Tyler Landman has left his mark again, this time climbing new problem in Boulder Canyon. Ty has spent several days on the line which climbs on a boulder near Castle Rock. This is a classic new problem and I am sure many people will be gunning for the second ascent this winter. The name is Midnight Express and the grade is V14. Well done Ty.
Brian and I have arrived in Raymond, NH to check out Pawtuckaway for the first leg of our New England trip. Everything is soaking wet due to the torrential rains the last few days. We have hiked around and seen everything, and there are several problems that clearly standout. Child of the Storm is very cool, reminiscent of No More Greener Grass, and on the same boulder, Sit and Deliver is outsanding as well. The setting for Pawtuckaway is gorgeous and the weather today was sunny and brisk. More updates will soon follow as things dry out.
Also check out the very nice footage of my ascent of Trice V12 now up on www.momentumvm.com It’s in the free videos.
Friday I arrived in KY after 1300 miles in the car and drove straight to the Cove, a powerband with lots of potential for hard problems. Timy Fairfield was there randomly and was very psyched on the idea of all the hard problems that could be done. My main objective was Ghetto Methods, a V10 put up by Dave Hume many years ago. I have a goal to climb a V10 in as many states as possible and this would fulfill my Kentucky requirement. Not to mention, the Red is a beautiful area and a great place to climb and hang out. It was very humid but I managed to get the send after a few tries. Timy was trying a very crimpy roof on the left side of the band. I tried it briefly before it got too dark. He and his girlfriend Brandi cooked a wonderful fish dinner that night, and I slept like a rock.
The next morning Angela met up with me and we were planning on going sport climbing, that is until we realized we didnt have any quickdraws. Back up to the Cove we hiked. I finished Timy’s problem on my first go and then worked another project to near completion that is probably in the V12 range. I am back home for a few days, and then Monday Brian and I leave for New England. Check out a quick video from the far side of the Nada Tunnel.
Just a quick update. I spent the last two days bouldering in Kentucky with Timy Fairfield on some nice powerband boulders. I sent my first V10 in KY and repeated a new one of Timy’s. Video to come soon.
Also, young Daniel Woods has had what has to be one of the best days of all time. He climbed Dreamtime V14, Shadowfax V13, La Soucoup V12 and Roswell V12 as well as Le Pellier V11 and Serre Moi Fort V11/12. The next day he continued his rampage with Schule des Lebens V13 (2nd try), and No Mystery V12. Any doubts that Woods can hang with the best in the world should now be put to rest. Glad to see the Americans climbing well overseas. Nice job Ddub!
Today was the first day I had off from work, the first day of my extended road trip and my last day in Colorado for a while. We went to Red Feather for a great day of bouldering with some of our Ft. Collins friends. Ben Scott lead the way. We all climbed a bunch of great problems and goofed around with some really fun rock jumps. Angela and I both managed the classic Alfoni Roof V9/10. This was put up by Jeremy Bisher a few years back and lies deep in the woods, well off the established hunting pathways. A great way to start things off right. Here is Angela on the first female ascent.
The Alfoni Roof
Today I went to Flagstaff to try Trice, an unrepeated problem put up by Jim Holloway. I have been trying Trice for a few days this winter. There is alot of controversy surrounding all of the unrepeated Holloway problems and this one is no exception. After doing as much research as I could, I was under the impression that Trice started on a right hand undercling (as later confirmed when Andy Mann actually called Jim Holloway from Flagstaff) and a left hand sidepull. The climber would then move up right hand to a sloping pocket, left hand to a bad edge and then to the top. In the first couple days, I did all the moves and got psyched to try and really give it a good effort as the weather got colder. Holloway himself called the problem “gross” and “contrived”, but its value lies in its history. 32 years have gone by since Jim first did the problem. Which brings us to today. I did the hard move once and then fired it from the start my second try today. I think that V12 is an appropriate grade, although I would put it on the harder end of the scale. It could get V13 in Hueco as it felt harder than other problems with that grade in Hueco. Anyways, it’s B2+ now and here is the video of my send.
I can’t thank Chip Phillips, Andy Mann and Angela enough for coming up and supporting me through several dark and freezing days.
Update: Check out www.enlightenedchuffer.blogspot.com and climbingbum.blogspot.com for two other perspectives on the evening. Also of interesting note, Mike Feinberg was there on Monday night and came amazingly close to doing it without the high foot by hitting the left hand edge and using his momentum to swing out to the jug. He felt this was easier than the method Carlo and I used.
The first World Cup in 20 years will be at the Teva Mountain Games 2008 in Vail. The Games are June 4-8. It sounds like Ann-Worley and Mike Moelter of USA Climbing have put in alot of hard work to make this a reality. Their tireless efforts to make this happen have paid off. Nice work guys! There has been some grumbling in the past year or so about the ABS and USA Climbing from some of the less appreciative elite. Maybe the $100,000 cash prize will have them singing a different tune.
Checkout www.rockcomps.com for details on how to qualify and register
Were in Boston this weekend. Here are the results.
Male
1. Paul Robinson
2. Rob DAnastasio
3. Ryan Olson
4. Carlo Traversi
5. Ryan Roden
Female
1. Alex Puccio
2. Sydney McNair
3. Sasha Diguilian
4. Dana Riddle
5. Fransesca Metcalf
Boulder represented very well with 4 of the top 5 in the mens and the Womens Champion. Congrats to Alex Puccio on her contiunued success as well as Paul Robinson and Ryan Olson who stepped up his game. This weekend was very chill for me. I went to the Poudre on Sat. and did on old thing I had tried called Twilight SDS V10/11. Clayton Reagan did the FA in 2004 as I recall. I had tried it one day last spring. We crossed the river and of course I fell in. It got dark quickly and the head lamps and lanterns came out. It took me a while to clean off the top. I reclimbed the crux moves and then sent it second try from the start. We hiked out in the dark shuffling four huge pads across the icy, knee deep river. I have one more week of work and then I am off to the Red River Gorge to finish off on old project and then back home for Thanksgiving. After that I leave with Brian Capps for almost 4 weeks in New England. We will be headed to Pawtuckaway, Rumney, GB, The Hideaway and anywhere else people will show us. Some of the problems I look forward to seeing are Child of the Storm, The Fly, Something From Nothing, Brothers Keeper etc etc.
New update. Boulder local Ty Landman has made quick work of The Swarm V13 or V14 in Bishop. He also finished off Direction V13 and Xavier’s Roof V12/13, a new problem put up by Tony Lamich. Nicely done. Ty is only there for a quick four day weekend.
James Litz has returned with the FA of one of the hardest problems in the US. It is in Castle Rocks in Idaho. I was told about this a week or so ago but was asked to keep it on the down low, but now it looks like footage will be on momentumvm.com very soon. He called it Warpath. Supposedly there are other hard problems in the area. James is a great guy and its nice to see him back in action.
Check out www.momentumvm.com for a full story and a photo of James on the problem.
Simon Moore of Ireland has made very late season ascent of Nuthin But Sunshine, the benchmark for V13 in Colorado, in my opinion. Very nice work! A long dry fall has left the Park in prime conditions. Si is off to Bishop and I imagine he will climb very well.
