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Tickle Me, St. Elmo

5.9, Trad, TR, 40 ft (12 m),  Avg: 1.5 from 2 votes
FA: JJR, 10/28/2017
Colorado > Buena Vista > Arkansas Valley… > West > Cascade Boulders

Description

This is short and ugly, but it eats gear and has 7 or 8 surprisingly great moves on good stone.

Look for the left-angling crack system beneath an overhang. Launch up some thuggish old-school handjams (.8+) whilst dodging bat guano and that one questionable looking granite dagger jutting out at 2/3rds height, then get the feet high and pull the lip (9).

Walk off to the right (west) via a short 3rd Class gully. You can get an easy TR setup via the same.

There are other new route possibilities up the overhanging fist crack (arrow marked 'B' in beta photo) and dihedral ('C').

Location

Go 0.1 miles west of the Cascade CG turnoff on the south side of the road. This crag is visible 50' above the road. Scramble up to the base. The descent/TR gully is on the right (west) side.

Protection

Gear to 1.5" and small stuff for the anchor. A #4 Camalot is helpful on top as are some longer slings for trees.

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Location of the crag.
[Hide Photo] Location of the crag.
The route line of Tickle Me, St. Elmo.
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