Minturn Cliffs

Has anyone climbed any of the cliffs outside of Minturn. If you were to follow Hw 24 just outside of town to and cross the river and the railroad tracks there is a shooting area on National Forest. Above are some spectacular cliffs that have perfect crack lines in them. I even noticed a roof that has to be 20 feet out. It's a mission to get to them but it looks like it would be worth it. Wondering if anyone has tried these lines and how the rock quality is. I called the sports shop and the guy said he didn't know but knew the cliffs and also mentioned the hike up would be brutal. I'm gonna get a better look next time and do some more exploring. I'll take some pics too. GEarth shows a road behind it as well that I will have to check out. If anyone has any info that would be helpful. I am into this and I am gonna make this my summer project. The brains on drugs. :)

Matt.

Wow, I knew someone else out there had to be thinking the same thing looking at those cliffs. There has to be some good lines up there. The approach looks pretty difficult. It would also be cool to climb "the lions head".

From a distance there seems to be some bands of crappy rock but that's true for Eldo as well.

I've been eyeing those cliff bands since i moved to Avon, some of them look really nice. If your looking for someone to make the trek up there with you I would be down if my schedual allows. I usally have three days off a week when i got down to boulder but If there's FA's to be had then im game.

Mic Fairchild sent me this...

"hey matt- i climbed on the cliffs above minturn about 20 years ago. i found the rock to be very poor quality- easily dislodged and not too trustworthy for protection. i didn't report any of the fa's because they weren't worth repeating. good luck if you go up there (be careful). mic"

Its really disheartening to hear. Looking at those cliffs with the perfect crack lines and especially the roof I was hoping for something spectacular. I think I am going to make the trek up there and at least check it out. I'll have to see how ballsy I feel. If the rock is really that bad I will bail.

There are three or four sport routes on the Lionshead above town. The rock in general is loose, granular, the cracks bottomed out. I know a few people who have climbed some of the crack lines, they wouldn't go up there again.
Chris