PRINT: Rock Climb Climb Of The Century, Eldorado Canyon State Park

Climb Of The Century

5.11, Trad,

Avg: 3.7 from 156 votes
FA: Sharp, Newman, Butterfield, 1980
Colorado > Boulder > Eldorado Canyon SP > Rincon > Rincon - L of Center…

Access Issue: 2023 Seasonal Closures - lifted Details

Update: as of 6/7/23 per Mike McHugh, ECSP: all closures have been lifted within Eldorado Canyon State Park, including Continental Crag.

Crags on Eldorado Mountain, such as Mickey Mouse wall and Cryptic Crags, are outside of park boundaries and may still be subject to Boulder County closures.

Previously in 2023: per M. McHugh, ECSP: the upper loop of the Rattlesnake Gulch Trail, above the Crags Hotel Ruin, & the
Continental Divide Overlook, is closed effective immediately. This included Continental Crag.

These areas are closed to all activities, including rock climbing & hiking, through 7/15 or until further notice, to protect nesting golden eagles on the S side of the canyon.

Golden Eagles are protected by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service under authority of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. A conviction of nest disturbance can carry a fine to $5,000 & one year imprisonment.

See the map in the photo section for terrain closure.

Previous years: per Dustin Bergman, CO State Parks Officer #770, ECSP:

Seasonal Raptor Closures
Check Park site for current closures:
cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/…

For more info visit:
cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/…

Double check prior to venturing there. Thanks!

Description

Judging by the amount of chalk on the holds, this must be a popular route. The line is stellar. One of the best pitches of the grade, but probably not led as often as one might think...Modern gear has made an amazing impact! Before micro cams this was a super serious lead. Now its still a bit heads up, but the competent climber with Aliens or TCU's should be OK.

The start of the route is a play on angular irregularities. Two ways to start: Power straight up the pillar (reachy), or stem the left side and tiptoe out right(balancy). Small cams protect between the two fixed pieces (both dubious). Crank past that pin and now climb the cool dihedral with stems and liebacks and better pro. Lower off 78'.

Protection

0.3"-1.5" cams (2x.4" "sews it up"), nuts, 1 fixed peg + 1 fixed Roller (YIKES!), and a lower off anchor.

Per Kaylee Ludden: 1-2X 0.1 or 0.15, 2-3X 0.2 or black Totem; 0.3"-1.5" cams (2x 0.3-0.4" "sews it up"), nuts, 1 fixed pin, and a two bolt anchor.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Patrick making it look like a walk in the park. Seriously... on-sight, warm-up, cold and in the rain. The guy stomped it.

Sonnie T. walks up the Climb of the Century..

Picture by Madaleine Sorkin.

Kurt on his flash of Climb of the Century.

The best climbing is above the crux, there are good edges on the right.

Photo by Chrissy Sloan in 2005.

Kurt placing crux gear, small TCU.

Tony Bubb in the steep corner of 'Climb of the Century (5.11)' in July of 2003. Photo by Ron Roach.

Tim Fleming on Climb of the Century.

Matt, high on the route.

The crux is getting to a large rail up and right. The fixed roller is to left, but a great blue Alien can be placed to the right.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Tony B
Around Boulder, CO

5.11b

Like some other climbs at Rincon (including the namesake), this climb is a little soft at it's grade, feeling more like 11a to me. The climb plays best to people who stem and smear well. Ballnuts and micro-cams are both useful. Oct 29, 2001

Stan L
Louisville, CO

5.11b

FYI: A while back a friend and I hammered in the pin on this climb. We were able to drive it in at least an inch. While still not bomber, it no longer belongs in the Eldorado fixed gear _hall of shame_ like, say, the tattered ball nut directly below it. Great line. Apr 18, 2002

Adam Brink
trying to get to Sardinia

5.11b

you lanzanos are always good stewards at your local crags. i finally got to do this route yesterday and it was even better than i had hoped. a classic for sure. and the pin looks pretty bomber now. thanks stan. Sep 8, 2002

Joe Collins
Boulder, CO

5.11b

Two words: Black Alien!

eldo top-10, maybe top-5

About the same difficulty as Center Route. I can see this being thought of as harder-11 back in the pre-small cam days. Apr 21, 2003

Joe Collins
Boulder, CO

5.11b

The black alien backs up the old fixed slider nut at the start. Sep 29, 2003

Kirk Woerner

Somebody tell me why this seems easier than Center Routeto me? This is now officially on my lead list (TRed it clean first time, which is way more than I can say for Center Route) Feb 27, 2004

d-know
electric lady land

5.11c

I've only been to Eldo once, but this route is what I remember most.
Good lead. Jan 26, 2006

Kirill Kireyev
Boulder, CO

5.11b

Somehow I managed to get suckered left around the corner at the beginning. Don't do that.

Bring a black and blue Aliens or two blacks for the crux. Blue TCU/Red BD are too big. Nov 18, 2008

Scotty Nelson
Boulder

As of 3/21/09 the slider nut at the start was gone, although a grey TCU works in its spot. Mar 23, 2009

Guy H.
Fort Collins CO

5.11b/c

Be careful placing a blue Alien in the slot before the crux move to the jug. We fixed one that took 15-20 minutes to extract. A black Alien or blue ballnut might work better there.

We also managed to temporarily stick a blue Alien before the pin. The trigger bar became wedged in the crack. I guess it wasn't a good day for blue Aliens for us.

Great climb with good gear and holds when you need them, but not at the same time. Oct 7, 2009

Phil Lauffen
Innsbruck, AT

I got the RP on this yesterday, and if anyone cares the following gear sewed it up through the crux nicely.

Grey/purple Mastercam hybrid.
Medium nut in the finger slot where the pillar gets steep.
Green C3 in the slot below the jug/rail.
Green C3 just below the pin above the jug/rail.
Pin.
I found a blue/yellow Mastercam hybrid useful for the next placement.

That crack is pretty funky up high. I recommend bringing hybrids, or just placing a lot. May 26, 2011

Tommey-James
Boulder,Colorado

5.11

Really fun climb with really small pro for the first 20/25 ft. I found the crux to be a reasonably well-protected. It is a little scary busting the crux moves near the deck on thin pro, though. Up higher, the climbing eases off, but the gear is a little spaced, not too big of a deal if you made it through the bottom, though. I would recommend taking doubled of 0 and 00 size cams (may be even triple of 0 but not necessary). I thought it was more sustained than the crux pitch of C'est la Vie just for reference. Jul 11, 2011

Bob Rotert
Broomfield

5.11

If you have confidence in the gear or are able to get good gear in reasonably quickly, that helps with the difficulties of this route.

I can see the opinion of a rating rise or fall for the individual ascent depending on how well the leader gets the gear in and how much confidence they have in the gear placed. When led, the climb has a bit of gear, head, and pump factor that can add to the pure technical difficulty. The small cams you can get on this seem pretty good. Some people have total confidence in micro cams and are totally comfortable whipping on them. However, I always prefer not to put them to the test myself and this route has a really bad landing area.

Critical placements: A blue Alien or purple TCU in the upper slot before the jug. Blue TCU placed in the slot before the pin, from the jug, are what I use to protect the opening moves. Apr 11, 2012

John.A.Kirk

2nd ascent in 1980. Fine route. Jul 15, 2016

michalm

5.11

Offset Mastercams, c3s, and DMM alloy offset nuts make this route PG-13 if you aren't too short. The crux is getting to and getting established over the big jug rail. Each move after the crux feels easier than the last. A fair onsight grade is 11 if you are tall and perhaps 11+ if you are short or have only one working ankle. ;) Jan 16, 2017

Kishen Mangat
Boulder, CO

Totally reasonable and characteristic Eldo. The usual collection of small Aliens / Z4 cams / TCUs / black Totem, etc., and one key mid-sized wire. Super fun, get on it! Nov 7, 2020

Kaylee Ludden
Boulder, Co

5.11 PG13

Great climb. Fantastic, committing climbing with great stances and all the hard stuff down low.

I submitted an update request to the gear description, the entire crux is protected on bomber thin gear in the 0.1-0.25 range. The top half of the route goes at 5.8ish and has marginal protection at best until you're about to pull the last move. Nov 26, 2021

Ross Exler
Denver, CO

5.11b

Through the crux protects really well with green C3, yellow HB alloy offset and red c3 stacked, 00/0 Metolius offset and green c3 stacked, black Totem slotted from the top of the crack above the jug, pin.

Plenty of good enough gear from there to the top, so don’t be scared off by some of the other comments.

I think it’s G through the crux and good enough after. Aug 29, 2023