Jeff J Reynolds wrote:Good morning- thanks for the advice. While surfing MP this AM Flatiron caught my eye. Have either of you guys ever climbed routes such as freeway, north face, fandango, East face/ seal rock? Are the belay stations bolted or do they require protection? Reason for inquiry, if fatigue becomes an issue don't want to leave booty on the route. Thanks again for the advice.
Pretty much none of the belays on the routes you listed are bolted (although some have trees).
Freeway: Don't bother unless you are looking to solo. The old guide called that route 4th class and it is pretty much just a walk. With limited time, I wouldn't waste it on that.
North Face? Of what? There are lots of routes called North Face. (You wrote "flatiron" in the singular... there are lots of flatirons).
Seal Rock is awesome. It is super fun 5.4 climbing. Although the pro is spaced, it is available and it is safe. Although both East Face North Side, and East Face South Side get 5.4 ratings, the north(right) side always seemed more secure to me. You need 2 ropes to rap off all the way to the ground as someone said. That being said, there is a bolt anchor half way down for a sport route, so theoretically, you could get down with one rope (kind of a pain) and the last time I was there, the bolted anchor had a death triangle of webbing on it.
Fandango is an awesome climb. I think it is the best route on the first. It is consistent 5.5. An even better variation is Fandango Direct(listed as Fandango Variation, 5.6 on this site). Fandango protects better than the "standard" East Face Direct. It is a bit less obvious where it starts. If you bring webbing, you can definitely bail from the top of the first or second pitch (if you do the direct variation) (there are trees to rap from).
I wouldn't worry about fatigue. These are not alpine routes. It is a 30-60min approach for all of these climbs with 4-6 pitches of climbing. It is pretty much all slab, so you barely use your hands, so fatigue shouldn't be an issue. I have taken beginners who have never climbed on all of these routes without an issue.
I think the bigger issue is finding your way around if you are new to the area. There is an obvious park trail to the base of the first, but rocks like Seal are a bit harder to find.
Also, Seal Rock is the "training" rock for Colorado Mountain Club, so if you go on a weekend, it might get crowded with beginners.
The other issue is time of day. Most of these rocks are south east facing and are blazing in the sun all morning. Lately it has been 90+ in Boulder every day, so you will be very hot on these routes. There are cooler routes in Eldo that are shaded all morning. (If you aren't coming until September, then that is less of an issue).
I think you best bet is to find a local to partner up with to at least show you one of these routes to help you get oriented. If you go with someone more experienced, you can get a feel for the difficulty and the grade as well.