Why can’t it still be winter!
As I sat around depressed watching mother nature unload her rain all over Boulder preventing me from being able to go out and climb I realized I was being selfish. This is Colorado and we are blessed with so many sunny days that we hardly know how to even handle the smallest amount of rain without turning it a bunch of whiners. I also realized I had not shared my Front Range winter rock climbing Oasis with everyone a place where you can go in January or February just a few days after a snow storm and comfortably be climbing in a short sleeve shirt. Although unfortunately this is not a deep secret kept location it is still a winter weekend Oasis. If you haven’t guessed it yet I am talking about North Table Mountain in Golden it is also sometimes referred to as the Golden Cliffs.
The crag is located on the Northeast side of golden just above the Coors Brewery; it is the big flat mountain that you can see from just about anywhere in Golden. Once you wind through the neighborhoods and find the parking lot it is a short hike up to the actual rocks, it is a very well defined and easy trail but it is an up-hike. Also don’t be detoured if the parking lot is full of cars I have never been up here in the winter even on the most crowded days and not found routes to climb without having to wait in line. The main reason of this is that you can climb almost all aspects of North Table and there are being new routes put up here quite often the further north you go on the rim.
The rock here offers a wide variety of climbing, everything from small cracks to big fat bulgy slab climbs. You can also find a wide variety of both trad and sport routes with a multitude of technical levels. One of my favorite trad routes here is Mr. Coors Contributes to the Pink Stain a good 5.9 climb with lots of fun moves. And whenever here I have to go up a route which is listed on Mountain Projects as the Unknown AKA (Best Route EVER!) sport route it has really fn moves up to a killer jug as well as being located in the Table Top Area which altogether had great routes.
So next time you are craving some warm climbing in the middle of the winter remember the North Table Mountain area, and don’t forget water and sunscreen you’ll certainly need it.
Cheers!
