Bouldering in the Flatirons: The Burgundy Boulder

On Monday Tara and I went up into the Flatirons to do some more obscure bouldering. There are so many boulders that have undone lines on them around here it really is a wonder. I guess they only get climbed on by old-schoolers, people like me who like remote problems, or if they get press and some new hard line gets established (Black Ice anyone...). Perfect day, a little cool, not a soul around, and just a fun time.

The Burgundy Boulder, located in a meadow down at the base of Seal Rock is just such a piece of stone. Horan lists it in his various guides with a couple moderate grade problems on it. Nothing really worth hiking to, right? Wrong. The landing is perfect, the boulder has a bunch of fun moderates to warm up on, plus a couple really cool mid-range hard problems (V5-8). Besides those listed in the guides, there are also two really good problems on the north side of the boulder that are never noted.

Below is Tara on the classic V4/5 problem under the small roof.

Here is Tara on the V7ish problem on the north side - the left variation.


Here I am on the same problem, but going right (slightly harder).


There are a couple of other gems in the same area. This is what makes Boulder such a great place... perfect stone, empty climbing spots, and a beautiful setting.