Climbing - Garden of the Gods

My son and I took a half day guided climbing tour of Garden of the Gods down in Colorado Springs last Saturday.

We started off only a lonely spire with a 5.7 route called Potholes. Potholes sits right on the sidewalk that winds through the park and when climbing it tourists tend to gather. When my son reached the top he was greeted with cheers and clapping from twenty or so onlookers.

Kellan at the crux.

Sent

We shared the tour with a guy from West Cliffe and a woman from Denver, who were both very cool and of about our same ability level, I think.
After Potholes, we moved to another 5.7 route on a different rock called West Point Crack, although we only did the 1st pitch, so we didn't actually get into the crack. This was probably my favorite climb of the day. Not too hard, but fun and it has a cool variety of holds.

Kellan and I at the base of West Point Crack

Me at the top of the first pitch

There were a few other climbers out that day, but there was always an open route nearby.

A team of 3 was doing a multi-pitch on what I think
is the South Ridge White Spire route

From here we moved on to yet another group of rocks with a popular 5.6 route called Cowboy Boot Crack.

Cowboy Boot Crack

Kellan working out the route

Cowboy Boot Crack turned out to be pretty easy, so our guide (John) shifted us immediately to the left on a thin 5.9 crack route called Trigger Finger. This was easily the hardest climb of the day and the only one I broke a sweat on, literally. The thin crack peters out into to nothing and the holds are very tiny. Tough, but doable and worth the challenge for a couple n00bs like us.

Kellan about halfway up Trigger Finger

If you've never been to Garden of the Gods, it's worth the time. It's a city park, so climbing permits are free and consist of simply stopping in at the guest center and signing a waiver. A truly beautiful area to just hang out in, as well as climb.

This climber is standing at the top of Potholes
as seen from the base of Cowboy Boot Crack

John, our host and owner of First Ascent Mountain School, was super friendly, knowledgable and we had a great time climbing with him and look forward to climbing more with his outfit.

John from First Ascent Mountain School