Climbing in Aspen, CO

Nestled far enough away from the weekend crowds of Denver but only minutes outside of Aspen, Independence Pass is a bouldering jewel in the heart of the Colorado Rockies. The many glacially carved bouldering venues are situated on the highest paved pass in the state. Keep elevation in mind, if you're coming from lower land. The trails to the myriad of bouldering areas can be as short as parking amongst them to a 30-minute hike uphill. The vast majority bouldering areas are no more than a five minute hike along moderate to easy terrain.

A classic, historic climbing crag, southwest facing Gold Butte is climbable year-round. Dozens of routes with original Sixties names like Far Out (5.9). As local lore has it, John Long and Lynn Hill developed some difficult bouldering traverses on the southwest wall.

Popular due to its smorgasbord of routes and ease of access, the Grotto Wall area off Independence Pass has something for every climber's tastes: steep single and multi-pitch trad, intense sport climbing, and excellent bouldering.

Independence Pass is one of the great alpine cragging venues in the world. Some of the sport routes are among some of Colorado's first rappel-bolted climbs, but the area features a mixed bag of traditional and sport climbing.