Founded by accomplished climber Gary Neptune, the store has evolved from a hybrid gear museum/retail store to being more of a climbing-focused one-stop-shop for gear. Of all the climbing shops in North America, I’d say it’s one of my favourites. The shop was different from 2007, as it’s gone through several changes since first opening in 1973. So, on my most recent visit, which I made to attend the 2022 summer Outdoor Retailer tradeshow, I stopped into Neptune Mountaineering once again. I’d purchased a guidebook to the area at Neptune Mountaineering, but lost it shortly after the trip. The trail up to the rock routes wasn’t as beaten in as it is now and there were only a few people out hiking. That was back in 2007 when the parking lot to the Flatirons was nearly empty and the town of Boulder seemed quieter. The soloists stopped to talk to us about local climbing and asked if they could pass before climbing above us-we always said yes. During our trip, two climbers free-soloed past us, both with climbing shoes on and both having climbed it before. The Standard East Face of the Third Flatiron was declared by the great alpine climber Yvon Chouinard as the “finest beginner climb in the country.” It’s seven pitches of 5.4 and 5.5 climbing up a slab of easy-to-hold features and cracks. My partner and I climbed all three of the main Flatirons, linking pitches and reading about the history as we went. The Flatirons were at the top of the list. You know the ones: Devil’s Tower, Grand Teton, Mount Whitney and so on. living in the back of a pickup truck trying to tick the classic American peaks. I thought the climber was going to fall and die, so I stopped to watch, ready to turn away-what else could I do? I hadn’t been to the Flatirons in 15 years, not since my first trip there when I was a burgeoning wannabe alpinist.
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