Nine Lives Arete

Located on the seclusive Nine Lives Boulder, the arete offers a great problem in an awesome location.

Beta: left hand in a tiny pocket with a drop-knee starts the problem. Move through sharp pockets to a large left-hand pinch. Put-up a high right heel-hook, and then reach for a decent slot (heel-hook is key for the static move, otherwise just launching to the slot is a ton of fun). Reach-up past the sidepull to a crimp, find feet, and throw to the back of the bulge to find something to hold onto; work your toes-up and pull the mantle. Now you have another 20 feet of easy and exciting slab climbing.

To find this boulder, ignore the directions in the Colorado Bouldering guidebook. The approach is actually decent (compared to a lot of the other bouldering in The Wood).

Park in the “West Trailhead” parking lot at the North Entrance (the one just south of the port-o-potty area), and take the trail that heads towards the river/mud-cliffs. This trail goes through some switchbacks, and right after that, you come to a fork in the road. Take the path on your right (heading south) for only 15-20 feet, and you will notice a ravine heading towards the river. Follow this ravine down to the river, and be mindful of the path you take as the erosion in this area is high. On the otherside of the river, there is a fallen pine tree (still alive) that is where you will climb out of the riverbed at onto flat ground. Crossing the River/Stream should be easy and head towards the tree once you cross the stream. 50 yards past the tree/rim of the river, the Nine Lives Boulder sits in all of its glory. Of course, you can always take the bushwhacking route and start at the Falls Area river crossing and head north for a while staying near the cliffs.

The landing is flat; however, the crux is high. Several pads are useful and a spotter helps once you get to the crux area.