At first, South Dakota seemed like an unlikely place for any climbing at all. Until my friend Nate mentioned the Black Hills. He spoke of single pitch spires and immediately, I was sold. After spending some time on Mountain Project, it was decided that I had to make a trip to Custer State Park. My first attempt at climbing in the Black Hills was unsuccessful, I was unable to find a partner. But after moving to Colorado for work, I had a list of climbing partners and my friend Nicole and I had the same week off. I made it to the Black Hills in July.
Photo Credit: Jeremy Susskind
Immediately, I am taken by the magic of the Black Hills. There is beautiful granite everywhere. Spires, domes, and fins. There are few residents near the Black Hills, even fewer climbers, and loads of tourists. We encountered very few other climbers, minus our friends at Wrinkled Rock Campground, during our stay. The lines for classic climbs were nonexistent, but in CSP we encountered many onlookers. Two time while climbing, we shouted down to tourists taking our picture and asked them to send us the photos, and we got photos. In Rushmore, we encountered more climbers, never more than three, and almost no tourists. Even with everything considered, we spent more time climbing in CSP than Rushmore. The climbing gained more dramatic summits and interesting features with almost no approach to most routes, aside from Cathedral Spires.
I could ramble on about the ratings and the types of climbing but I will say this, it is adventure climbing at it's finest. You'll gain wild summits, sling crystals and flakes for protection, and you probably won't see many other climbers. It is truly a magical place and we should do our best keep it that way.
