You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby

As many locals know, the new guidebook is finally here! I dug out the original Western Sloper for comparison, which Dave Pegg wrote back in 2002. It covered Rifle, The Fortress, No Name, the Puoux and the Redstone boulders, and was 72 pages. Fourteen years later, what was one, small book is now two volumes, and Western Sloper, which covers everything that isn’t Rifle, has over 1200 routes, and is 368 pages.

When I first moved here, it seemed bizarre there wasn’t more climbing close by. People would drive from Carbondale to Rifle for after-work sessions, which seemed crazy. Don’t we live in the Rocky Mountains? Surely there are cliffs closer by. And indeed there were. With over 30 different areas, the local climbing scene has exploded. And while some of it will only appeal to locals, many of the areas are worthy weekend destinations for those who don’t live in the Roaring Fork Valley.

Jeff Achey and I started working on this with Dave Pegg back in 2012. While Dave loved Rifle, he was also a driving force in opening up climbing at many of the lesser-known local spots, like Main Elk, the Pup Tent, the Fortress, Hogwarts and the Distillery, to name a few. As the man behind Wolverine Publishing, Dave had a lot of book projects going on during that time, so Western Sloper slowly but surely moved towards completion. And then, in the fall of 2014, Dave took his own life. Two months later I got a call from Jeff, who had taken up the reigns at Wolverine: let’s finish this book, as a tribute to Dave and his love of the local choss.

Even though I was very familiar with the local areas, there had been so many new climbs established that there was actually a lot of “research” (which is just climbing where you take lots of notes) to be done. For me, what really makes this book stand out is how much new climbing is documented for the first time. Probably at least 60% of it has never been in another guidebook, and is mostly not on Mountain Project. Jeff and I hope this will open people’s eyes to the vast amount of climbing in this corner of the Western Slope, as what’s in the book is truly only the tip of the iceberg.

For locals, hopefully you now have better beta for your favorite spots, and some new ones to check out. And for those who are thinking about coming to visit, you should! Things are a bit more western out here, but if you don’t mind walking up hill, the occasional dirty (and maybe loose) holds, and grades that have had very little consensus, then pack your bags and come on out!

A huge thanks to everyone who helped make this possible, and happy exploring!

Western Sloper is available for purchase at local shops, and online at wolverinepublishing.com.