All Locations > Colorado > Estes Park Valley > Big Thompson Ca… > Palisade Mountain > Skull Rock Area > Subskull

The Middle Man

Name: The Middle Man
Rating: 2.9

5.10- YDS 6a French 18 Ewbanks VI+ UIAA 18 ZA E1 5a British

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Routes in Subskull

L › R R › L A › Z

	Bonehead S 5.10c 6b 20 VII 20 E2 5b
	But It's Low Angle T 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a
	Channel Surfing S 5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a
	Deathly Hollow S 5.12b 7b 26 VIII+ 26 E5 6b
	Head Case S 5.11d 7a 24 VIII 25 E5 6a
	Left Maxillary S 5.8+ 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c
	Middle Man, The T 5.10- 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a
	Nasty TR 5.11a 6c 22 VII+ 22 E3 5c
	Numbskulls S,TR 5.12a 7a+ 25 VIII+ 25 E5 6a
	RetroHang (temporary name) T 5.11+ 7a 24 VIII 24 E4 6a
	Salonpas T 5.10b 6a+ 19 VII- 19 E2 5b
	Stacks T 5.9+ 5c 17 VI 17 E1 5a
	These Ol' Bones S 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a

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Type:	Trad, 70 ft (21 m)
GPS:	40.43666, -105.31171
FA:	FRA: Jim Belcer, Nate Arganbright November 6, 2005 ???
Page Views:	1,825 total · 9/month
Shared By:	jason seaver on Feb 6, 2010
Admins:	Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monty, Monomaniac, Tyler KC Page Updates (admin only)

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Access Issue: Access issue - Monastery, Cedar Park, Combat Rock, etc. - open since 2023 Details

Update: per Bruce Hildenbrand: the area has been open since 2023.

Per JF M: as of May 2022, there is no signage on-site, nor information on the USFS webpage for the Cameron Peak Fire (nor on their published map of closures) that indicates the area is closed.

Per Bruce Hildenbrand: it appears that the Forest Service has closed access to all the climbing areas accessed via Storm Mountain Road (Monastery, Cedar Park, Combat Rock, etc.) until they can clear all the dangerous dead trees from the Cameron Peak fire.

I worked this issue with Eric Murdock at the AF, and it looks like the Forest Service picked Devil's Gulch Road as the southern boundary even though all the climbing areas on MP.com were not burned.

Description

This pitch is great, with varied crack climbing cruxes on great stone. Steeper than it looks.

Location

Subskull is made up of three distinct sections:
-The left (West) section is a south facing slab with Crossbones (5.8+ - a left-facing, left-leaning flake system) on its right side.
-The middle section faces West and has 3 obvious cracklines on its steep wall. The Middle Man is......the one in the middle.
-The right (East) section is a south facing wall with a low, featured overhang on its left, and a few cracklines on its right.

Start The Middle Man on the rock ramp beneath the West face. Climb the weakness through the initial, steep headwall that is most directly beneath the middle crackline. Continue your business with The Middle Man to its logical ending.......the top.