at our packs. May 31, 2012
Kat A
Boulder, CO
[Hide Comment] Rating- SPlatte 5.10a/b, with a 5.9 R section

Rack - set of stoppers plus doubles from blue alien to #3 Camalot

Aspect - SE, gets sun in late June by 9 am ish.

Fixed hardware - As of 2017, appears all bolts have been modernized - thanks to those who updated them.

P1 - ca 5.6 for the standard start, which is the easiest access onto the main face. Located left of a bolted line and a short OW crack. Climb past some vegetation on low-angled rock slightly left, then generally up and rightwards, ca. 35m to the bolt anchor around the corner from the P2/3 dihedral.

P2-P3 - 5.7/5.8; can combine nicely with a 70m rope if you simul-climb 10 feet or so (the start of P2 is relatively easy). Beautiful climbing on these two pitches, with 2-bolt anchors after both P2 and P3. P3 follows a weakness ca. 20' below the upper roof. There may be a bit of water seepage than can be stepped across without too much issue.

P4 - 5.10a/b, ca. 70'. Bolts can be supplemented with a red or green Camalot, plus a blue Alien (potentially a green alien as well). Comfortable 2-bolt belay on top of the bulge.

P5 - 5.9 R with the first bolt 15-20 feet above the belay - a fall before this may result in the leader hitting the ledge. There is a second bolt, then an easier runout (compared to getting to bolt 1) to where the rock becomes a lower angle.

P6 - 5.7 Cruise up the left angling dihedral. Towards the end there is a face section protected by a yellow alien in the horizontal crack, to the new 2 bolt anchor.

P7 - We have done two different finishes.

Finish Option 1 is longer, reaches summit, and is followed by reasonable walk-off. 5.8. Though an older topo indicates "scary to second," we felt the initial traverse wasn't so bad with small-medium Camalots in the horizontal crack. After traversing left, move up and over a low-angle slab (not much pro) to a wide crack, which didn't seem very difficult. *After the wide crack, don't go straight back to the large dihedral - angle left then up* If you find yourself at a wide dihedral, there are three options that look substantially harder than 5.9: 1) Steep face climb L of dihedral; 2) Steep off-width through dihedral (large Big bro sized); 3) Bat-ridden steep crack w/guano R of dihedral. Maybe you could take one of these, but we instead chose to reverse back ca 15-20', move left, up and over to easier terrain (essentially we looped around and found ourselves above that large dihedral via 5.8 terrain). P7/8 (depending on where you belay) - Low angle slab/crack climbing puts you on top of the formation. Large cams (#3-#4) in the horizontal crack were useful for a belay, or you can keep moving back to the trees (depending on rope drag). Walk-off to the right wasn't too difficult to discern. Don't cut right too early or you can get cliffed out. Some cairns.

Finish Option 2 is shorter, faster, and a good option if weather is moving in. From the P6 2 bolt belay, traverse left placing small-medium cams in the horizontal crack (well-protected). Continue traversing left along an easy ledge system, which later becomes a bit grovely (#3/#4 cams). You will eventually see gully below you. Some have described rapping from trees here, though the closest ones are dead. Instead, look leftwards to the steep overhanging crack system - Charlie's Crack aka Little Bo Peep Diploma. The chain anchors can be accessed by scrambling 3rd class around the backside (careful for loose rock). 70m rope gets you to the ground - walk skiers left back to the base. Sep 2, 2013
ErikaNW
Golden, CO
[Hide Comment] Complete longshot here.... I lost a gold and silver hoop earring somewhere while climbing Ramblin' Rose on Feb. 15, 2017. I noticed it was gone when I got home, photos show I had it at the base and not the summit. I have a feeling it might have fallen out when I pulled a shirt over my helmet at the 2nd belay (1st anchor in the long dihedral). It might be on route, or more likely fell to the base of Lady Slipper. It's not valuable but has tremendous sentimental meaning to me. I'd definitely be psyched to get it back, and I don't know when I'll be able to get back in there to look for it myself. Kicking myself for climbing with jewelry.

Re: the route - Kat's description was spot on - except I found the wide 5.8 on P7 to be the hardest part of the route! Kat is a crack climber....

Thanks - Erika Feb 16, 2017
Tony B
Around Boulder, CO
  5.10
[Hide Comment] This indeed goes in 4 pitches if you like to run them together. Just don't link the roof traverse into the crux, the drag is tough up there with no holds.
Link the crux pitch to above instead!
P1 through the roofs.
P2 to belay below the crux.
P3 the crux and beyond, as far as you can take it, at least 2 pitches.
P4 top out. Feb 16, 2017
Owen Murphy
Fort Collins, CO
  5.10 PG13
[Hide Comment] Beautiful, adventurous line. The R pitch can be made a bit safer by staying just right of the line to the first bolt. It leads you just right of the small ledge that one could potentially bounce off. Made it feel less spooky anyway. It’s pretty chill overall though. Nothing felt too runout. Apr 16, 2018
Brandon White
Breckenridge
 
[Hide Comment] I must disagree with the poster above. Walk off to the climber's right, slightly to the northeast. Find the easy gully that goes down, marked periodically with small cairns. The trick is to make sure you stay far enough away from the main mass of the dome that you don't end up back on it (and cliffed out) as you go down. This is really a simple descent that takes you downhill the whole way back to the base, ~15min walk. Oct 31, 2022
George Grattan
Eldorado Springs, CO
[Hide Comment] Phenomenal climbing, but I ended up having a nub break on the 5.9 R pitch just as I was nearing the first bolt. Fell ~40' and thankfully missed the ledge entirely. I got lucky and walked away with just some rope burn on my leg

I honestly think that the 5.9 pitch should have some more bolts added to it, and I am happy to do it if the community is okay with the idea. The spice factor is fun and all, but honestly since the 5.10 pitch below is bolted like a sport climb, there isn't much of an excuse not to bolt the 5.9 R pitch above it.

Other than getting a good scare, it's a really good route and definitely worthy of an attempt. You can easily rap before/after the 10a pitch if you don't want to add the spice factor. Jun 25, 2023
Brian Hansen
West of Boulder, CO
[Hide Comment] Please don't. Jun 26, 2023