Vedauwoo, Wyoming – Custom Trad Climbing Trip

Description

Rappelling off the Parabolic Slab at the Nautilus in Vedauwoo, Wyoming

Custom Trad Climbing Trips in Vedauwoo, Wyoming

We are privileged to offer Custom Trad Climbing Trips in Vedauwoo, Wyoming.  Without a doubt, Vedauwoo is home to some of the finest crack climbing in the western US.  The Sherman granite domes of Vedauwoo feature an incredible array of world class crack climbs, with routes ranging from classic moderates to challenging test pieces.  Not only do we facilitate a safe and incredibly rewarding experience climbing in Vedauwoo, our ultimate aim is to help you become a safer and more sustainable rock climber.  Our guides are talented, personable teachers who will help you develop new safety skills, useful rock climbing techniques, as well as Leave No Trace best practices for climbing.

Why trad climb in Vedauwoo with us:

Our rock climbing guides are experienced professionals, talented climbers, and well-trained teachers.  They are also humble, personable, and overall great humans to be around in the mountains.  Our guides are adept at providing safe, supportive, and inclusive climbing experiences for people of all backgrounds and ability levels.  Additionally, our rock climbing guides live in the Laramie area and climb in Vedauwoo throughout the year, which is a major advantage because they know the places they guide extremely well.

Classic trad climbing routes in Vedauwoo:

Learn more about classic climbing routes in Vedauwoo here!

Trip itineraries:

• 1 Day Itinerary 

Our 1 day custom rock climbing itinerary at Vedauwoo is a great option if you only have a single day to climb but you want to make the most of it!  Your guide will work with you to select some exciting objectives (several Vedauwoo classics) that are appropriate for your skill and fitness levels and that feature fun, high quality climbing on good rock. Our primary objective with this trip is providing a safe and highly rewarding climbing experience at Vedauwoo that you will remember for many years to come.

• 2 Day Itinerary 

Our 2 day custom rock climbing itinerary at Vedauwoo is a full-value experience for those looking for an action-packed two days of guiding in one of the best trad climbing venues in the country.  Your guide will coordinate with you to choose exciting objectives that align with your climbing goals and are well-suited to your skill level. Generally people like to choose several moderate objectives for day 1 to work on technique and streamline their systems followed by more challenging objectives on day 2 to push themselves on harder climbs.

• 3 Day or More Itinerary

This is our most popular custom rock climbing itinerary by far!  Our 3-5 day itinerary is an excellent option if you’re looking to really progress in your climbing and explore a variety of climbs in the area.  Your guide will work with you to select objectives for each day that align with your climbing goals and appropriate for your skill level.  Also, we suggest climbing in as many different zones over the course of your trip in order to experience the incredible variety of terrain Vedauwoo has to offer.  We also highly recommend scheduling at least one rest day after two days of climbing in order to recharge for the rest of your trip.

Lessons:

Our Custom Rock Climbing Trips in Vedauwoo include personalized instruction on the following topics and techniques:

• Gearing up for multipitch rock climbing
• Climbing safety, belay, and anchor systems
• Crack climbing movement and techniques
• Minimal-impact climbing strategies to safeguard resources and heritage
• Leave No Trace and “Beyond Leave No Trace” practices
• Lessons on the area’s geology, ecology, archaeology, and history

Trip availability:

Our Custom Rock Climbing Trips in Vedauwoo are available June – October.

Guide to climber ratio:

All of our custom trad climbing trips have a 1:1 or 1:2 guide to climber ratio.

Trip logistics:

Transportation: Nearby Laramie, WY has an airport serviced by United Airlines.  Additionally, Vedauwoo is less than a 3 hour drive from Denver, CO.

Accommodations:  We recommend staying at either hotel or bed and breakfast in Laramie, WY, Cheyenne, WY, or camping at USFS campsites in Vedauwoo.

Meeting location:  You will meet your guide at the Nautilus Parking Lot in Vedauwoo.

Daily schedule:  We typically will meet at 8am and climb until 3-4pm.

Equipment:  Many climbers choose to bring all of their own gear, but we can provide all technical climbing equipment including CAMP helmets, harnesses, and Butora climbing shoes.

Trip guides:

Our talented team of Laramie-based climbing guides includes some of the most prolific climbers in the area who are at the forefront of rock climbing in Vedauwoo.  Most importantly our guides are skilled teachers who are patient, kind, and helpful to people from all walks of life as they learn new skills.  Their top priority is making you feel safe and supported as you take on a new challenge.  Feel free to request a particular guide for your course.

Chris “Slim” Murray is a longtime Laramie resident and Vedauwoo trad climbing aficionado.  Slim is one of the most experienced trad climbers in the area, having redpointed up to 5.14 on gear, and he knows Vedauwoo like the back of his hand.  Slim is an amazing guide as he’s able to combine his climbing prowess with his love for teaching, building on his decade of experience teaching special education in Laramie.  As Slim puts it, “I love the act of imparting my knowledge to someone in a way that they are able to understand. I know that sounds weird but it is my favorite thing about teaching someone how to climb. The challenge with teaching for me is being able to be dynamic enough to be able to teach all different sorts of people. Of being able to recognize how the individual best learns and then being able to respond well enough to teach them to the best of my ability.  I especially love teaching crack climbing because of the technique needed. It is not just simply grab a hold and pull hard, it is about how to best and most efficiently fill the space in the crack and then also how best to place protection. Vedauwoo cracks are so nuanced, even in lower grade numbers, that it provides an ideal learning space for an aspiring crack climber and that gets me excited.”

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Zach Lentsch is an avid climber, guide, and owner of Wyoming Mountain Guides. A Bighorn Basin native, Zach has been exploring wild parts of northern Wyoming for as long as he can remember. In addition to running the business and designing Wyoming Mountain Guides’ suite of climbing programs operating across the state, Zach works extensively in the field and guides a wide range of trips ranging from introductory programs to advanced rock, ice, and alpine trips on challenging terrain. Zach is also a passionate developer of new climbing routes with over 100 first ascents across Wyoming, including the longest ice climb in the state (Ultralight Beam WI3+ 1000m) in the Wind River Mountains, the longest sandstone rock climb in the state (The Fall of Satan 5.10 C3 250m) in the Bighorn Mountains, and a high concentration of rock, ice, and mixed climbs in the Cody area up to 5.12, WI6, and M9 in difficulty.  Zach is an experienced teacher and works hard to integrate as much technical and environmental education into the climbing experience as possible while also prioritizing safety and having a great time together.

Booking and payment:

You can view each of our guide’s availability on the calendar above.  To book your course directly via our website, you need to first select a guide and choose from available dates.  Then to finalize your booking we require a 25% deposit, which is non-refundable.  The remainder is to be paid two weeks before the course and is non-refundable if you cancel within two weeks of the program.  If you do cancel last minute on your own accord and want to transfer your credit to another course or trip, we do charge an additional 30% rescheduling fee.  However in case of bad weather or a medical emergency we will waive the rescheduling fee.

Contact us:

Interested in booking a Custom Rock Climbing Trip to Vedauwoo?  Please send us an email including your name, email address, phone number, climbing experience, in addition to a description of what, where, and when you’d like to climb.