by Gwen Cameron
“The Colorado climbing scene has long been one of the richest of all the states… the accomplishments, the characters, and the mountains themselves,” said Royal Robbins, one of the pioneers of American rock climbing and an early advocate of free climbing. Robbins’ words hold especially true for Boulder and its Flatirons. From bar-raising first ascents to less serious undertakings done wearing roller skates, the Flatirons have been the an important part of Colorado’s development as one of the best—and quirkiest--climbing destination in the U.S.
Organized climbing began in Boulder just 20 years after Colorado became a state. In1896, the Rocky Mountain Climbers Club (RMCC) was formed. It was a collection of hikers and “scramblers” that organized outings to the Flatirons and Indian Peaks on the Continental Divide. Members of the club became among the most prominent pioneers of technical climbing in the state.
1906 saw the first ascent of the Third Flatiron by RMCC members Floyd and Earl Millard. Their ropeless scramble up the 1300-foot Standard East Face was the earliest recorded rock climb in Colorado, followed by the first ascent of the First Flatiron and new routes on the south side of the Third.
Rudolph Johnson, another RMCC member, wrote about climbing on the First and Third Flatirons in a 1923 issue of Trail and Timberline:
“In climbing either Flatiron with a party I have always used a rope, and it has been a life saver several times, but the first man up or the last man down gets no advantage of the rope. As to footwear, I prefer wearing hob nailed boots, but have found rubber soled shoes, or even stockinged feet to be satisfactory, except in wet weather, when rubber is exceedingly dangerous, while hob nails will stick anywhere on any sort of rock in any sort of weather.”
“I am not recommending the Flatiron climb for any except the most foolhardy rock climbers, but to mountaineers who want real thrills no better climb can be found,” Johnson said.
Though common practice today, most climbers up until 1920 “scorned the use of a rope in rock scaling,” said former RMCC president Ralph Squires. Except in parties with beginning climbers, it was thought that using a rope on the Third Flatiron was cheating.
When groups of climbers did resort to roped climbing, they used techniques that would be considered reckless by today’s standards. The first climber up would find a suitable ledge where he or she would sit with the rope tied around the waist. Climbers below could use the dangling rope as a handhold as they climbed up.
Eventually, Flatiron climbers also learned how to use their ropes to get back down from the cliff. Prominent Boulder climber Baker Armstrong came across a photo in a book of a climber descending a cliff by wrapping a climbing rope around his body and using the resulting friction to make a controlled descent to the ground. In the caption, the technique was called “rappelling.” Armstrong borrowed a hemp rope from a friend and decided to test the theory out for himself. From the summit of the Third Flatiron, he wrapped the rope around a horn of rock and eventually rappelled off the overhanging west side after much trial and error.
The Third Flatiron began to see heavier traffic in the 1930s when mountain guides Hull Cook and Ev Long decided to take clients up the Third during the Long’s Peak off-season. That installed the six large eyebolts along the Standard East Face that are still used as belay anchors today.
My the mid-1940s, Flatirons were spider-webbed with routes and climbers had made vast progress in the development of Boulder-area climbing. In October 1944, Roy Peak and Mark Taggart made a wild ascent of the Maiden, an exposed pinnacle deep in the Flatirons. The route started on the west edge of the rock and wrapped around to the precipitous north face through a notch called the Crow’s Nest. They followed the east ridge to what has been called “one of the most satisfying summits in the Boulder region,” providing a spectacular view of the Front Range and Great Plains.
Climbers began exploring much more technical and difficult climbing on the Flatirons in the late 1940s and 1950s. In 1949, a trio of University of Colorado students established the Northwest Passage on the north side of the Third Flatiron. On this two-pitch climb, Tom Hornbein, Bob Riley and Dick Sherman made the first recorded attempt to drill bolts in Colorado. However, their equipment failed and they used a lassoing maneuver to bypass a blank section of rock instead.
In 1953, Dale Johnson and Phil Robertson made the first ascent of the Third Flatiron in roller skates. The duo climbed the featured east face without locking the wheels and were forced to crawl on their hands and knees up the smooth final pitch of friction slab.
By the 1970s and 1980s bolting routes to create “sport climbs” was a popular practice in the Flatirons. In 1987, sport climber Dan Michael established two of the most difficult and recognizable climbs in the area. Slave to the Rhythm ascended a pebble-strewn overhang on the Ironing Board near the Third Flatiron. The Friend was a short climb up an overhanging dihedral on Dinosaur Mountain.
Around the same time, climber and guidebook author Richard Rossiter established climbs that represented a new first ascent mentality. He created climbs that were enjoyable and safe for future climbers. In the past, first ascents were all about the adventure of exploring new terrain.
By the end of the 1980s there were more than one thousand climbers in Boulder and unclimbed rock was becoming rare. Soon after, bolt-drilling was banned in the Flatirons and other climbing destinations in the Boulder area. It was the end of an era in Boulder climbing, but it gave birth to a new style of climbing.
Because climbers were not allowed to drill bolts, they began establishing difficult trad climbs and freeing old aid routes. In 2009, Matt Wilder freed Cheating Reality (5.14a R, 80') on the Devil’s Thumb. The route follows a delicate seam through an overhang on the north face.
“[Climbing Cheating Reality] shows that there is more potential in the Flatirons. As far as the sport is concerned, it shows that hard beautiful new climbs can still be done on all gear,” Wilder told Alpinist.com.
Many Flatirons climbers come to make speedy free-solos the Flatirons. The base-to-summit speed record on the 1,200-foot East Face of the Third Flatiron was set by Stefan Griebel wirh a time of 5 minutes and 59 seconds. Dave Mackey holds the car-to-car record for the formation with a time of 33 minutes and 17 seconds. He record required 2.5 miles of hiking and a rappel off the west face of the Flatiron in addition to climbing for 1,200 feet.
Today approximately 10,000 people come to climb in the Flatirons each year, according to the Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks visitation survey conducted in 2004 and 2005. Known for its high-quality rock and moderately difficult routes, the Flatirons are among the most frequented climbing destinations in Colorado.
Organized climbing began in Boulder just 20 years after Colorado became a state. In1896, the Rocky Mountain Climbers Club (RMCC) was formed. It was a collection of hikers and “scramblers” that organized outings to the Flatirons and Indian Peaks on the Continental Divide. Members of the club became among the most prominent pioneers of technical climbing in the state.
1906 saw the first ascent of the Third Flatiron by RMCC members Floyd and Earl Millard. Their ropeless scramble up the 1300-foot Standard East Face was the earliest recorded rock climb in Colorado, followed by the first ascent of the First Flatiron and new routes on the south side of the Third.
Rudolph Johnson, another RMCC member, wrote about climbing on the First and Third Flatirons in a 1923 issue of Trail and Timberline:
“In climbing either Flatiron with a party I have always used a rope, and it has been a life saver several times, but the first man up or the last man down gets no advantage of the rope. As to footwear, I prefer wearing hob nailed boots, but have found rubber soled shoes, or even stockinged feet to be satisfactory, except in wet weather, when rubber is exceedingly dangerous, while hob nails will stick anywhere on any sort of rock in any sort of weather.”
“I am not recommending the Flatiron climb for any except the most foolhardy rock climbers, but to mountaineers who want real thrills no better climb can be found,” Johnson said.
Though common practice today, most climbers up until 1920 “scorned the use of a rope in rock scaling,” said former RMCC president Ralph Squires. Except in parties with beginning climbers, it was thought that using a rope on the Third Flatiron was cheating.
When groups of climbers did resort to roped climbing, they used techniques that would be considered reckless by today’s standards. The first climber up would find a suitable ledge where he or she would sit with the rope tied around the waist. Climbers below could use the dangling rope as a handhold as they climbed up.
Eventually, Flatiron climbers also learned how to use their ropes to get back down from the cliff. Prominent Boulder climber Baker Armstrong came across a photo in a book of a climber descending a cliff by wrapping a climbing rope around his body and using the resulting friction to make a controlled descent to the ground. In the caption, the technique was called “rappelling.” Armstrong borrowed a hemp rope from a friend and decided to test the theory out for himself. From the summit of the Third Flatiron, he wrapped the rope around a horn of rock and eventually rappelled off the overhanging west side after much trial and error.
The Third Flatiron began to see heavier traffic in the 1930s when mountain guides Hull Cook and Ev Long decided to take clients up the Third during the Long’s Peak off-season. That installed the six large eyebolts along the Standard East Face that are still used as belay anchors today.
My the mid-1940s, Flatirons were spider-webbed with routes and climbers had made vast progress in the development of Boulder-area climbing. In October 1944, Roy Peak and Mark Taggart made a wild ascent of the Maiden, an exposed pinnacle deep in the Flatirons. The route started on the west edge of the rock and wrapped around to the precipitous north face through a notch called the Crow’s Nest. They followed the east ridge to what has been called “one of the most satisfying summits in the Boulder region,” providing a spectacular view of the Front Range and Great Plains.
Climbers began exploring much more technical and difficult climbing on the Flatirons in the late 1940s and 1950s. In 1949, a trio of University of Colorado students established the Northwest Passage on the north side of the Third Flatiron. On this two-pitch climb, Tom Hornbein, Bob Riley and Dick Sherman made the first recorded attempt to drill bolts in Colorado. However, their equipment failed and they used a lassoing maneuver to bypass a blank section of rock instead.
In 1953, Dale Johnson and Phil Robertson made the first ascent of the Third Flatiron in roller skates. The duo climbed the featured east face without locking the wheels and were forced to crawl on their hands and knees up the smooth final pitch of friction slab.
By the 1970s and 1980s bolting routes to create “sport climbs” was a popular practice in the Flatirons. In 1987, sport climber Dan Michael established two of the most difficult and recognizable climbs in the area. Slave to the Rhythm ascended a pebble-strewn overhang on the Ironing Board near the Third Flatiron. The Friend was a short climb up an overhanging dihedral on Dinosaur Mountain.
Around the same time, climber and guidebook author Richard Rossiter established climbs that represented a new first ascent mentality. He created climbs that were enjoyable and safe for future climbers. In the past, first ascents were all about the adventure of exploring new terrain.
By the end of the 1980s there were more than one thousand climbers in Boulder and unclimbed rock was becoming rare. Soon after, bolt-drilling was banned in the Flatirons and other climbing destinations in the Boulder area. It was the end of an era in Boulder climbing, but it gave birth to a new style of climbing.
Because climbers were not allowed to drill bolts, they began establishing difficult trad climbs and freeing old aid routes. In 2009, Matt Wilder freed Cheating Reality (5.14a R, 80') on the Devil’s Thumb. The route follows a delicate seam through an overhang on the north face.
“[Climbing Cheating Reality] shows that there is more potential in the Flatirons. As far as the sport is concerned, it shows that hard beautiful new climbs can still be done on all gear,” Wilder told Alpinist.com.
Many Flatirons climbers come to make speedy free-solos the Flatirons. The base-to-summit speed record on the 1,200-foot East Face of the Third Flatiron was set by Stefan Griebel wirh a time of 5 minutes and 59 seconds. Dave Mackey holds the car-to-car record for the formation with a time of 33 minutes and 17 seconds. He record required 2.5 miles of hiking and a rappel off the west face of the Flatiron in addition to climbing for 1,200 feet.
Today approximately 10,000 people come to climb in the Flatirons each year, according to the Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks visitation survey conducted in 2004 and 2005. Known for its high-quality rock and moderately difficult routes, the Flatirons are among the most frequented climbing destinations in Colorado.
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