Durango Bouldering PREORDER

About the Book

Nestled beneath the San Juan Mountains, Durango is a boulderer’s dream. Surrounding town are big, beautiful Dakota Sandstone boulders, laced with holds and steeped in legend — a bouldering paradise far from the urban sprawl of Colorado’s Front Range. Set aside a week or more for a road trip, as there is a lot to sample. Camping options are plentiful. You can even climb some alpine peaks while your fingertips recover from too much fun. If you like long, pumpy traverses, Durango has some classics, given both V grades and YDS - some solid 5.13! Don’t be put off if you’re a little less elite. V0-V2s abound, too. Spring and fall are best, of course, but some areas are perfect for hot summer days or sunny winter afternoons.

In the book you’ll find lots of sweet action photography, essays from the area’s famed boulderers, maps, grade distributions, approach beta, icons for highball problems or for problems sans-spotters solo sessions. If you’re local, you’ll find all the new developments well documented. In addition to the main areas, you’ll find shorter treatments of a dozen minor destinations, too. Variety prevails; from quick jaunts near town for quick after-work/class sessions, to high alpine adventure quests, there’s an outing for your every mood.

Areas Included

• Sailing Hawks

• Lightner Creek

• Turtle Lake

• The Boxcare

• Areas 071 & 0071

• Colvig

• Molas Pass

• More!
  

About the Authors

Melissa Clutter and Adam Ferro love the Durango community just as much as they love Durango climbing. And they quite literally fell in love with each other at the boulders of Lightner Creek. Melissa started climbing in Durango as a college student, and her passion for the sport, and the place, eventually drew her back to Fort Lewis College, this time as a professor. When she’s not teaching geology, Melissa is usually out at the local crags or boulders, squeezing in every bit of climbing she can. Adam moved to Durango from Gunnison, where he spent a decade chasing bigger routes in places like the Black Canyon. These days, he has traded the towering walls for 15-foot blocks, happiest when he’s just a crash pad away from the ground. The pair also have a little one in tow: their young son Daniel has logged an impressive amount of time at the boulders. After patiently enduring his parents’ endless conversations about this guidebook, one of his first sentences was, fittingly, “No more talk boulders.”

And thanks to David Canova, who helped get this project started, took most of the beta photos, then had to leave town! David is a habitual crash-pad hauler whose love for climbing was shaped by the sandstone blocks of Durango. Long days of hiking pads, scrubbing new boulders, and puzzling over tricky sequences taught him not just technique, but a deep respect for the rock and natural environment. His guidebook work is a way of giving back to the Durango climbing community — a community and landscape that have profoundly influenced his growth as a climber, scientist, and steward of the outdoors.