Climbing Near Vail, Colorado

The Poo Cliff is currently the only established area in the Vail Ski Resort. The Poo Cliff gets shade most of the time. There are a few spots that get sun. This cliff offers some fun climbing on cool stone. Expect to be brushing sand off of holds, and don’t expect to see anyone. From the Vail Village, locate the large grass opening under the chair lift, The Giant Steps. Look for the obvious ski run a little to the right of the lift. If you look about 3/4ths of the way up that run and on the right side before it turns more low angle, you should be able to see a small looking cliff band. This is the Poo Cliff. The hike is maybe 10 minutes.

This area encompasses a geographic location with a variety of vertical type experiences. You probably have heard most about the Vail ice and you can find that under the CO ice/mixed section. In this section, you will find various rock cragging on sandstone, limestone, gneiss, schist, and even some granite. While this generally has little for a destination type of experience, there is still some interesting crags to find vertical pleasure. Some of the climbing here is protected in information accessibility and locals may cringe to see non-Eagle county folks playing here. Nonetheless, we have to share amiably and symbiose. Some of the better known areas include Lime Park's limestone, Wolcott's sandstone & nearby Gilman's gneiss, but there is more for the exploring types. Due to the increased elevation, most of the cragging in this area is limited to April to October times. As a well-known ski area, this general location is easy to find. I-70 accesses this area from either east or west (100 miles West of Denver). From the south, you can access this area via CO Hwy 9 (past Copper Mountain) or US 24 (through Minturn). From the north, you can access this area via CO Hwy 9 (Silverthorne) or CO Hwy 131 (Wolcott). The ice cragging is mostly visible from I-70. Parking is challenging, since all street parking in Vail is subject to ticketing. Gilman, illegal to access, is reached via US 24 south from Minturn. You can check NOAA. www.40minutesfromleadville.com Since we split off Leadville, click here to find Leadville crags. See a bat on a route, give a shout. Climbers for Bat Conservation is working with climbers to understand bat ecology and why bats choose certain cracks and flakes. If you see bats, and want to tell them, here is their email (climbersforbats@colostate.edu) and their website ( climbersforbats.colostate.edu/).Climbers for Bat Conservation is a collaboration between climbers, bat biologists, and land managers to understand where bats roost and where large populations may reside. They are interested in finding bats because a new disease, called white-nose syndrome ( whitenosesyndrome.org/), has killed millions of bats in North America. This collaboration has identified bat roosts throughout the U.S., and as far away as Norway and Bulgaria. CBC was developed by biologists who climb and they are advocates for climbing access and bat conservation. If you see bats while climbing, please let them know by emailing them at climbersforbats@colostate.edu, or visiting their website to learn more ( climbersforbats.colostate.edu/).Rob SchorrZoologist, Colorado Natural Heritage Program ( sites.warnercnr.colostate.e…)Director, Climbers for Bat ConservationRobert.schorr@colostate.edu 

Hot, hot, hot! This area gets sun most of the day. It is not crowded at all. The rock quality is good, and more stuff is being found every trip I go out there. You go like you're going to the Wolcott boulders, but park where you can access the railroad bridge. Easy. You walk down the tracks to the huge boulder; you can't miss it.