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  ROCK AND A HARD PLACE Rock Climbing in Grand Junction By Amiee White Beazley
Jose Iglesias is an international climbing guide based in Grand Junction. He and Kris Hjelle are co-owners of Colorado Alpine and Desert Adventures, a rock, ice and big mountain guiding company. According to Iglesias, both beginner and expert climbers will find something to challenge them in Grand Junction. "You have granite, sandstone, big wall climbing, bouldering and a bunch of different cracks and towers. This is a peak location for climbers," he says. Iglesias says the first stop for climbers of all levels should be the beautiful and vast Colorado National Monument. Colorado National Monument is located south of I-70 between Grand Junction
"Just about everything here is crack climbing, with just a few limestone face climbing routes nearby. Everything is crack, adventure and sport climbing. There are also some bolted routes," he says. At Independence Monument is the popular climb called Otto's Route. According to the website www.rockclimbing.com, Otto's Route is "one of the best beginner desert tower climbs anywhere." This route is often used for training and novice instruction. Another great location for climbers to visit in Grand Junction is Unaweep Canyon on Highway 141. Unaweep is the only canyon in the world with rivers flowing out in two directions – east and west. It was named
Unaweep Canyon is lined on both sides with 25 miles of beautiful, solid granite cliffs, crags, boulders and cracks – many of which are made available via Access Fund properties. This is a favorite spot for both traditional and mixed climbing. Unaweep also has many Dakota sandstone boulders, appropriate for every skill level, and enough isolated walls to keep expert climbers busy for weeks. There are dozens of other climbs to explore in the Grand Junction area such as Sentinel Spire and Kissing Couple in the Colorado National Monument and the Cabin Wall in Escalante Canyon, 20 miles south of Grand Junction. On the rare day when it's actually raining in Grand Junction, there is a great indoor wellness center and climbing gym called Core Elements (970-241-7622). They have both indoor and outdoor climbing areas with more than 6,000 square feet of wall space, two bouldering caves, a lead wall, repelling station, and even a movie area that plays adventure and climbing films throughout the summer. Get a view of the Colorado National Monument with a Google Earth tour here. |
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