Disclaimer soloing is super duper dangerous do NOT do it unless you fully understand and can manage the risks involved, and know what you’re getting into; rock quality, route, weather, approach, descent, etc….
So I had been toying with the idea of free soloing the second flatiron ever since someone mentioned it to me. The route was a 5.4 with a 5.6 ish start, but grades mean nothing when it’s friction slab! After reading all the mtp descriptions and comments though I was feeling pretty good about it.
I hiked up to the base of the climb, and switched from hiking to climbing shoes. I didn’t have a bag, so I just left my hiking shoes at the base and figured I’d come back for them after a quick barefoot hike down (this was dumb).
I start up the climb, and felt very comfortable with the style and flow of the climb, so I committed. A switch clicked in my brain, and now that the only way out was up, I put away any fear and focused on just climbing well.
It was magnificent. The climbing was awesome, the views were amazing, and it was so freeing to be on rock again.
Halfway up the climb there’s a ledge you can either jump off of to get back on the main wall or downclimb it to get there. I was planning on jumping, but got spooked and decided to downclimb. This was a good choice; you gotta know where your head’s at when you free solo, and if you’re not feeling it, don’t do it. And I was not feeling a full on jump 400ft off the ground.
I forge on ahead and made it to the summit in a sweet 25min of climbing. A local who was also soloing the route kindly snagged some pics of me at the top.
After that I started the hike down, barefoot. Of course, I got lost and could not find my way back to the base where I left my shoes. Skip ahead 30min of painful downhill hiking, I finally figured out the way after asking a bunch of trailrunners and hikers for help. I put on my shoes and made it back to the trailhead.
Overall it took about 2 hours, and was an unforgettable climb.
The next day, I led the first flatiron with my PI from undergrad! Charles was an awesome partner; so great to catch up with him and have quite the adventure. We started up the route around 3:30pm. After 6 spicy, long pitches, we get to the top, but have 2-3 more pitches traversing the ridge to get to the rap station at the summit. By now it’s starting to get dark, and we still have to hike back down after! I manage to speed lead the last few pitches just as it was getting dark and by the grace of god I spot the rap station just as everything goes black. Charles follows with a headlamp, and we rap down. Of course we then get lost on the descent and have to hike around for a good 2 hours before making it home. I get back at 11:30pm, realize I left my keys in my crag pack, which we decided to go back for in the morning because we had no idea how to get back to the base. Soooo I broke into my cabine through the bedroom window and passed out so fast. Best sleep I ever had, and the next morning Charles decided to go trail running (an insane chaotic choice after our tradventure) and he got my bag back for me! MVP follower take notes everyone.
All in all, phenomenal trip. So stoked I was able to make it out here and adventure! Thanks Colorado
Into The Gnar 