Ramblin' Rose 

Holy Cow,

I forgot this route is so stellar it's not even funny. Another "GEM" of the South Platte....

I've climbed it twice and each pitch is remarkable....

GET ON IT >>>>>

Like most of the Platte there won't be a crowd....

Exceptional route with great climbing and features. The crux is well protected. Take a camera.

The pitch after the crux (5.7) on knobs seemed more like 5.8 to me and the runout is spicy. The bolts are old 1/4 inchers and difficult to see before you get to them. Go straight up.

This was the first route with bolts in the area. The long, leaning, corner is surely one of the most fun "easy" cracks in Colorado. From the bleay at the end on the corner, a double rope rappel reaches safe ground, so the 5.10 face is not mandatory. It would be good to put in another anchor so two single rope raps would be more easily done to escape.

11/15/07: Kirk Miller was part of the FA and named the route. Erik Winkleman led the more direct finish soon after the FA. Hand drilling these long routes was a slow, painful, process that could last several weekends and ultimatley involve many climbers.

The "5.7 runout" pitch after the crux pitch is marked as 5.9 in both the Hubbel and Trout guides. So we felt better about bailing from the top of the 10 pitch. We had all three of us just finished John Long's new edition of Climbing Anchors which said that 1/4" bolts are essentially useless.

We started via the alleged "5.6 knobs", but couldn't find any. We instead climbed bushy cracks as for Hill's Route and then scrambled down and right to the left edge of the roof. The 2 roof pitches make a great moderate route with huge big wall feeling. The first pitch felt about 5.5 or 5.6, and the second pitch about 5.7. You can rap from the right end of the roof to the ground with one rope with two raps or two ropes with one rap (likewise from the top of the 10a pitch).

The 10a pitch was pretty hard for me. I put in gear out right between the 1st and 2nd bolts. I traversed slightly down from the 1st bolt then up to an overlap for the gear. I put in 2 small nuts at the base of the right facing corner before the last bolt.

Definitely an excellent route. Climbed it the first time in June of '96. My friend Bill and I stopped at the Wild Horse saloon enroute to the campsite and partook of a few beers the night before. The next day, Bill was feeling the effects of one too many bud lights on the approach and the first few pitches. As I reached the end of the arch, anchored in, and hollered "On Belay!" to Bill below, I was answered by the sound of his violent retching. When he finally reached me at the anchors, he was feeling much better and was able to fully enjoy the rest of the route. He was even conscientious enough to traverse off route for his purge.

I returned this past summer to take a friend up the first three pitches to introduce him to multi-pitch climbing. Was pleased to see the new bolted anchors at the first 2 belays. Disappointed to see the old Star-dryven remained at the third. I left the #7 stopper there to back up the anchor as we rapped off. I expected the next party would be happy to score the booty. Amazing route, amazing exposure, amazing scenery...and no crowds!

The old bolts on the "5.9" are not very confidence inspiring...a fall could be nasty. Great route though....

I think the sane way to go about the pitch after the crux is to link them, if your really worried you could clip both bolts and equalize them at the anchor atop the 10 pitch then 2 screamers will make it relatively safe. More rope out means more stretch and less force, and on a screamer chances are you might not rip the bolts. There is definitely a lot more features to work with than on the crux I found. I was following so the crux pitch was more of a struggle for me then the run out featured rock above.

This outing really did me in as we got sleeted off the base of the crux (soaked pretty good)then came back the next day ascended maybe 30-40 feet of rope but scrambling up high as possible to a ledge where the rope was reached. It was a little scary. My partner made a few dicey moves un-roped with 70+ feet of air below him. I wanted to be on belay so that what we did. Once at the anchor, he linked the next 2 and I linked the last bit to the top via simul-climbing and the worst rope drag ever in the heat with my water back with my partner at the belay. Apparently, it was about as much fun for my partner to follow a sketch traverse wondering if he's on belay as I pulled the rope as hard as I humanly could. I barely made it back to the car sadly I was so worked from the weather and doing the hike twice (from less then a 1/2 mile from the car) etc. I thank Andy for being so understanding and forgiving, as we only did 1 route all weekend. Come prepared as I sure under-estimated the scope of this route. Oh and bring comfy shoes, my feet hurt pretty bad.

This was a great route!

Replacing the bolts on the pitch above the crux would definitely be worthwhile. Even if those bolts were good that pitch would still be a little exciting.

If anyone wanted to undertake that task (I don't have a bolt kit or the knowledge) please feel free to contact me through this site.

Kirk

Pitch 1. As mentioned above, we climbed broken rock and cracks until the traverse(up and right) to the anchor at the start of the huge dihedral. Never found the 5.6 knobs.

Pitch 2.5. Very asthetic climbing in a beautiful dihedral. Water was oozing from the roof crack. Perhaps one of the best 5.7 pitches around. This is actually two pitches.

Pitch 3 (crux). A #1 Camalot placed in the crack between bolts 1 and 2 adds a little reassurance. Reach big for the crack at the fourth bolt and smear like crazy. Climb the right side of the roof and keep your eyes on the anchor. This was mentally challenging for me.

Pitch 4. As Jason mentioned, Yates Screamers work well here. I followed this pitch and would not hesitate to call it 5.8/5.9. It's the typical South Platte runout on manky 1/4" bolts with the tin can hangers. A very long pitch. Good job, Pete.

Pitch 5. From the anchor, I traversed left protecting the traverse with small cams until I was under the hand crack that passes through a small bulge above. Climb the hand crack(5.8+/5.9), follow the crack until you are able to traverse left on broken rock, using long runners throughout the pitch(serious rope drag here). Take the path of least resistance and climb to a 'shelf'/slab below the summit.

Pitch 6. Climb to the summit over easy slab/crack.

Descend climber's right and follow cairns until you are at the bottom of the rock. The cairns disappear, so watch closely and be careful not to overshoot the descent.

Classic. Cracks, dihedrals, traverses, slabs, exposure, position. A brilliant climb in an awesome setting.

The bolts on the pitch after the crux are scary! I clipped them both with screamers but this did not inspire much confidence. Getting to the first bolt on this pitch is a little hairy. You will certainly impact the belay ledge (10') below if you fall on the moves just below the bolt. Otherwise, a very enjoyable route.

The challenge with rebolting on Wigwam is that it is in Lost Creek Wilderness, so no power drills allowed. Also there is not an obvious easy way to get down to these anchors from above due to the summit roofs. If someone is interested in the undertaking, email me and I can set you up with some ASCA bolts and hangers, although the 12mm Triplex I usually use take 30+ minutes each to hand drill in granite.

The two 1/4" bolts protecting the 5.9 pitch have been redrilled with 3/8" stainless steel Fixe bolts and Fixe hangers.

My dad and I drilled them on 08-24-09 by hand.

The old bolts and hangers were not removed due to difficulty pulling them (they are in there pretty solid) and time constraints as we were moving slow. Currently we do not have plans to return to pull the old bolts.

Thanks for replacing the bolts!

I think it is worth pointing out that the HUGE flake on the 2nd pitch is very loose. This is the flake just before the large roof turns back to the right. The flake is at least 10'x10'and wobbles like a diving board, I would highly recommend just staying in the corner and avoiding this flake all together. If not linking 2 and 3 will keep the flake from hitting the belayer if the leader should knock it down.

Highly recommend the Lady Slipper start. The grungy looking hand crack is actually nice inside where you're jamming. The bolted second pitch is good for your head. Lead it and the run out Pitch 5 will feel easier. I want to do this one again already it so fine.