COUNTRY CLUB CRACK, BOULDER CANYON

Country Club Crack is one of the Boulder area’s most famous climbs. It was first climbed in 1956 as an easy aid route, and Royal Robbins came very close to free climbing it in 1964 on the same trip he established Athlete’s Feat, just to the left. Country Club was finally freed in 1967 by Pat Ament, with Mike Stults and Tom Ruwitch. It probably wasn’t repeated until the early seventies, and soon became a must-do test piece in the great free-climbing revolution of that time.

When this photo was taken in 1974 I had done it a few times and had it comfortably wired so I was happy to climb it while Dudley hung out on a rope snapping pictures with his camera. This photo appeared in the book Climb! by Bob Godfrey and Dudley Chelton (1976), although the caption does not name the climber. Equipment notes: swami belt (no harness), stiff shoes (PAs with leather patches added), my racing flats dangling behind, one-inch webbing runners with knots, headband mandatory. Although I look pretty strong in the upper body in this photo, it was my legs and lungs that were my greatest physical assets as a climber. I could run a 4:18 mile when this photo was taken, something that served me well for climbing on Longs Peak.