Northwest Slabs  Photos:  Recent | Best | Popular Lat, Long:  40.7156, -105.294 Map Page Views:  4,108. Good page?    Administrators:  Ben Mottinger, Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monomaniac, Tom Erickson Submitted By:  Aaron Martinuzzi on Sep 3, 2009 Make this area a Favorite What's New   Print a Mini-Guide with routes Add Route  Add Photo  Add Comment  Add Event

BETA PHOTO: The Northwest Face.

Description 

The Northwest Slab of Greyrock offers climbing similar to that on the South and Southeast faces, but with a much more adventurous feel, since you won't be visible to hikers on the Summit Trail. A bit more of a trek than the aforementioned areas, the Northwest Slab is definitely worth a visit to climbers of any level, whose Greyrock experience won't be complete without a trip up the stellar Sky Crack. This area catches awesome afternoon sunlight, and on a cool spring evening, chasing the sun from the The South Slabs to the Northwest Slabs would make for a full, enjoyable, and scenic day. Watching the sunset from Cow Pie Ledge is an excellent reminder of why one bothers gearing up and making the hike all the way out to Greyrock to bust out some pitches.

Getting There 

Begin approaching the Northwest Face of Greyrock as for the The South Slabs, but continue past, heading for a rocky ridge that defines the skyline north of the South Slabs. Several "passes" will be evident along this ridge - aim for the arch along the ridge, and follow a rocky passage through the middle of the ridge at a cairn. More cairns mark the way north, and a final, larger cairn is in place on a boulder near the base of Sky Crack.

Descent from most routes is via a double-rope rappel from the largest bush/tree on Cow Pie Ledge. If you're looking to top out, the summit of Greyrock can be attained one of two ways - climb the Yellow Dihedral (5.9) off the left side of Cow Pie Ledge, or head right and climb/scramble up easy slabs (<5.5) until the angle eases enough to de-rope.

The Classics

Featured Route For Northwest Slabs

Cows are People Too 5.9 PG13  CO : Fort Collins : ... : Northwest Slabs

What a fun route! Scramble up the sweet, right-facing corner (5.6) to the "Ribeye Flake" belay. Climb up right on moderate ground to an obvious seam - continue up on beautiful, water-polished rock. Clip the route's lone bolt (I'm not sure if this bolt was added after the FA by the infamous "Greyrock Retrobolter", or if it was placed by the FA Team - certainly possible considering where the bolt is located and the general look of it - when compared to the shiny new bolts that abound on the surrou...[more]   Browse More Classics in CO

Photos of Northwest Slabs Slideshow

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The NW Slabs. Just visible behind a branch of the...

BETA PHOTO: A cool arch feature in Greyrock's West Ridge. Aim...