Boulder's Flatirons on the east face of Green Mt are an iconic location of moderate climbing and are the site of many speed records. Specifically, much attention is paid to the great east faces of the First and Third Flatirons, but many other records also exist on the other three Flatirons, for various link-ups, and on other similar formations that are non-numbered flatirons. Bill Wright's website is a treasure trove of history in speed-based efforts in this arena, but this post is an effort to present this information with cleaner organization and in a more public location where on-going efforts can be easily documented and updated.
All speed records for the numbered Flatirons are car-to-car. The traditional start/finish is the trash can on the trail a few yards west of the Ranger Cottage in Boulder's Chautauqua Park. As with any FKTs, there are variations in style, i.e. degrees of support. In these running/climbing FKTs, "unsupported" refers to a ropeless ascent and descent of the rock--no rappelling. For virtually any speed record on the Flatirons, it goes without saying that they were "solo" affairs, i.e. no gear was used to protect a fall during the climbing portion of the effort.
This rarely-climbed Flatiron consists of three seperate pieces of rock stacked on top of one another making it the longest of the five Flatirons. Standard East Face route (5.4). The descent consists of a jump off the summit and then a bunch of steep bushwhacking back to the Royal Arch Trail.
