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Routes Sorted
L to R R to L Alpha
Bends, The 
Black Velvet 
Blinders 
Centrist 
Crandall Hammer Arete 
Crosshairs 
Doom Seam 
Freezer Burn 
Gap, The 
Giant Dihedral 
Gigantor 
Heat Stroke 
Lady Fingers 
Left of Center 
Line-of-Sight 
Lord of the Flies 
Man Hands 
Meter Maid 
Mighty Mouse 
Minimalist 
Mix Up 
My Left Foot 
Not Alone 
Radio One 
Refiner 
Right of Center 
Shimminy Cricket 
Shiny Face 
Sun Burn 
Sunrise Slab 
Super Nova 
Tilt 
Tilt-a-Whirl 
Trail of Tears 
Two Edged Sword 
White Dwarf 

Radio Head 


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Administrators: Ben Mottinger, Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monomaniac, Tom Erickson
Submitted By: Jim Hausmann on Aug 15, 2010

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Scott Sills bolting on the Gap Wall in 2006. This...

Description 

Radio Head offers one of the shortest approaches at Devil's Head, with routes ranging from 5.6-5.13. Approximately half of the routes require some gear placements, so bring at least a small rack of stoppers and cams through 4". Most routes require a 60m rope to lower off, with a few requiring a 70m rope. Tod Anderson's book "Rampart Range Rocks" is the best resource for route information. The crag faces primarily southwest, with most routes getting afternoon sun.

This crag was developed recently, primarily by Scott Sills and Jim Hausmann, but there was evidence that at least 2 routes had been discovered and climbed several years prior.


Getting There 

To get to Radio Head, continue along Rampart Range Rd past the turnoff for the campground, heading uphill on the now narrower road. After 0.7 miles you crest the ridge at the Radio Towers. Park here, or up the road a short ways, making sure not to block access to the towers.

From the parking, head northwest along the ridge. The trail is pretty obvious as it goes along, first on the right side of the ridge crest, then over to the left. Stay on the west side of the ridge, just below the top, until you pass a big mess of quartz crystals.

At this point, you will see a large tower (Line of Sight Wall). Descend the slabs marked with cairns and logs and a couple of steps. Total approach time is approximately 15-20 minutes.


The Classics

Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Radio Head:
Right of Center   5.8     Sport, 1 pitch, 60 feet   
Giant Dihedral   5.8+     Trad, 2 pitches, 190 feet   
Tilt-a-Whirl   5.9     Trad, Sport, 2 pitches, 200 feet   
Shimminy Cricket   5.9     Trad, Sport, 1 pitch, 105 feet   
Freezer Burn   5.10a     Trad, Sport, 3 pitches   
Lady Fingers   5.10b     Trad, Sport, 1 pitch, 80 feet   
Lord of the Flies   5.10c     Sport, 1 pitch, 100 feet   
White Dwarf   5.10c     Trad, Sport, 1 pitch   
Man Hands   5.10d     Trad, Sport, 1 pitch, 80 feet   
Crandall Hammer Arete   5.11a     Sport, 1 pitch, 50 feet   
Refiner   5.11a     Sport, 1 pitch, 90 feet   
The Bends   5.11c     Trad, Sport, 2 pitches, 200 feet   
Gigantor   5.11c/d     Trad, Sport, 1 pitch, 90 feet   
Super Nova   5.11d     Trad, Sport, 1 pitch, 80 feet   
Tilt   5.11d     Sport, 1 pitch, 70 feet   
Two Edged Sword   5.12a     Trad, Sport, 2 pitches, 150 feet   
Heat Stroke   5.12a     Sport, 1 pitch, 50 feet   
Doom Seam   5.12d     Sport, 1 pitch, 70 feet   
Shiny Face   5.13a     Sport, 1 pitch, 90 feet   
My Left Foot   5.13b     Sport, 3 pitches, 200 feet   
Browse More Classics in Radio Head

Featured Route For Radio Head
Route is in the center of photo.

My Left Foot 5.13b  CO : South Platte : ... : Radio Head
P1 - (90 feet, 5.11b) 11 bolts to 2 bolt anchor. Follow overlapping, left-leaning flakes with varied climbing. Must do classic! P2 - (110 feet, 5.13b) 17 bolts to 2 bolt anchor. Some desperate moves on nearly perfect rock get you into a left-leaning crack, through a hueco, then transitioning into parallel crack/offsets (crux). There is an optional belay here, or if you've got the endurance, continue thru several 5.12 cruxes to the top. ...[more]   Browse More Classics in CO


Photos of Radio Head Slideshow Add Photo
Scott working on Triangulation (5.12c) on the Main Wall.

Scott working on Triangulation (5.12c) on the Main...

Trail to Radio Head.

BETA PHOTO: Trail to Radio Head.


Comments on Radio Head Add Comment
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By Mike Carrington
From: Centenntial
Oct 9, 2010

If you actually find this area, you might want to add some cairns on the way back.

By Chris Monty
May 3, 2011

Just to let anyone know that is back in this area, the cairns on the "trail" are almost random. Took me way outside the climbing area. Be cautious of your climbing guidebook as the scale may not be correct for this area at all. Also take caution when hiking to the Gully Slab, the terrain is technical almost from the start of the trail.

By Tzilla Rapdrilla
May 4, 2011

Sorry for the confusion on the RH approach. I seemed to go different ways for the first few times. The maps in the guidebook are to scale as I extracted them directly from aerial photos. The trick is to start off staying to the west (left) of the ridgeline when approaching. There could also be cairns from crystal hunters confusing the trail, too.

By Hiro
From: Boulder, CO
Oct 1, 2012

The cairns lead to RH pretty well as of this last weekend. You need to start off correctly though, since I didn't see any cairns until after exiting the trees at the beginning of the hike.