The Choss Files, Retro-Edition – Coal Creek Boulders

After our “discovery” of the Narrows, we started to look around with open eyes. What else had been overlooked by those before us? One day I took a drive up Coal Basin, and came across the talus field with all the boulders sitting in it. After hiking up to a few, I found that the rock was incredible, way better than the pebble pinching of the nearby Redstone Boulders. The landings at first glance were horrible, with jagged blocks poking out at odd angles. But with a little vision, it was clear this could be a fun spot.

A little work on the landings, plus several pads and you were good to go. Luke Laeser, Matt Samet and I poked around the Roadside area, and started climbing the obvious problems. Others had explored the area before us, so we never claimed any FA’s (which always seemed kinda silly to me on boulders anyway, but I digress), it was just good clean fun. Hiking further up the boulderfield, we came across the Kwik-E Mart, shown in the picture. This large block has an incredible pocketed face that is 40 feet long and gently overhung the whole way!

The problems here are fun, and tend to be easy in nature, V0-V4, making for good circuit climbing, with some harder stuff thrown in for good measure. The new guidebook has a good selection of the popular ones listed, but there are MANY more problems waiting to be done.