Kelly McBride of Ft. Collins has joined a handful of elite climbing women in America with her ascent of the classic Joe’s Valley problem Fingerhut. Fingerhut was established by Boone Speed in the mid 90s and was the first confirmed V10 in Joe’s. She spent two days on the crimpy line, and it is Kelly’s first V10. Awesome job!!!!
Last week I reported on a new problem being done, somewhere in the woods. Here’s the scoop. Four years ago I lived with Greg Loomis. He was really psyched on exploring around Gross Reservior and Walker Ranch and found some really nice boulders. One boulder in particular had a very cool arete project on it. Greg had done a stand start to the problem and called it Shipwreck V8, but the obvious low start had remained unclimbed (props Greg for being there first!). I went there with Dave Hume, Brian Capps and several others, to try the low start. I recall doing most of the moves and thinking it was hard. Fast forward to this summer, when Ryan Olson and I went for a hike and I thought to go check out the arete. We bushwacked through some tough country and finally made it to the project. Olson was really psyched. The heat of summer subsided into a chilly fall, and then an artic winter. Things had just recently warmed up. I was looking for something new and Olson calls me a few days ago and asked me if I was interested in going back. I was, and we drove up out of Boulder and into the hills. In a superb effort Olson made the FA after several days of work, and named it Burnout.
Ryan Olson on the first ascent of Burnout V12
I know he feels it is one of the hardest problems he has done, and this time he really had the vision. I pieced together the moves and today we went back. Conditions were pretty good. Cool, cloudy and slightly humid. I felt very confident. The bottom section is about 8 moves of intense squeezing and heel hooking.
Burnout
A proud line.
The upper part is an insecure three move V8 on slopey, greasy holds. I thrutched through the lower belly and fell off the upper part twice before punching through and sketching my way up the tall and insecure top. It was nice to get the second ascent. I think this will become a classic problem and it is only 30 min. from Boulder. I also think that it may be V12, which makes Rolson’s effort even more impressive. I will do what I can to get video of my ascent up as soon as possible. As long as people stay motivated, it seems the Front Range continues to produce new and classic problems!
Joe’s is so good that I just had to get back, this time with Angela. We got out of Boulder around 4pm and zoomed down I-70 to Utah. We were meeting up with some friends on Sat. and guess what, I was psyched. Saturday we awoke to some beautiful weather. The day started off slowly with me getting totally shut down by Blackout V12. This problem felt really hard again and I decided to scrap my plans and see something new. With no agenda we found ourselves jumping across the river and scrambling up a side canyon to try The Moment of Truth V10, a really nice polished boulder put up by Harry Robertson a few years ago. It was just barely climbable. It took a bit of work to figure out the top out.
The Moment of Truth
Angie Payne stares down some slopers.
The smear normally used to do the first move was covered in ice, so I just put my foot on the slickest foothold one can imagine and did the move anyway.
We then went over to Area 51, where I decided I would finally start trying Black Lung V13. We met up with some friends Brian Camp, Kelly McBride and Jason Pinto there. Angela was psyched on Resident Evil V10 and since these problems are right next to each other it worked out nicely. Black Lung is one of the best problems in the country, in my opinion, and it holds a place amongst my lifetime goals. Ben Moon did the first ascent a number of years ago, which was documented in a nice short by Mike Call. I did the first move in a few goes and this was incredibly motivating. I then spent the next bit working on the upper part, not sure exactly how I was going to do it.
“Black Lung is a really hard problem” Ben Moon
I got very close using a big jump out right. In between burns I did Resident Evil on my first go. Angela made a good effort on Resident Evil and fell right at the top. I know that she wants to go back and finish that one off.
Brian Camp sends Resident Evil V10
Camp is a heel hook master.
Angie Payne.
After the monster session we went back to the Left Fork but I was too tired to finish Trent’s Mom. I fell again on the big move out right. I musn’t go there when I am tired. We ate pizza that night and afterwards went out for a night session. I was really psyched and I repeated The Scrawny and Brawny V10 in four goes exactly.
Sunday, I was exhausted. I was so tired I wasn’t sure if I would even be able to climb. I did this little V9 arete, in between spotting, near Beyond Life and then we went up the road and I did Scary Monsters, a nice v6 up from the Riverside Area. It was a long drive back to Boulder. We are certainly going back in 3 weeks for unfinished business and maybe I can squeeze in another trip from now until then. Spring weather in Joe’s is amazing and I feel very fortunate to have such an area just a days drive away.
Climbing.com has recently updated their Players profile and this month I’m a Player. Check it out to hear what I really think, and see some funny pictures by Wade David and Ryan Olson. I will get the Joe’s photos up tonite.
Paul Robinson made the third ascent of Echale V14 in Clear Creek Canyon, outside of Golden, this weekend. Nice job Paul. Echale was put up by Daniel Woods. Unfortunately, almost every hold is chipped or glued and the entire problem was dugout with a pick axe (not by Daniel). I understand the desire to repeat the standard testpieces, however I look foward to seeing these youngsters apply their strength to natural lines in the future. I know that Paul is psyched for the Green 45 project in Rocky Mountain National Park. It is one of the hardest problems I have seen that will go, and it will certainly be newsworthy when it does. I also went back to Joe’s this weekend, had another great trip, and will have pictures and updates later today.
Sometime this week a new classic was added to the long list of hard problems in the Front Range. Stay tuned…
We arrived in Castle Dale late Friday night and thoughts of tall, black faces and gorgeous streaked walls filled my head. Saturday, we (Brian Capps, Ryan Olson and myself) woke up to a sunny but cold 12 degrees. We drove into the canyon and stopped to check out a new line in the Left Fork put up by Paul Robinson called a Wrinkle in Time. I have looked at this boulder for several years but it sits in the river. Paul was lucky enough to be there when the frozen water created a landing and put up a really nice V11. Unfortunately the water was not frozen and we moved on down the Fork. We met up with some friends Jason, Chad, and the Landman Brothers at the Riverside Area.
Tyler Landman on Not to be Taken Away II
Ty and I were psyched to check out Blackout, a new v12 put up by Paul Robinson. Brian and Chad were psyched on Gentleman Jack, a nice V11 added by Jason Kehl a few years ago. I had a nice long session on Blackout but failed to get the send. I found it quite hard, and surprisingly Ty did not do it either. We climbed on it for several hours. It is an amazing sandstone problem and I hope to get back soon to try again. We got some nice pictures from the session.
Myself on Blackout V12
Tyler Landman crimping hard.
It was really cold all day and the sun went down, so we moved on to some more moderate things. I quickly did a nice V9 called Worst Case Scenario, just down the hill from Trent’s Mom. We then went up and tried the latter, and in the last bit of light I fell off the last hard move. This is another outstanding boulder and I would love to come back and get the send. I felt tired from a full day of climbing. It never really got above 25 degrees. In fact Jeff’s water was freezing as we climbed, but I like it when it is cold. The friction was amazing. We went back to Castle Dale and had a nice pizza dinner in town.
The next day we decided to check out a new boulder none of us had climbed on before called the Powerline Boulder. Super classic lines abound! I had my sights set on The Man from the Past V11. A really nice problem that starts on poor underclings and moves through a small pocket. The upper part is commiting, tall and classic. We all worked on it for a while. I finally snagged the first move and fired it all the way to the top. It was a nice one day send for me on a very short trip. Another amazing Joe’s Valley boulder! Check out video of Jason Kehl climbing The Man from the Past on momentumvm.com
Chad Greedy on The Man from the Past
Brian Capps attempting the crux of The Man from the Past
Jeffery Landman swings around on some sick holds.
We moved on around the corner to perhaps the best V8 in the country, The Wind Below. Another stunning line and I must say big props to Jason Kehl for finding, cleaning and putting up all of these majestic lines! I decided to rest a bit and give Jeff and Chad some time to send. I didn’t get to give it a good effort because Olson had to get back home but I shall return. This problem is on my lifetime ticklist.
Brian Capps below the Wind Below V8
Jeff Landman getting it done.
Joe’s Valley remains one of the best bouldering areas in the country and it is because of these big, proud and stunning lines that I shall return to time and again. On down the road we go…
w3rd.