Keystone Bouldering: Projects and Problems

When one thinks of climbing or bouldering in Colorado, most tend to think of the Front Range. With the thousands of areas, routes, and problems located along the Front Range, as well as all of the stuff up in Rocky Mountain National Park (Chaos, Lumpy, Box Lake, Emerald Lake, Bear Lake, Moraine Park, etc.), Evans, South Park, and the stuff around Colorado Springs, a lot of the other more obscure areas seem to get second-shifted. Not a problem, as this tends to keep the crowds down and allow one to experience a much more spiritual sense of being in nature among rocks and twigs.

The start of the “name me” problem…

I prefer this kind of climbing. Don’t get me wrong, I spend plenty of days in the Park, along with the sandstone of the Flatirons, and other areas, but I try and seek out those places that have yet to become “hot” or have been hot and are now forgotten. Keystone is one of those areas - at least for bouldering.

Traverse left about halfway on the boulder, then go up the center seam…

Yep, nestled up near Keystone Resort (the mega-ski destination black hole) is a small little sport climbing area. With three main areas, there is usually one or two parties trying their skills against the areas problems (and altitude, as the boulders and routes sit at ~10,000 feet). However, nestled in-between the sport areas hides an unknown gem: lots and lots of boulders.

Almost to the seam…

Some have relatively flat landings, while others are strewn in amongst the talus like Chaos. What they all have in common is that they are dirty, overhung, and require finesse. There are no thuggy problems here. Lots and lots of crimps on flakes or open hands on slopy ledges.

Starting up the seam; if you keep traversing, an undone line awaits (name me two)

With the views of Keystone Resort and Buffalo Mountain, this little bouldering area has kept me happy for numerous days as Tara and I have explored new problems, found hidden gems, and suffered defeats. Here are a few photos to entice you… Don’t expect to find everything your first go: the trail is a little confusing, the boulders are not clustered together, and it takes a little creativity to see the line. However, there are plenty more problems to be had. So enjoy this relatively quiet bouldering place, try your hand at the numerous V10s and up, or just go exploring. A day in the mountains is always better then a day in town.