

|
The
Freight Train
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| The FreightTrain
boulder |
Patrick Wild and Adam Massey
spotted this mini-cliff in the fall of '99.
Just about every obvious
line has been completed. Chances are, if the south side of your roof in
Boulder has melted free of snow, the FreightTrain will be dry and boulderable.
There are some large blocks topping out a few of the problems. Be Aware!
Getting
There:
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| FreightTrain
approach |
Approach 1:
Highway 72 -10.6 miles
The easiest access is Highway 72 up Coal
Creek Canyon.
From the intersection of Highways 93 and 72,
south of Boulder, go up Highway 72 (Coal Creek Canyon) 8.2 miles. Turn right
onto Gross Dam Rd. (County Rd.77) go 2.4 miles on the dirt road, cross over
the Railroad tracks and park at Crescent Meadows trailhead on the right.
Hike south along the fence, avoiding the marsh and the ditch,eventually
running in to a old road. Go east on the old road for 5 minutes.
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| Chew, Chew
V-3 |
Approach
2: Flagstaff
Road -12 miles
Drive up Flagstaff Road 8 miles. Turn left on to
Gross Dam Road(To:State Highway 72 sign). Go 2.5 miles, turn left at the
absurdly small "To Denver" sign ( A big brown garage is nearby).
Continue on 1.5 miles to the Crescent Meadows trailhead on the left.
Hike south along the fence,
avoiding the marsh and the ditch,eventually running in to a old road.
Go east on the old road for 5 minutes.
Approach 3: Hike
/ Mountain Bike
You can also approach via the Walker Ranch trail, Eldorado Canyon trail
and a few others. You can mountain bike on parts of these trails. Consult
pertinent trail guides for the specifics on mountain biking in this area.
The Climbing
A
dozen + vertical lines from V-0 to
V-7 on good granite.
The problems are for the most part steep, powerful and devious. Some blocks
are loose!
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| Chubby Bunny
V-7 |
- Frog Lips (V-2):
Sit start down in left facing
dihedral and up through bulging, flared rails.
- Traverse (V-?): A long quite pumpy traverse
of any variation can start here.
- Poke'mon (V-2): * Sit start, pull onto the
undercling then up and left to the pocket.
- The Prancing Cow (V-3): *** Start in
undercling go up and right to sloper & up.
- ( V-5)*** Start grabbing the large undercling pull up to the sidepull
in the fissure and punch out right to small crimps and slopers. Top
out just left of the overlap.
This is a good stand start problem as well.
- Chubby Bunny (V-7): ** Start low on shelf. Head up and left to good
pinch & up.
- Chew, Chew (V-3): *** Just right of the Crystal Dyke, start on the
cool pinch/crimp with your left hand and hideously sharp crimp for your
right hand, then, make a large move with your right hand up to the slopey
hold just below the large break. Use the good holds on the blocks in
the break to reach up to a good pocket with your left hand. Stay to
the right and pull over the small bulge onto the slab. Or, from the
same starting holds, pull up to the slopey edge below the break by yanking
on a rather small right hand sidepull crimp; Either variation can be
topped out staying just left of the crystal dike, offrouting the good
pocket on the slab.
- Tall and Scary AKA the Mini-Cliff Standard (V-3) ** Long reaches
from good holds to better holds up the tallest section of rock. Top
out through the v-notch or move left over the Crystal-Dyke.
- Tall Face (V-3) ** Start behind the tree and move up and left to
the jug rail. From the jugs crimp your way through the face to the slopey
break, then surmount the capstone. This is the tallest problem on the
wall. Loose in places. / Variation: Start same as # 9 but shuffle right
along the rail then up on the juggy corners of large, scary blocks!
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| BuddaBelly
V-3 |
- The Classic Warmup (V-1):*** Start right of the tree on large sidepulls.
Up through hard to see jugs. An excellent problem which may be a bit
tall for beginning boulderers.
- (V-3): Sloper start and up crack.
- Hobo Mantle (V-4):*** Start on the large jug rail and pull up and
left into crimpers, then to a jug on the lip of the overhang. Bust a
mantle from the jug and up easier terrain. / Variation: Jay's Thing
V-3 ** Start on the same jugs as for #12 but move out right to crimps.
Then mantle the lip of the overhang above the boulders which create
a terraced
landing for the upper 2/3's of the mini-cliff.
- Undone to date. Loose,bad landing!
- (V-1): Slot (V-3): Loose.
- Project.
- BuddaBelly (V-3): *** This belly shaped bulge has an attractive hold
right in the middle of it, kinda like a bellybutton. The neat thing
is, the further left you reach into the Buddha's Bellybutton, the better
it gets; So, start in the underclings, establish your feet then reach
up and left into the Buddha's Bellybutton. Matching your hands in the
Bellybutton can be made easier with a knee-bar. The next fissure in
the face provides a good hold for the right hand and a better hold for
the left hand. Throw your right foot into the Buddha's Bellybutton and
reach up into the next break in the face. There is a Shady Chock-Stone
here I do not recommend grabbing, rather, use the slopey break underneath
the Shady Chock-Stone to traverse right until you are able to grab the
Suspiciously Hollow Chicken-Head. This large and disconcerting
hold then provides easy passage to the Quivering Cap-Stone, one of the
world's largest granite chicken-heads. The Shady Chock-Stone and the
Suspiciously Hollow Chicken-Head may not be around forever, however,
I have inspected the Quivering Cap-Stone, and, although it vibrates
horribly when pounded upon, it seems to be a feature of the wall itself,
not detached at all... maybe. \ Variation: go from the Bellybutton up
and left through the various breaks, via crossthroughs on good holds,
topping out on the left side of the Quivering Cap-Stone.
- Pat Phillip's Butt or Jay's Way (V-4): *** From the Buddha's Bellybutton
dyno up and right to the large hold in the break, then grab the small
crimper above the break and fire for the good sidepull chicken-head
just left of #18. Or start like Jay and avoid the fun beginning dyno
by way of a long undercling reach. Or, grab the crimper and go again
with the left hand to the large, Suspicious Hollow Chicken-Head
on top of Buddha Belly, to avoid the second toss.
- Get In My Belly(V-2): ** Climb obvious crack on the far right end
of the mini-cliff via bomber finger locks and solid chicken heads.
- The Muckler (V-2): ** Start same as #18 then go right over small overlap
and muckel your way on to the slab.
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| Looking east towards Eldorado Canyon |
Pros: Perfect stone, sunny
exposure, many problems, good landings. Short hike, Mountain bikable approach?
Hiking / biking trails nearby.
Cons: Only one rock. A
bit of a drive getting there, dirt roads and washboards. Close to the
railroad tracks. Some dangerous loose blocks!
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