Trip Reports - 10/08/01- A first visit to Eldorado Canyon, Colorado

Submitted by Wayne Busch

"I'm not going to spend a week in Colorado and NOT do any climbing!" I insisted as we planned to visit my wife's brother Ash and and his family in Denver. On a previous trip, we'd driven to Eldorado Canyon after a snowy hike in the Flatirons. The weather was miserable, but I'd seen the wonderful rock and it stuck in my memory as the first place I wanted to return to when an opportunity presented.

"This is a family visit, not a climbing trip" my wife Jackie, reiterated. "Besides, I haven't been climbing for a year, I'm out of shape."

"Then you pick the climb" I said, leaving the guidebook on the counter before I left for work one morning. I gradually wore down her resolve until she agreed to surrender a day to get on some rock.

We flew out of Gainesville Thursday, using free tickets Jackie had earned through frequent flyer miles and were met at the Denver airport by Ash's wife Kathleen and daughter Rachel. Prior to our arrival, Denver had been experiencing ideal weather - low's in the 50's, highs in the upper 70's. Wonderful outdoor weather. Of course, it snowed the night we arrived.

The cold snap was short lived, and by the weekend we enjoyed warmer and clearer weather. While Jackie and Kathleen tested their resolve with a climb of their first 13,000 foot peak, (Mt. Audubon), Ash and I tore through the high country on his dirt bikes. Our rides included a climb of Red Cone Peak (12,800+) and a tour through parts of the Rampart Range riding area.

Monday brought the return of the ideal weather. Jackie and I headed up to Boulder and into Eldorado Canyon for an afternoon of climbing. I'd spotted the classic Bastille Crack 5.7 on our first brief visit to the canyon. Located on the first major buttress of rock adjacent to the road, it's one of the most popular climbs in the canyon, if not the world. I was quite pleased when Jackie selected it as the climb she wanted to do.

We parked, loaded up the gear, and walked the few hundred feet up the road to the base of the climb. Two climbers were just starting the route, so we took seats on the rock wall across the road to wait our turn. A few other climbers could be seen on various routes across the stream, but the canyon was almost devoid of the masses reported to throng here on the weekends. The party ahead of us reached the first belay station, paused for a while, then rappelled back to the ground leaving the route clear for us. What luck!

The climb in it's classic form is made up of five short pitches, though it is commonly done in four by combining the first two. We chose to do it in classic five pitch fashion to allow for better communication between the leader and the belayer on the first pitch. After that, the leader generally climbs out of sight of the belayer on the remaining pitches. There are chain anchors at the first belay point. Above that, the leader must construct his own anchors.

The route is easy to follow. There was the telltale spotting of chalk left over from the weekend. Along the way are several pieces of lost / stuck gear and old pitons. Many of the cracks showed their vintage with flaring piton scars best protected with cams. The description in the guidebook is quite adequate. What makes this climb a classic is the sustained nature of the route. It is steep, strenuous, and sometimes awkward. It's a nice challenge for the grade.

We topped out late in the afternoon. The scramble down follows a series of narrow ledges and ramps to an upper trail, then descends along the buttress to the road below. We passed several pairs of climbers ascending alternate routes as we made our way down to the road and returned to our car. An hour later, we were back in Denver.

For climbers from Florida, it was quite a novelty to go out for "an afternoon of climbing". We slept in, waited for the city traffic to subside, grabbed a quick lunch in Boulder, had a relaxing afternoon of climbing fun, and a home cooked meal, hot shower, and comfortable bed that evening. It sure beats the eight hour drives we're used to just to reach a climbing area and all the attendant logistics that typically surround our climbing adventures.

 I look forward to my next visit to Eldorado Canyon as well as the Flatirons, Garden of the Gods, and other wonderful areas of Colorado. Y'all have it nice out there in the mountain state, I hope to return soon.

Thanks Ash, Kathleen, and Rachel. See you next time!

- Wayne

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