We just got back from two excellent days in Rocky Mountain Park, and I thought I’d share a few lessons that were impressed upon us during our attempt to climb Notchtop via the Direct South Ridge. We got chased off by weather about halfway up, and though I’ve climbed in the Park a half dozen times before, we learned a few things that we’d do different next time to insure success.

Having spent most of the last two weeks in and around Moab, I had some rest days to kill, and these are my top picks for what to do while you’re waiting for your muscles to stop hurting and the skin to regrow on the backs of your hands.

Sunday afternoon in Boulder. We could have gone to Eldo, and climbed a couple of cold, chossy pitches, but it was much easier instead  to head over to the new Movement Climbing + Fitness gym.  My third day in a row there, I couldn’t help but wonder if this ultra-modern facility signals the end of [...]

For Redstone to have a banner ice year, we need the perfect mix of snow and sunny days that are warm enough to get some water moving but not so hot everything falls down. This year it’s been sunny, but way too cold for much ice to come in other than the usual routes. Here’s [...]

Last week I got to volunteer on a CRMS fall climbing trip to the Paradox Valley in southwestern Colorado. I’d heard good things about the area, but never had a chance to check it out aside from driving through once on a back road trip to the Creek. What we found was fun climbing and [...]

As we enter our seventh day in a row of rain here in western Colorado, many folks are beginning to wonder, who indeed will stop this rain?

Yep, you read that right. Five towers in five hours. So where did this Herculean feat occur? The Bridger Jacks? Castle Valley? Try the Needles of South Dakota. I got to make a quick one day visit to this incredible place with my friend Lynn while on a service trip to the Pine Ridge Indian [...]

By Lynn Sanson
Having lived in Estes Park for 7 years I was spoiled with many easily accessible moderate multi-pitch routes. While Carbondale has great local crags, there are few options where one can go to get off the ground without driving an hour plus. So my interest was peaked when I heard about a [...]