Ten Sleep Canyon Climbing 2014-present

Route:

various

Region: Wyoming

Elev: ~7,500 ft

Rock type: Madison Limestone and Bighorn Dolomite

Type:

Date(s): August 2014(x1 day), August 2021(x1 day), June 2023(x4 days)

Partner(s): Eric Schweitzer (2014), Nate Arganbright (2021), Erika Bannon (2023), Alissa Doherty (2023)

Ten Sleep Canyon is a premier limestone climbing area in Wyoming. It is located just east of the town of Ten Sleep on Highway 16. There are dozens of mini-crags up and down the canyon offering nearly 1000 routes. Routes range in grade from 5.7 to 5.14. Almost all the climbing is sport.

The first time I climbed in Ten Sleep was in August 2014, for one afternoon during which we climbed just a few routes, on the drive between Devil's Tower in Wyoming and Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. I only got a flavor for the climbing on this quick trip, but I knew someday I would come back. Seven years later, in August 2021, again passing through after a trip to Devil's Tower and on a 10-day climbing road trip beginning in the Black Hills Needles of South Dakota and continuing through few climbing areas in Wyoming, one of which was Ten Sleep, I established this page on my website. A couple of years later I joined a work/climb trip to Ten Sleep where I stayed in an Airbnb with a couple of friends and cragged after work, which was a fun way to experience the area and not have to take days off work.

On this page, I give photos from climbing in Ten Sleep Canyon, organized by date. At the bottom of the page, I keep a list of the climbs I've done in Ten Sleep Canyon.

Photos

SOME RANDOM PHOTOS FROM CRAGGING AT TEN SLEEP CANYON

First trip to Ten Sleep Canyon
Date: August 2, 2014 (Sat); Partner: Eric Schweitzer
Climbed at: Roadside Areas - Home Alone
I originally posted the following photos on my 2014 Devil's Tower trip report, but added them here when I created this Ten Sleep page in 2021. These photos were taken during one afternoon at Ten Sleep, where we stopped briefly on the drive from Devil's Tower to Rocky Mountain National Park. We climbed three routes at the Home Alone area.

Second trip to Ten Sleep Canyon
Date: August 5, 2021 (Thu); Partner: Nate Arganbright
Climbed at: Lower Canyon - Hound Dog Crag
A one-day five-route stop between Devil's Tower and Deep Lake on a 10-day climbing road trip beginning in the Black Hills Needles of South Dakota and continuing through few climbing areas in Wyoming. The climbing here is good and I could see climbing here as a great way to get stronger, but I will always be a trad multipitch girl at heart.

Third trip to Ten Sleep Canyon
Date: June 7-10, 2023 (Wed-Sat); Partner: Erika Bannon, Alissa Doherty
Climbed at: Dry Wall, Lower Canyon - Wall of Denial, French Cattle Ranch, Lower Canyon - Hound Dog Crag
My friend Erika does a lot of work/climb trips where she goes to an area for a couple of weeks, usually stays in an Airbnb with power and wi-fi, and then works and climbs, often not having to take any vacation days off work and getting to climb in a cool area that is too far away from home for just a weekend. Since I began my remote job in July 2022, the idea of joining her has become tempting. Finally, in June 2023, fed up with the wet weather (Colorado is the new Pacific Northwest, apparently), I joined her and her friend Alissa for a work/climb trip to Ten Sleep.

We all drove up after work on Tuesday, with the plan (weather permitting of course since the forecast did call for daily thundershowers) of cragging after work on Wednesday-Friday and then cragging a full day Saturday and then driving home Sunday. For the first three nights (Tue-Thu) we were staying at in airbnb in the town of Ten Sleep and for the last two nights (Fri-Sat) we planned to stay at the campground at the Ten Sleep Brewing Co. During the week, everything went to plan, and we climbed 4-6 pitches every evening after work. We had the place to ourselves and temperatures were perfect. On Saturday, we woke up to rain. We managed to get in one pitch (then it counts as a day of climbing, right?) before deciding to use the rest of the day to make the 7 hour drive back home. Despite the weather cutting the trip short, this was a fun trip and made the work week much more enjoyable. I hope to do more of these kind of work/climb trips in the future.