B3bouldering.com

Sunday was a gorgeous day and I was feeling up for something new. Red Feather with Ben Scott and Jason Tarry sounded great!

We headed to an obscure area which had seen some recent development called the Swoosh. I had heard about a nice problem put up by Charles Fryberger. He suggested V11. We walked through a nice open field, and up into the woods to check it out. Ben couldnt remember the name but it is really cool. I gave a good flash effort to no avail, but sent it after a few goes from the start. Check out the pics

Chuck’s Rail V11

The crux move

An amazing boulder problem!

Unfortunately, this has only been climbed to a drop-off jug. It may be possible to top out the boulder at a very high grade, V14 or harder, which would make an incredible problem! Maybe some day this amazing line will be complete.
We then went down the hill and I did a very nice but short Mike Auldridge problem. I figured out different foot beta which brought the grade down from V9 a bit, but it was so good I was happy to do it again for photos.
We hiked for a while through the woods, ever on the verge of being lost. Finally we stumbled upon a gorgeous project that Ben had been trying. It is a couple of moves of V8 to a wild sideways dyno. My first couple attempts were a little intimidating, but I soon got over it and had my hand on the hold. This is a really hard move. I only tried it 10 times or so but I think it could be a V12 boulder problem. Very nice.
We concluded Ben’s tour deep in the woods. There were some very nice moderates…

Angie Payne

and some other fun ways to be entertained. This picture was just too good not to post. It’s not as big as it looks.

Whoa!

I finished the day by checking out a new v10 called Integer put up by Andre DeFelice and putting up a nice problem of my own, called Coming of Age. A little tall, a little spicy and very nice rock make for fun climbing. It starts off with a couple of nice crimp moves and then to a jug out right where the climber sets up for a tenuous mantle. The upper slab is easy and fun.

Coming of Age

Red Feather is a really great area and I think within the next few years it will get more and more attention as hard problems are slowly found and climbed. It will always have an exploratory nature, but when all is said and done, there may be well over a 1000 boulder problems to play all winter long. And when that gets old you can always go sport climbing…

Saturday we loaded up the car and Angela and I went with the infamous Chad Greedy to the Poudre Canyon. It was a pleasant car ride and I was really psyched for Circadian Rhythm. I hadn’t yet had the combination of good conditions and two full rest days but today was the day. It was cool and cloudy and I felt well rested. When we got to the boulders at least 10 people were leaving. Their eyes were wild with stories of a ravenous mountain lion terrorizing the area near Tilt. They hadn’t actually seen the animal, but had heard its wild scream. Angela was apprehensive, but Chad and I were excited about possibly seeing this elusive creature. I felt the extra energy and it felt like a good thing. We were certainly on edge hiking into the boulders.

I got warmed up and felt very good. I did the final jump a few times and began trying from the start. My first few goes were good but I kept messing up the toe hook. I finally got it to work right and climbed to the end.

I had never felt so good at the end and punched it hard to the lip. I stuck it but I rushed and fell matching. It was disappointing, but I knew I had done a very good link and the send was close. I did the move I had just fallen on, took a nice rest and fired it!

I was very happy to have done such a classic boulder. This is one of those really great experiences in which it seemed at one time totally improbable, if not impossible, and now it had become a reality. I think this is an experience that all climbers have, and it is one of the coolest things about rock climbing. Circadian is a very classic problem, not only for its rock quality and position in the area, but its status as a Colorado winter time testpiece. We heard and saw nothing of the mountain lion.

I have some good video from Chad from the send, and I will try to get it up ASAP. I am waiting on pictures from Ben until I update Sunday’s events.

Check out www.momentumvm.com (look for the article entitled ‘circadian’) for footage of me on Circadian Rhythm V13 shot and edited by Mike Call. Mike and I pieced it together last week in lieu of the send, and Chad Greedy got footage from the actual send. I will try to get that up ASAP.

This weekend was certainly an awesome one, and I will be posting some great pics from Ben Scott in the coming days. The big news was I finished off Circadian Ryhthm V13 on Saturday with three video cameras rolling.
This was followed by one of the best climbing days I have had in a long time. A tour of some amazing new problems in Red Feather with the forward thinking Ben Scott and Jason Tarry. I even got on a rope and clipped bolts!

“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.”

Helen Keller

I have been spending some time trying to figure out how I can edit and bring watchable climbing videos to the site. I have a lot of footage from our road trip last year and I have been much more diligent about getting problems on film.

This weekend was a gorgeous one and Saturday. I went to the Poudre and fell off the end of Circadian Rhythm again! What did Thomas Paine say? Mike Call was there and he got some really cool shots. The video will be ready and waiting if I can put that problem together.

There seems to be some confusion about the grade of the campus problem to the right of Circadian called One Man Army, which was climbed several times on Saturday. When Johnny Goicechea did the first ascent he called it V9.

Sunday was more chill and I finally committed to heading up and trying Whispers of Wisdom V10. This is a legendary problem, perhaps one of the best V10s in the world. It climbs an amazing 12 foot overhang with a tough move at the lip. The real deal however is the 35ft slab that you must climb once you get through the bottom. The difficulty does not exceed about 5.3, but a fall from the top would certainly have dire consequences.

Ben Scott ain’t scared.

It was a beautiful spring day. Estes Park seemed empty but calm. The trail was covered in snow almost the entire way, but when we got there the problem was dry. I warmed it up by doing some of the moves. Conditions were prime and I was psyched. On my first go from the start I got through the slapping sequence and into the crux. I reached up slowly to the slopey lip, established and gunned it for the edge. I hit the hold very well and curled my fingers into a crimp. A few more easy moves followed and soon I was standing on the lip. I moved slowly up the slab, making sure holds were still solid and enjoyed the simple movement of easy climbing and the sweet taste of success. Soon I was reaching for good holds near the lip. The stunning view of Hallets Peak shook me back to reality. What an amazing feeling.

Olson and friends showed up and I ran another lap on it. It was nice hanging out in the mountains with good friends. They were climbing on the Kind Traverse V11. Ian Glas did the FA around 1996, Dave Graham made the first flash and Angie did the first female ascent. I had first done it in Sept. 2002

Angie Payne got a hair cut.

I usually don’t care too much for traversing but the rock and the moves are so good that I think this is a worthwhile problem. I tried the end once and then did it first try from the start. It feels good to have success like that on a problem I once thought was so hard. I tried to do it again but fell off the tenuous last move. It was nice to be back in the mountains. I think I will head up to the Poudre Canyon on Wednesday and finish off Circadian. It is hard to get that one out of my head. I worry that it will get too warm and I will have to hold off until the fall.

Today I went to the Park to scope things out. Its been a while since I made the drive up 36. I was surprised at how little snow was in Estes Park proper. There was almost no one there and I made my way past some tough looking elk…

Elk leper colony.

I stopped at Veritas, a really nice road-side problem established by Johnny Goicechea a few years ago. Actually this may be one of the best problems in Colorado. There was almost no snow there. I am certainly ready to put some more effort into this majestic boulder.

The sun was actually poking through, drying the pavement as I made my way towards Bear Lake. But as I rounded the corner, the wind picked up and snow began to fly. Here is the view looking at the Ranger Station.

I decided to leave my snow shoes in the car and the hiking was surprisingly easy, over packed snow. I made my way up to Dream Lake where there was a disheartening amount of snow. The beauty of the view eased my pain.

I hiked straight over the frozen lake and followed the tracks of backcountry skiers up to the boulders at Emerald Lake. I went to the Kind Traverse first. It seemed that both Whispers of Wisdom and the Kind Traverse were totally climbable. The topouts were wet, but that was only because it was snowing.

The wonderous Whispers of Wisdom

I could imagine that if it were sunny they could be climbed. I then made my way over to the Large Boulder. To my surprise, a huge tree had toppled over, knocked over two other trees and landed leaning right over the top out of Large and Real Large. I think someone could top them out, but not without dabbing on the branches of the tree. Here is what I saw.

How ironic, that one year a tree is toppled out of the way of one Emerald Lake problem, and another year a tree topples to make a problem possibly not doable.

Afterwards I went back to Lumpy Ridge and finished off a “classic” Sap V9. Colorado Bouldering Vol. 1 says “The high-end problems at Lumpy-like Right Angry Man, Sap and Podophile-easily stretch the definition of sandbag.” I hadn’t tried the problem in a number of years but I did it fairly quickly. It was a little scary with only one small crashpad. There was a very nice sunset as I hiked back to the truck. Another great day in Colorado. Happy Easter!

View from Lumpy Ridge

The weather was not so good today and we had a great session at CATS with Si, Ty, Feinberg, Harry, Rob etc. It had been a while since I had been there, but so good to pull down again. Ty made up a nice campus problem that I did not complete and am psyched to try again. There was much talk of the now infamous “Whacker Hacker” that has terrorized all of our 8a.nu scorecards with his/her ridiculous diatribe.

I have some video from our roadtrip last year and I will try to get it out on the site. Not amazing footage, but some nice sends.

Summer sunset in Rocky Mountain National Park

Appearently, it was James Litz who did the FA of They Call Him Michael. Rumour has it he is back, and stonger than ever.
Also Ethan Pringle continues to climb well, sending Black Lung V13, Gentleman Jack V11 and the Man from the Past V11, but most notably adding an obvious and very hard sit start to the very tall Prince of Thieves at the Level 7 area. He has suggested V12.

Angie and I were ready to head back to Joe’s for a three day weekend. I was feeling tired and thought that I might be getting sick. It was really snowy over Vail Pass but clear sailing into the night and into Utah. We were meeting up with Mike Call, who was interested in shooting video with us.

Friday we met MC in the parking lot at Area 51. Angie was psyched on Resident Evil and I was psyched on Black Lung. We also met up with Rob D, Mark (Cookie) Hobson and Seth Allred from Boulder. Angie tried several different methods before getting what may be the first female ascent of Resident Evil. I think both her and MC were psyched to have it finished and on film. Most impressively however, Rob dispatched with Black Lung V13. It was nice to see someone climb such an amazing problem. Mike and I talked about doing a spoof of the original Black Lung video he had shot with Ben Moon. I know that Rob was really psyched to have a hard send on video, as it should be. I was disappointed that I felt so tired. Its hard to drive all the way to Utah, get out of the car and try and climb a V13.

From there we went over to the Right Sign Area. I had put chalk on a direct start to They Call Him Jordan a year ago, and a few weeks ago, Isaac Calderio sent it calling it “We Call Him Michael” V11.

We Call Him MikeCAll V11

Cookie

Cookie

Cookie figured out some different beta which may make it slightly easier, but I stuck with the old sequence, and we both sent it. It took a lot out of me and I was feeling quite rundown, so I decided to rest until Saturday and try to save some skin.

Saturday I was nearly useless. I hardly put my shoes on, except to climb Low Tide, a really nice V6 across from the Angler at the Riverside Area. I watched, took pictures and spotted the crew. Rob again won employee of the day by climbing The Worm Turns V11, Eden V9, Save Yourself V8, Anatomy Act V7, Hydrogonated Oil V10, and Jitterbug Perfume V11. I don’t think he had tried any of those problems before. Nice effort Rob!

Cookie on Eden V9

Sunday I was feeling a little better and we went to Jitterbug Perfume. There are four problems that I haven’t done in Joe’s Valley and I think they are four of the best problems in America. They are The Wind Below V8, Trent’s Mom V10, Jitterbug Perfume V11 and Black Lung V13. I got through the bottom of Jitterbug 5 or 6 times, but kept falling on this ridiculous rose move at the top.

Pulling tough on Jitterbug Perfume V11

Approaching the mantle

I finally decided to change my sequence but I was so scared on the mantle I could not press it out. In a silly act of desperation I grabbed Angie’s leg and pulled myself over. Not one of my finer moments, but somehow an appropriate way to end the trip. I am gonna try to get back one more time and finish up a few things before it gets warm. Jitterbug will be on my mind!