routt County
rock climbing
D
yno, redpoint, flash, send. Practice this slang and more at Steamboat’s top climbing spots, all within a short drive of town. Local rock climbs offer everything from bouldering and top-roping to sport and trad climbing — more than enough to keep you pumped and primed all summer long.
Elk river road
Head north up Elk River Road (C.R. 129) and turn right onto Seedhouse Road just after the Clark Store. Along the north side of the road are some good sport/trad walls. Seedhouse Crag is the first, just after Elk River Guest Ranch, and offers a dozen sport leads that are easily toproped. Cougar Crag, just above Forest Service Stahley park Road 430, has numerous sport and traditional leads overlooking Hinman Park. At the end of Located in downtown Steamboat, Stahley Hinman Park, Valley View is a great top-rope Park offers the chance to top-rope short, difarea for kids. Box Canyon Crag is next, with a ficult climbs along Butcherknife Creek. Climbs few sport climbs. Head up the North Fork Trail exist on both sides of the trail, with a crack climb on the north and face climb on the south. and you’ll find Hole in the Wall Canyon, which also offers good sport climbs, and the “Needle,” a classic two-pitch climb to the top of a narrow uranium Mine tower. At the end of Seedhouse Road is the AlJust north (left) of the Fish Creek Falls area pine world of the Mount Zirkel Wilderness Area. is the Uranium Mine trail leading to bouldering and short top-rope routes on such climbs as rabbit Ears pass Blob Rock. All climbs here are south-facing and Just before West Summit is Harrison Creek unsheltered from the sun, so pick your times Crag, offering great short top-ropes and wisely so you don’t get fried.
bouldering. The hike is short and the view is amazing. Then come the Domes, one of the best climbing spots in the region. Head 8 miles south on Buffalo Park Road to the trailhead to Rose Dome, offering short sport climbs, or two miles farther to Sarvis Dome for its multi-pitch trad routes up to 400 feet (closed until Aug. 1 each summer for peregrine falcon nesting). Farther south on Lynx Pass is Silver Creek trailhead, offering the area’s largest concentration of bouldering.
Muddy Creek Muddy Creek is another “fantastic addition to the area’s climbing options,” says local climber Dalton Reed. Requiring a 15-minute hike, the area offers more than 15 climbs from 5.7 to 5.12, consisting of everything from bolted sport and trad climbs to top rope options. Classics include 120-foot Mosstrum Tower, 70-foot Bob Grey Tower and a 5.10 called Mosstrum Crack.
Photo by John F. Russell
beta For more information, stop by Ski Haus or Backdoor Sports, or contact local climbing guide service Rocky Mountain Ventures (www.steamboatclimbing.com, 970-8708440), which also offers indoor top-rope climbing at the Steamboat Springs Middle School for kids and adults. For climbing with a splash-down, try the straight-from-the-water climbing wall at Old Town Hot Springs.
66 | ExplorE StEamboat Summer 2014
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