Yes, that’s right: You are seeing a climb in Missouri in the AAJ  for the first time ever—and perhaps the last.

The Show Me State has had a long yet quiet history, focused primarily on the loose but enjoyable limestone cliffs that border major river systems. Sport and trad lines started appearing in the late 1970s in the Columbia area, off the Missouri River. In 2015, a looming guidebook deadline injected new energy into the development of two sandstone crags in western Missouri: Raven Rocks, along the Pomme De Terre River, and Monegaw Springs, on the Osage. 

Practically overnight, the Missouri climber had 50 new sport routes on sandstone, a medium more common in neighboring Arkansas and Illinois, ranging from 5.6 to 5.13. Monegaw especially has become the day-trip darling, with remarkably good rock in its 50’ to 65’ height. After seven years, most of the plum lines have been plucked and Monegaw has become the 5.12 crag in the state. As my friend Ryan Surface and I developed the crag’s first 25 routes, however, we bemoaned the fact that there wasn’t more or taller rock (or a wall with similar rock that wasn’t covered in bullet casings and graffiti). But as any good Midwesterner will tell you, you deal with what you have and you make the best of it.

“Making the best of it” eventually led to a spontaneous traverse of one wall at Monegaw in late winter. Jarod Sickler and I wrapped up a day of climbing by angling sideways for 35m across the exceptional Burnside Wall; we clipped bolts and got scared on potentially ground-kissing run-outs, and mostly laughed at ourselves, per usual. As we prepared to rappel, I couldn’t help but look further west along the length of the crag. There it was: a sideways big wall shining in the Osage sun. 

We spent the next month preparing the line in between busy life schedules. We went up, down, across, up, down, across, often merely feet beneath the cliff’s rim. We struggled constantly with the question What’s the point?, and the answer we found at the other end of the traverse was another question: What’s the point of climbing anything at all? Climbing should occasionally just be fun, and we agreed that our traverse was definitely that. 

In April, we were finally ready to climb the route in its entirety. Pitch one—barely fifth class and only 20’ off the ground—was a throwaway, but crucial to making the route the longest in the state. (We didn't invent this desperate practice—there are two other girdle traverses in Missouri.) However, as we prepared to climb, a ledge crumbled like a trap door and I plummeted to the earth, barely missing a boulder with my head. I asked for a beer and ibuprofen, and we headed straight to the emergency room. I spent the following months recovering from a dislocated ankle, hyper-extended elbow, and various other injuries. In 30 years of climbing all over the world, it has been my worst injury to date.

In my downtime, I read more about our weird little crag. Monegaw was once a hideout of Jesse James and Cole Younger, as well as an important home to Osage Native Americans and a resting place of one of their tribal leaders, Chief Monegaw. It also was a popular entertainment destination. I came across a sepia-toned picture of a floating barge populated by at least 50 dapper men in wide-brimmed hats and a lone woman. Apparently, partiers like these would float eight miles upriver, from Osceola to Monegaw, flying a large American flag, for a day at the cliff in the early 1900s.

In September, as a warmup for a trip to the Bugaboos, Jarod and I—sufficiently healed from my tumble—returned to Monegaw to enjoy a party of our own by completing our new girdle traverse: The Osage Party Barge (550’, 8 pitches, 5.11b). Simply put, it was fun. 

— Jeremy Collins