New Route Likely Platte’s Hardest

Jason Haas, who’s working on a new guidebook to South Platte rock climbs, has just redpointed what’s likely the Platte’s hardest pitch, a roof seam that’s protected with removable pro and might be 5.14a. The new route, Comprometido, took about a year and a half to complete. Here, Haas tells the story.

While researching routes for the upcoming South Platte guidebook through Fixed Pin Publishing, I came across an old aid climb simply named A3 Route on Dome Rock, a few miles from the Cathedral Spires. The formation is similar to a mushroom, with a small stalk on the bottom leading up to a massively imposing roof that actually dips down at the lip, like a crashing wave, followed by a long slab to the summit. Working the route in summer was sketchy due to the deep, pushy river, which would dump you out 100 feet downstream from where you started, making you swim it with dry bags. The winter was heinous—not only was the river scary to cross when it was partly frozen, but also the rock faces north so it was an icebox. Fall was best, when the water was low enough to wade across at about thigh height. … Continue Reading

New South Platte Guide in the Works

Jason Haas, the man behind recent full-color guidebooks to the Flatirons in Boulder and Table Mountain in Golden, is working on a new guide to the seemingly countless granite domes and spires of the South Platte. This much-needed guidebook will include everything south of U.S. 285 and north of U.S. 24—Turkey Rock, Cynical Pinnacle, Big Rock Candy Mountain, the short, fierce climbs of Thunder Ridge, and much more—but it won’t include  the Devils Head sport climbs, which are already well-covered in another guide. The book will be in full color and will include history as well as route descriptions.

The Platte guide may not be out until the spring of 2011, in part because raptor closures limit the time to investigate key areas like the Cathedral Spires. But now’s the time to finish up those projects and send in your route descriptions. Says Haas: “I’d love to get anything from new route info to great stories about how routes got their name. I’d also be psyched to see photos from any generation.”