Honey Badger

A 70m rope is mandatory, and tie a knot in the end!

Like its namesake, this 40+ m climb on the West Face of Overhang Rock is really pretty bad-ass. Honey Badger takes a more or less direct line up the vertical to overhanging face about 40 feet right of

Snake Watching

.

Access the climb by scrambling up a ramp to the right of the staging area for

Snake Watching

to a small tree.

From there, climb easy terrain up and right to the first bolt, then climb through a weakness in the roof and up the licheny arête (12-) to easier ground and a 2-bolt midway anchor (4 bolts + anchor; approximately 50 feet). Clip the midway anchor and set off through the first crux, a hard boulder problem that ain’t really over until you reach the A-frame roof above. From the rest after the A-frame roof, fire up through the big roof (crux 2) on bullet edges then jug-haul up through another tier to a pod rest. Rest up here, then fire up the steep headwall to the final crux boulder problem separating you from the anchor.

Oh, you wanna pull through so you can work the moves on toprope? Honey Badger doesn’t give a shit. You’ll just have to climb it.

A huge thanks goes to the Flatirons Climbing Council (FCC) and Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) for allowing yet another great route in the Flatirons.

The best way to approach this climb (and all the other climbs on the West Face of Overhang) is to walk up the Bear Canyon trail until you come to the huge boulder on the left side of the trail (the

Shelf Block

). Just before the boulder there is a climber's trail leading up and left into the woods. Follow the trail up past a few boulders, contouring and following a few cairns until you reach the big flat rock directly under the power line. From there, head straight up the talus (walking parallel to the cliff) for about 15 yards until you can break left through the woods onto the main talus field below the West Face. Wander across the talus to the base of the climb. The climb starts approximately 40 feet right of

Snake Watching

. Start by a small tree atop a ramp.

18 bolts total (14 + two 2-bolt anchors). There are several bolts where long draws are helpful.

To descend, you can lower from the top anchor to the midway anchor (70m mandatory!), then pull and lower again, or you can rap to the midway anchor and repeat. A 70m rope is mandatory!