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Routes Sorted
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Direct West Face a/k/a Western Skyline 
Doctor Merkwurdigliebe 
Dog's Head Cutoff 
East Face (Standard) 
East Face Left 
Extra Point 
Falcon's Fracture 
Friday's Folly 
Friday's Folly Direct 
Funny Games 
Greenman's Crack 
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Pentaprance 
Ph.D. Roof 
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Saturday's Folly 
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South Chimney 
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Thin Crack 
Third Kingdom/Papillion 
Third World Zone 
Unknown (formerly entered as Problem Child) 
Waiting For Columbus 
West Door 
West Face [3rd Flatrion] 
Winky Woo 
Wrongs of Fall 
Unsorted Routes:

Friday's Folly 

5.7

   
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Type: Trad, 1 pitch, 80 feet
Consensus: 5.7 [details]
FA:  Hornbein and Waldrop, 1950
Submitted By: Mike Sofranko on Jan 1, 2001

You & This Route  |  Other Opinions (50)
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The start of the climb, as visible from the base o...

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Some crags in this area are closed 1 February to 31 July: MORE INFO >>>

Description 

This is a great single pitch route on the backside of the Third Flatiron. Be aware that it is very close to the rappel route and it may be an unwise idea to climb this route if people are descending from the summit.

The most fun way to reach this route is to climb the East Face, and rap down the back of the Third. This will deposit you at the bottom of Friday's Folly. Climb up the obvious crack on the corner until it is possible to step around the corner to the right (after about 10 feet.) From here, follow the cracks and holds up the vertical face with great exposure. Belay at one of the two eyebolts 70 feet off the ground.


Protection 

A set of nuts and a set of cams.



Photos of Friday's Folly Slideshow Add Photo
West side of the Third Flatiron.

BETA PHOTO: West side of the Third Flatiron.

Tony Bubb on the runout arete on Friday's Folly Direct/West Door, about 10' "above" the previous picture of Warren on the pillar.  Photo by Peter Spindloe

Tony Bubb on the runout arete on Friday's Folly Di...

Short shorts are our friend.

Short shorts are our friend.

The initial hard move. This is protected by a fair cam in a big pin scar, but the cam could pull. If you're tall, and if you've filled the big layback pin scar with the cam, it may be more secure face climbing left of the crack as John is doing here and then stepping right.

The initial hard move. This is protected by a fair...

At the fix pin, peering around the corner. It's very exposed here, but the move around the corner is easy.

At the fix pin, peering around the corner. It's ve...

Above this you follow a right leaning crack with great pro on a steep but less than vertical face, mostly using face holds. There are some strange sections due to the leaning nature of the crack and the horizontals slanting down and right.

Above this you follow a right leaning crack with g...

Headlamped TR.

Headlamped TR.

The backside of the 3rd, showing all of Friday's Folly.

The backside of the 3rd, showing all of Friday's F...


Comments on Friday's Folly Add Comment
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Comments displayed oldest to newestSkip Ahead to the Most Recent Dated Nov 15, 2010
By Guy H.
From: Fort Collins CO
Jan 28, 2002

This is a wonderful route. The exposure, great jams, good pro, and neat face moves will kept you smiling. One set of cams to a #3-3.5 Camalot and a few large nuts will get you to the anchors. A brown tricam for the initial piton scars and an extra hand size cam might be useful for the timid.

By Leo Paik
Administrator
From: Westminster, Colorado
Mar 8, 2002

You can finish this with Friday's Folly Direct and then West Door to the top of the 3rd. It gets spicier and more interesting. However, West Door amazes you as you think about Layton 3rd classing this 5.7 sandbag (for most mortals).

By Ben Mottinger
Founding Father
Sep 16, 2002
rating: 5.7

You won't find a better F7 pitch.

By Mike Epke
From: Denver, CO
Aug 6, 2003

Great route with some super exciting exposure almost from the first move. The first move can be protected very well with a yellow alien and from then on all the gear is easy to place. Enjoy this exciting route, even better if you climbed Standard East Face to get there.

By Anonymous Coward
Jun 12, 2004

Having climbed in every western state, I still think is the freakiest 5.7 ever. You know it's only 5.7 but you'll feel like you did something much bigger and harder.

By Ivan Rezucha
From: Boulder, CO
Oct 26, 2005

In recent years I've done [Saturday's] Folly several times thinking it was the better of the the sister routes, but last weekend I led Friday's Folly and thought it was pretty wild. The starting moves are a littly dicy, depending on whether or not you trust the cam in the pin scar. Then it's really exposed stepping around the corner. There are some strange and awkward moves on the face as you follow the leaning crack past downward slanting strata. So now I don't know which of the two routes I like better. Current favorite is Friday's Folly, because it's less [familiar]. Beware of doing it on the weekend. About 5 East Face parties rappeled down past us and our friends Chuck and John who climbed Friday's Folly after us.

By Tim Fleming
From: Boulder, CO
Jun 4, 2006
rating: 5.7

Excellent route - one of the best 5.7s in the Boulder/Eldo area.

By jhump
Sep 29, 2008
rating: 5.7

I did this one on lead for first time Sunday 9/28/08- and did not have a guidebook or any beta on the "official" route.

After turning the initial corner to the right and gaining the better protected face and cracks above, does the route then zag back left through a hand traverse on brown/red strata? I went this way. The hand traverse was nice and airy and led to a stance below a thin finger crack (I think the top of Saturday's Folly?). Ten feet of finger crack takes you to the big anchor bolts. Is this the actual route- or was I supposed to go straight up on the right face to reach the anchor bolts? The way I did it was really nice and I would repeat this way- except I would use more long slings down low to account for the rope drag on the leftward traverse.

One of the best pitches I have done in the Flatirons.

By George Bell
From: Boulder, CO
Sep 29, 2008

jhump, sounds like you started on Friday's and finished with Saturday's, this variation should be called "Sunday's Folly"? I don't understand why you traversed left. Friday's follows a continuous crack around the corner where it becomes 2-8" wide and zig-zags up and right, the crack goes all the way to the anchors as I recall. The pitch ends a few feet right of the two rappel bolts at the top of Saturday's.

By Rich F.
From: Colorado Springs, CO
Aug 28, 2010
rating: 5.7

I made the same route error as jhump above -- I hand traversed left under the Saturday's Folly roof, then took the thin finger crack 10' up to the bolts. A great climb with tremendous exposure -- but heinous rope drag with that cut back to the left. Not to be satisfied with getting off route just once -- I got off route on the second pitch, too! From the eye bolts, I went straight up the crack (like the Direct Finish) but instead of angling up/right to the South Bowl, I followed another crack on a left traverse and ended up on the west side again climbing up a lichen-covered arete above a small flat ledge with an old piton with a ring through it. I topped out at the tip of the protruding point about 20 feet above and west of the South Bowl anchors. I slung the point and belayed from there, while looking straight down the west face at our packs below. I'm gonna have to take better route instructions with me next time I climb. (But it was still a fun route!)

By Ivan Rezucha
From: Boulder, CO
Nov 15, 2010

As of today. the pin a little ways off the ground is loose and moves about 1/4" up and down. Don't count on it. Instead, there is an excellent 0.5/purple Camalot just below it and various good gear around the corner.