One of the, if not the, best slab problems in MN. 

  REMEMBER:    -If it has rained in the past 24 hours, do not climb at Eldon.   -Wipe your shoes off before you climb.   -Leave no trace.  Erase tick marks.  Pack out any trash, yours or others'.

That Girl's a Bitch

Best Touch

Chairman Meow

The Bow Hunter

On Ice

Pocket Hercules

Last Touch

Apocalypse Meow

The Alternator

Carburetor

Grip It and Rip It

Panic Arete

Tengo De La Muerte

The Raven

The Raven Stand

Raven Droppings

Nutrigrain (a.k.a. Please Hammer Don't Hurt Em')

R-Naught

Rock Wid It

Warm Up Left

Lean With It, Rock With It

All Along the Watertower

Diamond Dust

Warmup Wall

First Born Traverse

Best Boulder in Minnesota

All for V4

The Nervous Addition

Riverside Jump or Swim

Riverside Direct

All For Panic

The Nose Thing

Invisible Touch

Riverside V4

All for V6

Mike's Lunge

The Cutting Edge AKA Pocket Hercules Left

Dabby moves, rad slopers.  Start on massive detached flake.  Make big move to the lip, then traverse right, all the way to the end.  Crux is in the middle. 

  REMEMBER:    -If it has rained in the past 24 hours, do not climb at Eldon.    -Wipe your shoes off before you climb.    -Leave no trace. Erase tick marks. Pack out any trash, yours or others'.

Climb Invisible Touch (V8) to the arete, then drop down and make hard moves to reach the start of Best V5.  Drop down nature of the climb is why I give it 4 stars.  That said, I have not climbed it.  So I am just a lazy hack! 

  REMEMBER:    -If it has rained in the past 24 hours, do not climb at Eldon.   -Wipe your shoes off before you climb.   -Leave no trace.  Erase tick marks.  Pack out any trash, yours or others'.

Dabby start, rad couple of moves.  Sit-start to the right of the arete on decent holds.  Make a difficult moves to the arete and an even more difficult move to stand up.  Easy top-out.

Once upon a time in 2012, I was visiting Sandstone for my second or third time with two buddies.  One of them had never been there, the other had been a few times with climbers who regularly went there.  The latter gentleman was driving.  He parked in front of the locked gate at the end of the dirt road that now, in 2014, is open to the climbing community.  At the time, this was still private land. 

  We hiked down to the boulders, spent the day climbing, and returned to his car to find a massive truck parked inches from his bumper.  We were blocked in.  We called out for a while and several minutes later, a man in camouflage and blaze orange approached us from the woods.  He carried in his hand, a bow. 

  The hunter was not happy that we were there and proceeded to tell us that he had permission from the land owners to hunt there and that we were not allowed.  We explained that it was our understanding that climbers had verbal permission from the owner to be there, but if we were wrong about that, we would not return.  In this conversation, the hunter said the land was for sale and that he would buy it and not allow climbers to return. 

  He drove off and we made our way back down the road worried about what had just happened.  I reached out to the MCA about the situation and a series of events was set into motion.  In 2013, the climbing community banded together, worked with the non-profit Parks & Trails Council of MN, and helped PTCM purchase the land preserving climbers access. 

  If we had not run into that hunter that day, if he had not been so angry and threatened us with the idea of purchasing the land for himself, what a different story it might have been. 

  In the fall of 2013, I began exploring Eldon on my own looking for things that seemed unclimbed.  This problem was my first attempt at developing something in this area. 

  In honor of that man, it is named The Bow Hunter. 

  Sit start on crimps below the roof, work up to the base of the left side of the roof, use crimps to work out to the nose, then mount that sucker.  Good luck and watch your landing.

Start with your hands on the crack, end on top of the rock. 

 Let me know if this route has previously been named.

Burly classic.  Start on fragile pinch/crimp jug, then make long moves to good holds.  Mantle the top. 

  REMEMBER:    -If it has rained in the past 24 hours, do not climb at Eldon.   -Wipe your shoes off before you climb.   -Leave no trace.  Erase tick marks.  Pack out any trash, yours or others'.

Start on the new school start of best V5 (left hand mini pinch right hand sloper jug) and trav right into the finishing sloper of invisible touch. shmantle. needs another ascent.  

  water usually sits under the landing making the line somewhat sketchy at times. 

  want to hear what others think of it. unsure of grade...

Start low to the right, feet smeared on the block. Traverse left on crimps into the start of Chairman Meow V7.

Fun, albeit sharp moderate. Start on incut rails to the right of the base of the arete.  Climb the good, sharp incuts to the top.

Fun beginner problem. Start on jug and work up to the lip. The longer you stay away from the left edge adds a bit more challenge and bit more value.  

Start matched on a big jug rail, head up the prow to a nice top out. 

Start with right hand in jug on face and left hand on arete.  Climb the arete.  Keep it together on the top out.  Scope the top out -- and brush it of leaves and what not -- before climbing. 

  REMEMBER:    -If it has rained in the past 24 hours, do not climb at Eldon.   -Wipe your shoes off before you climb.   -Leave no trace.  Erase tick marks.  Pack out any trash, yours or others'.

Compression power enduro block.  Start right hand on crimp, left hand on the blocky feature farther down.  Get to the mini-jug at the base of the arete, then compress to the top.  Stand start (aka where the compression begins) is V6/7.  

  REMEMBER:    -If it has rained in the past 24 hours, do not climb at Eldon.   -Wipe your shoes off before you climb.   -Leave no trace.  Erase tick marks.  Pack out any trash, yours or others'.

Long term project put to rest by Nik O.  He earned this one.  Only seen a few repeats, including ascents by Daniel Woods and Paul Robinson.  Both said they found the problem to be of high quality.    Sit-start in obvious pocket jug.  Move up the feature, finishing to the left on crimps.  Paul finished straight up.  Crux is the intro moves.  Note: I have not climbed this.  Just rated it to give users an idea of the quality. 

  REMEMBER:    -If it has rained in the past 24 hours, do not climb at Eldon.   -Wipe your shoes off before you climb.   -Leave no trace.  Erase tick marks.  Pack out any trash, yours or others'.

Stand start on crimp rails, climb more crimps to the top.  Very quality stone. 

  REMEMBER:    -If it has rained in the past 24 hours, do not climb at Eldon.   -Wipe your shoes off before you climb.   -Leave no trace.  Erase tick marks.  Pack out any trash, yours or others'.

Start on a jug and move up and to the right.  A side pull on a nice flake before a mantle below the detached upper boulder.  A great warm up or first time outdoor boulder.  (Based on the cleaning required, I'm assuming this is a FA... but also know this area has been climbed a long time, so certainly possible this was done some years back- let me know.)

Cool hards, with an optional drop-knee in a V5: Count me in!  Sit-start, get to jugs at half-way height, finish big.   

  REMEMBER:    -If it has rained in the past 24 hours, do not climb at Eldon.   -Wipe your shoes off before you climb.   -Leave no trace.  Erase tick marks.  Pack out any trash, yours or others'.

Sit start and move up and right. Top out on shelf. Walk/Honnold off shelf to climber's right. Spotters recommended more for getting off the shelf than for getting up. Fun, big moves on mediocre rock. Feel free to modify the name/grade if this is in the Helke guide.

Start on the prominent rail, climb the slab. A cool mono crimp-dish and a committing move guard the top out mantle. 

Start on the left side of the boulder on some decent incuts. Head up through a few pockets and top out on the left side of the boulder.  

Start on Tengo De La Muerte (V10), finish on the slab to the right. Tengo begins in the hole, below the boulder.  You begin on rounded crimps.  Get to the mini-jug, move to the slab (crux), execute the techy top out. 

  REMEMBER:    -If it has rained in the past 24 hours, do not climb at Eldon.    -Wipe your shoes off before you climb.    -Leave no trace. Erase tick marks. Pack out any trash, yours or others'.

Sit start low right on good hold where roof begins, traverse left over roof, then up to ledge for top out. Can walk off ledge to the right or continue up and over upper face. 

  Found in Fall 2013, cleaned holds and relocated a large carpet of moss on ledge. Assuming FA was mine, but you never know at this area. Lots of pioneers before me and nothing documented. Correct me if I'm wrong and I'll gladly update. 

  Don't climb wet rock.

Easy problem around the left corner from The Alternator. Start on the left side and follow a diagonal crack up and right to the topout.

Many variations on the same boulder. A short problem with hundreds of hold options.

Deserved of the name.  Fun gymnastic climbing to a long lock-off crux to an exciting top out. 

  REMEMBER:    -If it has rained in the past 24 hours, do not climb at Eldon.   -Wipe your shoes off before you climb.   -Leave no trace.  Erase tick marks.  Pack out any trash, yours or others'.

Best V5's younger bro.  Classy sandstone jugs the whole way.  Crux is the intro moves.  Enjoy. 

  REMEMBER:    -If it has rained in the past 24 hours, do not climb at Eldon.   -Wipe your shoes off before you climb.   -Leave no trace.  Erase tick marks.  Pack out any trash, yours or others'.

Fun feature climbing. Start on mini-horn feature that has a crimp on either side.  Make moderate moves to the arete, then devise a solution to get to the stand start jug start hold.  At least two ways of getting this done.  Finish on Panic Arete Stand. 

  REMEMBER:    -If it has rained in the past 24 hours, do not climb at Eldon.   -Wipe your shoes off before you climb.   -Leave no trace.  Erase tick marks.  Pack out any trash, yours or others'.

Start hands matched on lone flat edge in the middle of the face. Find some feet and jump to the dark water stained jug at the lip. 

  Sketchy but doable in the summer. Just have a spotter for your spotter so everyone doesn't go tumbling into the river. 

  REMEMBER:    -If it has rained in the past 24 hours, do not climb at Eldon.    -Wipe your shoes off before you climb.    -Leave no trace. Erase tick marks. Pack out any trash, yours or others'.

Start on shelf/crack under roof. Jam and reach out to mini pinch on face. Work face up to the perfect loaf pinch on V4. Top out straight up over jagged jug or use right OG exit in winter. 

  REMEMBER:    -If it has rained in the past 24 hours, do not climb at Eldon.    -Wipe your shoes off before you climb.    -Leave no trace. Erase tick marks. Pack out any trash, yours or others'.

Start on All for V6 and End on Panic Arete

Fun climbing, but a bit of an eliminate.  Start on the pedestal below the boulder.  Climb the arete feature.  Do not use the holds to the right.  

  This has been climbed as an off-width by some masochistic individuals.   

  REMEMBER:    -If it has rained in the past 24 hours, do not climb at Eldon.   -Wipe your shoes off before you climb.   -Leave no trace.  Erase tick marks.  Pack out any trash, yours or others'.

Quality.  Only negative is that for this problem to be climbed the river must be either frozen or at very low water.  Start on flat jug.  Move through a pinch and then ride the crimps on the arete.  Finish with tough moves on slopers.   

  REMEMBER:    -If it has rained in the past 24 hours, do not climb at Eldon.   -Wipe your shoes off before you climb.   -Leave no trace.  Erase tick marks.  Pack out any trash, yours or others'.

Classic.  Given three stars for dabby start.  Start on jugs.  Traverse right on slopers.  Once at the face, climb nice sandstone mini-jugs to the lip.  Tricky mantel to finish. 

  REMEMBER:    -If it has rained in the past 24 hours, do not climb at Eldon.   -Wipe your shoes off before you climb.   -Leave no trace.  Erase tick marks.  Pack out any trash, yours or others'.

All for V4 low start. Climb through pocket underclings on the roof and into big sloper pinches on the face. Head left and finish out on All for V4. 

  REMEMBER:    -If it has rained in the past 24 hours, do not climb at Eldon.    -Wipe your shoes off before you climb.    -Leave no trace. Erase tick marks. Pack out any trash, yours or others'.

Start on jug rail and move straight up, finishing with an exciting rail.  Rock quality down low is only reason for not giving 4 stars.  Very fun mantle problem.

Start as for Pocket Hercules, traverse left and gain the sharp slot before heading to the lip and pressing it out.

The best bouldering between Colorado and the NE US. There are about 40 problems, most on high quality sandstone. The texture is more Rocktown grain than So Ill grain, which, personally, I think is about as good as sandstone gets. It's best in the fall and winter, as springs here are wet, and summers are buggy.   Access is only recently possible on this land, and it is a huge deal that we are now able to climb here. Let's take good care of it. Some suggestions for being kind to our new area:  

  PICK UP YOUR trash.    NEVER use a wire brush, or a brush with very stiff bristles. A "soft" nylon toothbrush or a boars hair brush should be fine.     WIPE OFF your feet before you step on, as grit on the bottom of your shoes will polish the holds.    WAIT 2-3 DAYS after it rains so that you don't rip off any holds (they come off easier when they are still a little wet.   DO NOT CHIP or manufacture holds. This is grounds for excommunication. See Ivan Greene's story: dpmclimbing.com/articles/vi…

  So yeah, don't do that.    DO NOT cut down trees to access boulders (except on trail building days - under the guidance of land managers). Embrace the local climbing ethic that all life is valuable.    DO NOT use a blow torch on the rock. This permanently damages the rock. 

  Look for the classics Warm up Wall v3-6, (problem Left of Pocket Hercules) v3, The Best v5 in MN v5, Pocket Hercules v8, Tengo de la Muerte v10, and The Raven v12, and many others.

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Location

Protection

Routes in Eldon