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I have been keeping it mellow lately. Last weekend I went up to Independence Pass and scoped out some new projects. I am very psyched to return in the fall, when it cools off. I am also preparing for a family vacation to Alaska. I leave on Fri. I am hoping to get a day of bouldering in at the beautiful looking Hatcher Pass (akclimber.com), but the weather forecast says otherwise right now. Next weekend I am off to SLC for the OR Trade Show. This is the first time in three years I haven’t set the comp. I thought about competing, but I won’t have much sleep and I would hate to get injured. I will be reunited with my camera in Alaska and I will have updates from the Show and the comp.

Meanwhile, check out this picture from a friend of mine of my home state of Michigan, possibly the future of deep water soloing in America…

Michigan “A Water Winter Wonderland”

Dave Graham has made the 4th ascent of Realization at Ceuse behind Chris Sharma, Patxi Usobiaga, and Sylvain Millet. I know this route has been on his mind for a long time. When I asked him if he still thought about trying it in Hueco two years ago he replied “Every day.” Nice job Dave. Very Proud.

Dave Graham on the Skyscraper V3 Photo by Nick Sagar

Here is some of the first public information that came out about RMNP. This was taken from Newenglandbouldering.com. I remember reading about this back in Michigan and just getting so psyched.

9/13/00 Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Dave Graham has spent most of the summer out west, and most of his time putting up new boulder problems in Rocky Mountain National Park. Dave says about this area, “This place is FIVE STAR!!!! as high quality as Hueco, stone as bullet as Rumney, and a location uncomparable to any other bouldering that isn’t at 12,000 feet! AMAZING-I must emphasize the quality of stone, aesthetics, and good lines. I have never bouldered anywhere like it.” Dave said that the area had not really been developed and felt lucky to stumble upon so many hard projects. Here is list of some of the highlights:
- The Automator, maybe hard V12, maybe harder, took three or four days
- The Centaur, V12 maybe harder, took five days this past spring
- European human being, V12, hard 5 move power problem. Luke Parady and Dave did this problem over three days, and they both think its harder than Diaphanos Sea at Hueco
- Fat Lady, V10+, repeated by Nick Sagar and Theo Merrin
- The Gobot, V10+, unrepeated, 25 feet of power endurance climbing, Ghetto Simulator-like landing
- Optimus Prime, V9/10?, BAD landing, like a ten foot pit
- Deep Puddle Dynamics, V9, high and proud, 100% slopers-very atypical of the Park, you top out three times!
- Gang Bang Arete, V8, easiest of the moderates-but hard V8-classic
Dave said there are about three other really hard projects he wants to do. One, he worked on four days this past spring, and one day so far this fall. Dave says, “It is amazing, the best line, the best holds-rad hard, maybe V14.” Stay tuned for the news on the send.

And here is the next update from Dave, the very next day…

9/14/00 Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Dave Graham completed his project yesterday at Rocky Mountain National Park. Dave has named the problem Nothin’ but Sunshine and rated it V14. We will be getting more details (and hopefully photos) on this big send soon.

9/20/00 Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Dave Graham wrote us to say that he is unsure as to the rating of Nothin’ but Sunshine and would like to officially call it V13 until someone else can confirm the rating… Either way, these problems are way hard, and are testaments to Dave’s strength and vision.

Dean Potter on Tommy’s Arete V7

Kelly McBride of Ft. Collins continues to tear it up! She just made the 6th female ascent of The Kind Traverse V11 at Emerald Lake in RMNP. The Kind Traverse starts on a very obvious jug in middle of the wall and heads out left. Typically traverses are not that great, but the rock is very good on this problem and the movement is outstanding. For a long time this was one of, if not the hardest problem in Colorado. It was put up in the mid 90s by Ian Glas. When the locals took Dave Graham there in 2000 or so he made the first flash ascent. Although tried by many, it hasn’t been flashed by anyone else, as far as I know. The other female ascents are Angie Payne (FFA), Jody Hansen, Cicada Jenerik, Ashley Loyd, and Shannon Forsman.

Congratulations Kelly!

Tommy Caldwell was the first to climb the “Super Kind” which is the full traverse of the boulder. This is probably in the V12 range.

Just a reminder, because it seems like these issues come up every year. I hope everyone is doing their part to keep The Park and Evans nice and clean. It takes 5 seconds to look around and make sure you haven’t forgotten anything (like IPODS) and to pick up any trash you may have left behind. It is not my intention to tell people what to do. It would just pain me to no end to know that we could have done more if the Park were to get closed to bouldering. The attitude that this is “Us against them” does us no good, if George Bush’s foriegn policy weren’t evident enough. I know we all love it, so lets treat it with some care.

Echo Lake

Saturday was a weird and epic day. My friend Brian Capps and I decided to avoid the humidity and the crowds and head up above the treeline. The weather was threatening but we pressed on. Ten dollars gets you up the Mt. Evans road to Summit Lake 12,830ft. From there the trail drops about a 1000ft to one of the highest and most beautiful bouldering areas in America. It took Brian and I about 45 minutes of very steep and slow hiking to make to Area D.

The scenery was outstanding!

The Black Wall and a bunch of unclimbed boulders

There are four big, proud boulders at Area D. The first one is a project dihedral.
A very pretty 18ft line with an obvious starting hold and a flat landing.

Poeject Dihedral at Area D

The second is a gorgeous highball put up by Jeremy Bisher. He had been watching the Never Ending Story and so this classic became The Nothing V8. Several of my friends think that this may be the best problem in Colorado. If you look closely you can see several small chalk spots that connect to a right trending, upward rising seam. This is the victory jug finish. It’s a little difficult to get a perspective of how tall this problem is, but I would guess it’s 25 to 30 ft.

The Nothing V8

The third is called Slander. Cameron Cross did the first ascent. This is one of the most aesthetic problems I have ever seen, and it lies just around the corner from the Nothing. It climbs out the middle of a near 45 degree overhang. I am interested but there are a couple of sharp holds and awkward moves. Cameron originally graded it V8. Clayton Reagan did the second ascent and suggested V11. Brian was psyched and put in a strong effort. I think he will send the next time he goes.

Brian Capps on Slander

Slander

My focus was on a problem put up by Joe Kinder two years ago. Joe’s problem is a V11 sit-start to a V7 established by Ken Kenny in 2002. Ken’s problem was called Equitos and it may have been the first problem established at Mt. Evans. Ken put this problem up around the same time he put up Veritas in RMNP. Joe’s name is so outstandingly vulgar that I will refrain from writing it here. It’s too bad, because this is one of the prettiest problems at Mt. Evans. I quickly figured out the moves and did it in about four goes from the start. A very classic problem. Check out the photos.

Equitos sitdown V11

The amazing Area D

Getting it done.

We hiked down to Area C for a bit, scoped some sick lines and played on some crimpy problems. Brian was psyched to head to Area B, and we bushwacked through some very thick willows to get there. I was pretty tired, but I did have the energy to chalk up an amazing problem I have been psyched about for several years.

Project at Area B… Tyler?

We hiked out in the rain.

Hallets Peak

Today I went up to the Park after work. My after work sessions are short and I typically don’t climb very well. It is nice to get out however, and the Park is so good I just can’t resist. Wednesdays I work until 3pm. It takes me about 20 minutes to drive home and I usually don’t leave Boulder until 3:45pm or so by the time I get my stuff ready. I had to stop mid-drive in Lyons to get some food. This added about 15 minutes to the hour and a half it takes to get from my house to the Bear Lake parking lot. So I started hiking around 5:30pm. I ran part of the way up the trail and made it to Lake Haiyaha around 6pm. It takes another half hour to get to Upper Chaos and another 15 minutes or so to get warmed up. Fortunately, it only took me about 5 minutes to send Ty’s new problem Friday the 13th V10. I had tried it at the end of the day on Sat. and had the beta worked out. It keeps me motivated that even when it is near 100 degrees in Boulder, I can still get out after work and climb a hard problem.

Nick Sherman has snagged the first ascent of “The Wildcat Project” I would guess this would be around V12, although with good conditions it may be easier. It starts with a toe hook in a hueco, and the left hand makes a huge crossover to a good edge. A couple of tension moves lead to tenuous foot moves out right. A huge lockoff follows. Nice job Sherman! I’m sure this will receive some attention and I would be psyched to finish it as well. I pieced together all the moves on Sat. and I may be headed there this weekend.

View from the Green 45

The new Climbing Magazine looks interesting. There is a short write up about Daniel doing the Green 45 and my name is mentioned several times. I don’t think that my failure to do the move on the Green 45 should be newsworthy. I would be willing to bet that the problem will get repeated more than once this summer, especially if the rumour that Dave Graham is coming back later this year is true. Hopefully, with the addition of problems like the Green 45, we will get some international flavor up in the park. It would be great to see people like Fred Nicole or Dai Koyamada have a go at Colorado’s hardest.
There is another article in the magazine about Jim Holloway and his hardest problems. Looks like it may be a worthwhile read.

It seems its been much too hot lately to go to Mt. Evans, so to the Park we go. The incut crimps suit the warm weather much more than the sloping, crystalline granite near Idaho Springs. I will not lie, however, it has been extremely hot and the mosquitos are almost intolerable. This hasn’t stopped people from climbing well. Alot of problems in Upper Chaos have been getting sent, including Skipper Roof Left, Dead Racoon, L. El Jorge, Reternia and Eternia, all V11 or V12 depending on who you talk to.
Several new projects have been chalked, most importantly “The Wildcat”, which is on the same boulder as the Green 45. I have been putting some effort into this the last few days with my friends Ty Landman and Nick Sherman. This project has some great moves and I would imagine it will get done within the week. Nick fell off the very end yesterday with an inspired effort. Seems to be in the V12 or V13 range.

Ty on the “Wildcat Project”

Another project lurking in the talus is the overhang to the left of Riddles in the Park, and I would guess this would be in the V11-13 range. It climbs out a steep belly on pinches and small incuts.

Mr. Landman also put up a short but fun V10 near the Otech wall called Friday the 13th. He flashed the first ascent and most impressively, I think the grade will hold. Here is Nick Sherman doing the 2nd ascent.

Nick Sherman sends Friday the 13th V10

There are easier problems seeing action as well, and the Terrorism Arete, put up by Dave Graham AND Chad Greedy is one of the more popular. The snowy landing certainly provides some comfort. This is one of the coolest lines in the canyon, with sustained and technical climbing the whole way.

Terrorism Arete V7

Simon Moore has added The White Russian V9, which climbs out a cool roof on interesting white rock to an arete. This problem faces Skipper D about 30yds away. It’s great to see all these additions to the Park and no doubt there is more to come.