My first outdoor climb of Summer 2008 was in the Garden of the Gods. The Garden of the Gods is a great sport/trad climbing area located in the middle of Colorado Springs, about 10 minutes west of I-25 off the Garden of the Gods exit. Free to the public, the Garden is a good place for some qucik climbing on good, gritty red sandstone. Just sign the ‘idiot waiver’ at the Visitor’s Center and carry your rope and qucikdraws down the sidewalk and climb away. Be prepared for an audience though. Needless to say, I was a bit rusty from well over a semester of inactivity, no rock climbing and still coming out of the depression that had nearly shut down my life at the end of 2007. Following my newfound policy of making rather irrational, yet carefully planned out, decisions, I climbed in the Garden with a boy I had met on the internet and had never climbed with before. Of course, climbing well-bolted 5.6s and 5.7s in the Garden is an extremely well-calculated risk…and Scott’s experience and ability far outweighed any dangers. Little did I know at the time, but meeting Scott would completely change the course of my summer and launch me into three months of travel and climbing, solidifying my love for the outdoors and Colorado.

The following day, I took advantage of another invite to the Garden, this time to climb with several soldiers who had recently returned from deployments in Iraq. This turned out to an extremely different experience, with some much more aggressive repelling and some rather large falling rocks. Three routes stick out in my memory:

West Point Crack 5.8

Located on the west side of South Gateway rock, West Point Crack is a sandbag 5.8 route leading up to a well placed anchor. The route continues onto a second pitch, but the quality of the rock rapidly deteriorates and ultimately isn’t worth it. West Point Crack isn’t really a ‘crack’ so much as a very very big flake. Liebacks can be used but the crack is so big you can just step up it like stairs. It’s well-bolted and safe – with the exception of the first move. The route starts above the belay station on an exposed ledge – the move calls you to lean back then step up onto the ledge. It’s a bit boulder but once you get yourself on the rock the route becomes really easy. Like I said before – sandbag.

Credibility Gap 5.9

A much more exposed route that West Point, Credibility Gap starts behind the large flat rock that juts up in front of South Gateway rock. It also follows a crack/flake up to the anchor and is protected with pins and fixed pitons. The area right under the anchor get pretty bare and people seem to frequently pull off flakes of rock right there, so be prepared to do some dodging if you have a grabby climber on belay. Definitely a fun route!

Mighty Thor 5.10c

Located on the Drug Wall of South Gateway Rock (the side that faces east), Mighty Thor is an awesome sport route that stems up a dihedral to an anchor. There are some big reaches, some serious liebacks, and stemming. This is a fun, pumpy route that requires a lot of balance and patience as the tourists walk by commenting on your progress. This is one of my favorite routes in the Garden, so I definitely recommend it.