A Sandstone Aiguille Where the Rockies Meet the Plains

Forecast Radar Cameras

Either the Naked Edge is the 5.11 Yellow Spur, or the Yellow Spur is the 5.9 Naked Edge. Both are Layton Kor direttissimas — the Spur climbed in 1959, the Edge three years later — and both take Eldo’s most prominent arêtes, the Spur beelining up the vibrant-yellow pyramid of Redgarden Wall’s Tower One, the Edge towering 800 feet above the tumble of South Boulder Creek on Tower Two. But the Edge is a pumpy, tricky hardperson’s climb, while the Spur is a hard-everyperson’s outing, with two distinct cruxes bookending some of Eldo’s best moderate climbing. Sure, hardcores like Josh Wharton have speed-solo’ed the thing in 13 minutes, but most parties allow a good half-day.

The seven-pitch Spur bares its fangs early. You can 5.10-highball it straight up on Eldo credit cards, or you can swoop in from the right, crossing the roof band in a short, stout 5.9 ropelength that ends at a spindly tree (protect with small gear and fixed pins, dropping in directionals for your second). From here, four pitches of 5.4 to 5.8 crack and corner climbing take you high above the spiny West Ridge, a trad cragger’s paradise. As you move up, be ready to build your own anchors, and avoid climbing below other parties in the blocky 5.4 corner on pitch four.

Suddenly, the snow-capped Indian Peaks crystallize on the skyline. And then, the biz. From an airy pedestal, a pin ladder takes you up thin, just-off-vertical tech climbing along twin seams, and when these peter out, the critical choice: left along the sporty, turbo-5.7 Robbins Traverse (Royal Robbins and Pat Ament made the FFA, via this variant, in 1964), or straight up a bouldery face past two bolts and a pin (5.10c).

Both options funnel into the 5.6 final arête, where climbers become the unwitting playthings of Chinook winds. Here, you’ll feel the rawness of Eldo, so string the last two pitches together to save time if it becomes too gusty. Meanwhile, the descent kicks ass — literally. You face either a butt-bumping slide/downclimb off Redgarden’s East Slabs (avoid in the rain!) or the nefarious Dirty Deed rappels to climber’s left. The Spur faces due west, so it’s good on summer mornings, but best during spring and fall afternoons.

The Beta
Guidebooks: Classic Boulder Climbs, by Fred Knapp and Michael Stevens; Rock Climbing Eldorado Canyon, by Richard Rossiter; Serious Play, by Steve Dieckhoff; mountainproject.com

Gear: Boulder Mountaineering: bouldermountaineering.com, (303) 444-2470; Neptune Mountaineering: neptunemountaineering.com, (303) 499-8866; REI: rei.com/stores/44, (303) 583-9977

Guides: Colorado Mountain School: totalclimbing.com, (800) 836-4008; Alpine World Ascents: alpineworldascents.com, (800) 868-5423

Rack: Single set RPs, nuts, cams to 3.5 inches, 10 draws. With a 60-meter rope and some savvy, you can run some pitches together.