This is on Seam Rock, a few miles up the dirt road from Combat rock...follow Rossiter's approach info...just park on the left road at a small pullout and cruise north, up the mountainside and slabs...then drop down into draw and go up water streaked slabs to the base of the route at the low point of the rock.
P1, low-angle up and right to a blank section with a bolt and join a large quartz streak that goes up and left (runout but easy) to a good ledge.
P2 goes up short crack onto steep slab and heads right to bolt and up steep and balancy past some bolts and up to the way left side of the roof...turn the roof up unto steep dike and up to bolt and continue up fun rock to a 2 bolt anchor.
P3 angles up and left on fun rock with spaced pro and fun moves on bumpy rock to a large ledge with trees.
P4 goes up small roof and up to twisted juniper and go up fun crack onto beautiful face steep up past 2 bolts with perfect holds and up to a ledge (optional belay), and go up bulges with good pro and the angle eases for the last 40 feet to summit (long, 200 foot stretcher). Easy for 5.8, well protected cruxes...VERY fun on quality rock!!!
Dag is an australian term for "dingleberry". Beanland was visiting from Australia.
Protection
Small rack with quickdraws for the bolts.... A few 2 bolt anchors, a few gear anchors.
A 60m rope allows this route to easily go in 4 pitches, otherwise, you'll probably do 5 pitches plus a bit of scrambling at the top. With a 60m rope: Instead of belaying below the tree as Matt described, stretch P3 all the way to the tree. Run P4 to the summit.
This is a fun route. The granite is smoother than at Lumpy. The angle of the slab and occasional runouts reminded me of the Flatirons, though the crux is well protected. You can leave any cams bigger than a #1 Camalot at home. Small Aliens were nice to have (blue, green yellow).
We belayed at a large juniper tree on the huge ledge at the end of the first pitch. I climbed straight up from the tree, but then I had to traverse over about 50 feet to reach the 2nd bolt on the 2nd pitch. You may want to move the belay after the 1st pitch or set the anchor more to climber's right. The rest of the routefinding is straightforward.
On the descent, don't do what we did and cruise down the hillside without cutting back towards the base of the climb enough. We thought we were staying fairly close to the edge of the face, but we realized (too late) that we'd descended way too low and too far to the East. I got to redo the approach to the base of the climb to retrive my pack. From the base of the climb, the descent goes straight down for maybe 100-150 yards, then heads SE (left, as you are hiking down) across the slabs. There are some cairns on the slabs.
Dags is actually on Cedar Park slab, not Combat. It's a fun 5 pitch slab route with good protection at the crux.
By Andrew Gram Administrator From: Denver, CO Sep 5, 2003 rating: 5.8
We got a bit lost near the top of the third pitch - I went way out left and never found the classic bolted 5.6 slab Rossiter describes. We did find an easy 5.2 slab past a bolted anchor to a 15' steep headwall that was maybe 5.8 and a lot of fun. It gets vague up there for sure.
I was initially reluctant to do this climb because of the private property concerns. We just parked at the T junction, and a few locals drove by and waved. The unabomber shack straight uphill is best avoided by walking west along the road at the T junction before bushwhacking straight up.
Has anyone done the rappels just right of the route? Looks like two ropes are needed, is this the case?
Very good, but not as classic as 3 star climbs in the same range like Kor's Flake.
8 May 2005--Our family owns the private lot just West of Seam Rock, but must sell it to pay college tuition. Great access to the rock at the end of a cul-de-sac. I'd love to sell it to a climber! Contact me for information.
By joell From: Fort Collins, CO May 20, 2005 rating: 5.8-
Fun route but be prepared for some runout.Mike's suggestion to make it go in 4 pitches with a 60M works great.
A nut is loose on the left hanger of the double-bolt anchor. We spun it back on by hand, but did not have tools to tighten. Beware of it. Hopefully the next person up can tighten this nut before it falls off.
Pretty easy for the 5.8 rating. Trust your feet and it climbs well.
Very good route. It looked like we were the first ones to climb it in a while?? No, path for the approach or along the base.
Approach time- Give 1 hr. We looked for a "public access" point to the formation which is on National Forest and I think that is what we used. At least there was nothing there, but we did wander a bit to avoid homes.
Route-P1- High quality 5.7 slab, small edges and runout 30-40ft in places.P2- Starts in short crack to slab with 3 bolts and pulls through roof to a bolt 5ft up then 30 feet to a 2 bolt anchor- bring a wrench to tighten the left hanger. 5.8 slab, at a well protected crux. Use an "orange" Metolius under the roof.P3- We were "sucked" into a great looking 5.6 crack 15ft [right] of anchors. Took discontinous cracks for another 140ft or so to great ledge.P3.5-[Traverse] left 40ft and up 20 to a stance next to a short tree. The 3 bolt 5.6 is just up and left of here. The bolts are there but hard to see because the way the hangers are positioned. We did not climb this but opted instead to do a variation to the left. The second, [Mike], traversed to under me and then another 30ft climbers left of me to a broken ledge/shoulder area directly below the orange water streaks. I down climbed and then joined him here.P4- (could be new, Mike Scherer lead- called it "Uppity Ant" b/c of all the ants at the belay,, but the climbing is so good we doubt it has been over looked) From belay leader goes 10ft right then up steep 5.6 slab. Run it out 30ft or so and cut left into a crack for pro. Use a long sling and go back to the slab for another 80-100 ft to a horizontal crack, belay here- we don't know if a 60m reaches the top but it would be very close with no opportunity for another anchor.P5- run it out 60ft to the top on 5.2-4 slab.
Great piece of rock!! Solid Granite, great views, eye contact with you partner the whole way, very enjoyable.
Descent: I will never hike off this route again!! Horrible! Take 2 60m ropes and find the rappels, they are there and you see them to your right as you ascend pitches 1-3.
Hike out is also an hour. Down, then back up, and repeat to the car.
Have fun and be polite as there are lots of homes around.
Climbed this enjoyable route last weekend. Very nice adventure on a slabby rock. I tightened the first belay station loose bolt with a standard wrench but recommend that someone bring a socket wrench to drive that bolt home.
We climbed it with double 60m ropes and brought long slings that helped with the rope drag (we took variations on whatever looked fun). Because of our meandering, I wasn't able to link the last two pitches however and opted for a belay to the right under the big roof. Top of P.3 make sure you climb straight up to the upper tree above the block on the big ledge (head farther right than you think) if you want to push the last two pitches together (from there, head straight up through the bolts for p.4 and 5).
Beware of the rappels. Even with our setup, we had some tricky negotiating between the first rap (look for old slings around a pine tree on top) and the the next ledge (another tree) even with the rope stretch we barely made it. I was very disappointed that from there to the apparent final rap anchors our 60mm ropes were over ten feet short. We were able to swing climber's right to a small stance then downclimb 25ft off to the talus. I wouldn't recommend it. We must have missed an intermediate rap station but it was quicker than the described hike down. Good adventure if you aren't expecting steep rock. Mostly easier friction with lots of knobs on the dikes with a couple of 5.8+ moves with okay pro. The friction slabs on this route were more fun than my experiences in the Flatirons.
Climbed Dags on 4-29-07 Although I have climbed this route numerous times over the years, I still find this climb as an excellent outing. We rappelled the route (starting the rap to climbers left) this time making for a much quicker descent. There many variations to the noted routes as well as tons of potential for other, harder routes. An area that comes to mind that would rate 5.10 to 5.11 is the perfect slab 50' or so to the left of the 3rd belay. As of now there is no pro but a few bolts would make this route a classic on Seam Rock.
By Joshua Blake From: Colorado Springs May 15, 2007
"The unabomber shack straight uphill is best avoided by walking west along the road at the T junction before bushwhacking straight up." That's great. Your probably talking about Tom's Place. My friend owns the place and rents it to the old vet that built it close to 30 years ago. He's a nice guy, but don't be suprised if he talks you into some strange conversation.
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