Hillbilly Flatironette via South Ridge (Class 4)
Hillbilly Rock via Northeast Face (5.2)
The Hobo via East Face (Class 4)
Heaven via Upper East Face aka "Downclimb" (5.3)
Anomaly via East Face (5.2S)
Amoeboid via "Buckets" (5.0)
The Hourglass via East Face (5.2)
The Fist aka Hippo's Head via South Ridge (5.6)
East Green Mountain via South Ridge
Green Mountain via Upper Greenman's Trail
Table Mountain via The Easy Way
June 1, 2014
Partner: Derek Wolfe
Flatiron linkups have long been a tradition and many climbers have ascended Boulder-area peaks by way of the many Flatiron formations along the way. Here is a great combination of lesser known satellite formations to obtain the summit of Green Mountain. I have done several link-ups over the years and thought that this proved to be a very fun outing and had never heard of anybody doing this exact route. We did not see a single other person until near the top of Green Mountain which is always a pleasant experience so close to Boulder.
Unfortunately, I did not take hardly any photographs, but here are some brief thoughts on each route.
Partner: Derek Wolfe
Flatiron linkups have long been a tradition and many climbers have ascended Boulder-area peaks by way of the many Flatiron formations along the way. Here is a great combination of lesser known satellite formations to obtain the summit of Green Mountain. I have done several link-ups over the years and thought that this proved to be a very fun outing and had never heard of anybody doing this exact route. We did not see a single other person until near the top of Green Mountain which is always a pleasant experience so close to Boulder.
Unfortunately, I did not take hardly any photographs, but here are some brief thoughts on each route.
Hillbilly Flatironette via South Ridge (Class 4)
This small rock sits directly to the east of the larger Hillbilly Rock. The approach went smoothly, although large portions of poison ivy had to be navigated. It's South Ridge appeared to be the longest and most aesthetic way to reach it's lowly summit. Rock was lichen-covered and crumbly in places but the climbing went smoothly in tennis shoes. Walk-off to the west = class 2.
Hillbilly Rock via Northeast Face (5.2)
The East Face of Hillbilly is confusing from below and does not have an obvious route that appears 5.2 from below. We instead took the much more visually attractive northern edge of the formation which offered good climbing and solid rock. We simul-climbed the route in one pitch. Short 60ish foot rappel to the north. Could be down-climbed at 5.3 but several large loose blocks would have to be carefully avoided.
The Hobo via East Face (Class 4)
The Hobo is a unique arrow-shaped formation directly to the west of Hillbilly. A short and enjoyable class 4 scramble leads directly to the tiny summit. Only small enough to seat a single person at a time! Down-climbing the route takes some care but is easily solo-able in climbing shoes.
Heaven via Upper East Face aka "Downclimb" (5.3)
Wanting to check out the down-climb route off of Ridge 1, we decided to ascend this route to check it out. As an up-climb, it went relatively easily in climbing shoes, but large portions of lichen and steeper sections made is slightly unnerving. I imagine it would be a heads-up down-climb without having gone up it first. Heaven is a very fine summit and offers impressive views of the imposing Ridge 2 aka Satan's Slab to the west. We opted to do the short rappel to the north to get down instead of down-climbing the route.
Anomaly via East Face (5.2S)
We found the base of the Anomaly by doing a short descending traverse from the base of Heaven to the north and to the east. It was brushy, but not bad at all and the hike was much shorter than anticipated. The face seemed to all be of similar difficulty and we simul-climbed up the face in a single pitch. We followed the path of least moss/bad rock but this did not always prove to be the easiest climbing. There was zero gear on the face so it was essentially a solo regardless. The summit is on ground level and is simply a walk off to the west.
Amoeboid via "Buckets" (5.0)
From the Anomaly, we walked a very short distance downhill to the south and west to arrive at the base of "Buckets". The route is very obvious due to the large potholes lining the face and a bizarre water groove in the slab. We soloed the face and the potholes all provided easy going up to the upper face. The final moves to the gash in the face and the walk off leaves the potholes and there was about 50 feet of harder climbing. The gash was a unique place and we scrambled the nearby formations trying to tag the exact summit of the Amoeboid. Not clear which one it was but all were at least 4th class.
The Hourglass via East Face (5.2)
We had trouble locating the start of the Hourglass. Several large broken boulders make for some confusing terrain and we worked our up directly west attempting to find the start. A short distance west put us right at the base of the Fist and we had to retrace out steps back down and continued further downhill and to the north and then found the start. The Hourglass is much bigger than I had expected and almost looks like the Fifth from the south near the Amoeboid. The start is a large, lichen-covered face that is covered with small trees and bad rock. We simul-climbed the route in a single pitch by staying near the southern edge of the face until the "waist" of the Hourglass and then angling north to the summit. The climbing was poor due to the loose rock, pine needles and copious amounts of lichen on the face. For me this was the scariest climbing of the day. That said, the summit was a spectacular perch that formed a tiny spear of rock with a surprising amount of exposure. From the top, we down-climbed a ramp to the south (5.0-5.2) until possible to walk off to the west.
The Fist aka Hippo's Head via South Ridge (5.6)
A short hike back downhill to the south and west put us at the base of the Fist's South Ridge. Although the ridge is very obvious, we were not exactly sure where to start. We chose a short crack on the east face slightly above the toe of the ridge that lead us up onto the ridge proper. Unsure of the difficulty of the climbing, we belayed the first pitch and then simul-climbed up the ridge until a high ledge appeared allowing passage directly north to arrive at a small tree below an obvious crack leading steeply upward to the summit plateau. We belayed the 5.6 crux hand crack which is one of the finest pitches on a Flatiron east face. Scrambling up and down the summit block is easy enough with some care and we rigged a rappel anchor from a threaded tunnel to rappel directly north about 50 feet. We found it important to extend the anchor a long way to be able to facilitate an easier pull. This is one of the finest summits in the Flatirons.
East Green Mountain via South Ridge
Hot and dusty slopes led us straight to the summit of East Green Mtn. There is a fantastically bizarre arch on the way that I made sure to point out along the way that I had discovered from a previous trip.
Green Mountain via Upper Greenman's Trail
A short walk connects to the upper Greenman's Trail and we trod onto the summit of Green Mountain for our 10th summit of the day.
Table Mountain via The Easy Way
I chose very poorly on the way down and decided that the Green-Bear would be the way to go. I forgot that is is quite long and the heat of the day was in full blast. We half jogged and half hiked the remainder of the way to NCAR and made sure to scramble up the small summit of Table Mountain immediately off of the trail.
This small rock sits directly to the east of the larger Hillbilly Rock. The approach went smoothly, although large portions of poison ivy had to be navigated. It's South Ridge appeared to be the longest and most aesthetic way to reach it's lowly summit. Rock was lichen-covered and crumbly in places but the climbing went smoothly in tennis shoes. Walk-off to the west = class 2.
Hillbilly Rock via Northeast Face (5.2)
The East Face of Hillbilly is confusing from below and does not have an obvious route that appears 5.2 from below. We instead took the much more visually attractive northern edge of the formation which offered good climbing and solid rock. We simul-climbed the route in one pitch. Short 60ish foot rappel to the north. Could be down-climbed at 5.3 but several large loose blocks would have to be carefully avoided.
The Hobo via East Face (Class 4)
The Hobo is a unique arrow-shaped formation directly to the west of Hillbilly. A short and enjoyable class 4 scramble leads directly to the tiny summit. Only small enough to seat a single person at a time! Down-climbing the route takes some care but is easily solo-able in climbing shoes.
Heaven via Upper East Face aka "Downclimb" (5.3)
Wanting to check out the down-climb route off of Ridge 1, we decided to ascend this route to check it out. As an up-climb, it went relatively easily in climbing shoes, but large portions of lichen and steeper sections made is slightly unnerving. I imagine it would be a heads-up down-climb without having gone up it first. Heaven is a very fine summit and offers impressive views of the imposing Ridge 2 aka Satan's Slab to the west. We opted to do the short rappel to the north to get down instead of down-climbing the route.
Anomaly via East Face (5.2S)
We found the base of the Anomaly by doing a short descending traverse from the base of Heaven to the north and to the east. It was brushy, but not bad at all and the hike was much shorter than anticipated. The face seemed to all be of similar difficulty and we simul-climbed up the face in a single pitch. We followed the path of least moss/bad rock but this did not always prove to be the easiest climbing. There was zero gear on the face so it was essentially a solo regardless. The summit is on ground level and is simply a walk off to the west.
Amoeboid via "Buckets" (5.0)
From the Anomaly, we walked a very short distance downhill to the south and west to arrive at the base of "Buckets". The route is very obvious due to the large potholes lining the face and a bizarre water groove in the slab. We soloed the face and the potholes all provided easy going up to the upper face. The final moves to the gash in the face and the walk off leaves the potholes and there was about 50 feet of harder climbing. The gash was a unique place and we scrambled the nearby formations trying to tag the exact summit of the Amoeboid. Not clear which one it was but all were at least 4th class.
The Hourglass via East Face (5.2)
We had trouble locating the start of the Hourglass. Several large broken boulders make for some confusing terrain and we worked our up directly west attempting to find the start. A short distance west put us right at the base of the Fist and we had to retrace out steps back down and continued further downhill and to the north and then found the start. The Hourglass is much bigger than I had expected and almost looks like the Fifth from the south near the Amoeboid. The start is a large, lichen-covered face that is covered with small trees and bad rock. We simul-climbed the route in a single pitch by staying near the southern edge of the face until the "waist" of the Hourglass and then angling north to the summit. The climbing was poor due to the loose rock, pine needles and copious amounts of lichen on the face. For me this was the scariest climbing of the day. That said, the summit was a spectacular perch that formed a tiny spear of rock with a surprising amount of exposure. From the top, we down-climbed a ramp to the south (5.0-5.2) until possible to walk off to the west.
The Fist aka Hippo's Head via South Ridge (5.6)
A short hike back downhill to the south and west put us at the base of the Fist's South Ridge. Although the ridge is very obvious, we were not exactly sure where to start. We chose a short crack on the east face slightly above the toe of the ridge that lead us up onto the ridge proper. Unsure of the difficulty of the climbing, we belayed the first pitch and then simul-climbed up the ridge until a high ledge appeared allowing passage directly north to arrive at a small tree below an obvious crack leading steeply upward to the summit plateau. We belayed the 5.6 crux hand crack which is one of the finest pitches on a Flatiron east face. Scrambling up and down the summit block is easy enough with some care and we rigged a rappel anchor from a threaded tunnel to rappel directly north about 50 feet. We found it important to extend the anchor a long way to be able to facilitate an easier pull. This is one of the finest summits in the Flatirons.
East Green Mountain via South Ridge
Hot and dusty slopes led us straight to the summit of East Green Mtn. There is a fantastically bizarre arch on the way that I made sure to point out along the way that I had discovered from a previous trip.
Green Mountain via Upper Greenman's Trail
A short walk connects to the upper Greenman's Trail and we trod onto the summit of Green Mountain for our 10th summit of the day.
Table Mountain via The Easy Way
I chose very poorly on the way down and decided that the Green-Bear would be the way to go. I forgot that is is quite long and the heat of the day was in full blast. We half jogged and half hiked the remainder of the way to NCAR and made sure to scramble up the small summit of Table Mountain immediately off of the trail.
