My friend Cooper Roberts at Big Up Productions has been hard at work at their newest film, which premiers at 8pm on June 4th at the Boulder Theatre. Beth Rodden, Tommy Caldwell, Ty Landman, Daniel Woods and many others will be there. I am sure it will be a great party, and if I was in Boulder I would definitely be there.
Saturday, Justin Jaeger snapped some great photos of The Power of Ten V12. Check them out.
Justin has been climbing very well lately, sending Silverback V10, Stinkbug V10 and the Kind Traverse V11 in the last few weeks. He also climbed just about every variation on the Stinkbug Boulder. Justin’s infectious motivation and dedication to bouldering, while holding down a full time job, is admirable. Well done.
Yesterday I went up to Stinkbug and finished off The Power of Ten V12. The wind was blowing hard and our session was almost ended by an abrupt snowstorm. Justin Jaeger crushed Stinkbug. This is the first hard problem I have climbed since taking almost three weeks off.
In a week I leave for the World Cup in Vail. I am one of three American setters and I am so psyched to be such an integral part of one of the biggest climbing events in a long time.
Today after work my friend Vitaly and I drove up to Stinkbug a classic V10 for a nice evening session. It was put up by Tommy Caldwell and was originally named Lonestar. I didn’t find this out for several years and I still refer to it as Stinkbug. I had done this problem in the fall of 2003, and as I recall hadn’t been back since. I was interested in The Power of Ten V13. This problem was put up by Ty Landman last season and adds two moves to a problem I put up the same day I did Stinkbug called Finite Endeavors. The name comes from Fredriech Nieztsche who writes to the effect that we may find infinite pleasure in our finite endeavors, and I felt that was appropriate. I haven’t climbed much at all in the last three weeks and it was great to get out with an old friend. I did the moves on Ty’s problem quickly and would love to go back and finish that one off.
Vitaly climbed well on Stinkbug and it was one of the first times he has climbed outside.
I also did a variation that starts on Stinkbug and after the first three moves heads left. I thought this was probably in the V10 range and I did it quickly. I also tried a problem called Stinkbug Extra, which starts on The Power of Ten and heads left into Stinkbug. This was a second ascent and I did it on my fourth try. After taking three weeks off, I’m not sure if I can climb a V12 so quickly, so my suggestion is V11.
Anyone that has followed this blog for any length of time has probably noticed the bright and bold crashpads underneath our feet. Josh Helke has long supported our efforts and his crashpads are second to none. Check out this video and Josh and his awesome pads.
www.organicclimbing.com
In the year 1999, I had been climbing for about a year and a half. I had just finished my 5th year of school at Michigan State and I drove out to Colorado to pick up my brother from CU. I was looking to check out some of the good bouldering Colorado had to offer at places like Flagstaff, Carter Lake, and Morrison. It was Horsetooth Reservoir, however, that was at the top of my list. My knowledge of Horsetooth had come from Stone Crusade, which I had read a thousand times, pouring over each page, desperate to soak up ever bit of bouldering information I could find.
I had my sights set on the Talent Scout Roof, a thin and challenging V6. I was climbing in the La Sportiva Cliff, which was produced as a rental shoe for climbing gyms. My first day there it was wet and my shoes got dirty. I remember thinking this was unfortunate because when I stepped onto the rock, the footholds would get smeared with mud. I let the dirt sit there overnight, failing to realize that other people may want to climb on clean problems.
I came back the next day to try my project and who should stroll up but Steve Mammen. Introductions were made but they were unnecessary. I recognized him instantly from Sherman’s book. “Just getting both feet on the rock is a triumph” the caption in the book states, and there is Mammen, a full page photo, fingertips underclinging nothing, both feet pasted on the rock. I knew the picture well.
“Looks like someone got some dirt on the holds” he said and I embarrassingly said nothing. He quietly cleaned up the holds. Then he pulled on with a grace and fluidity I had never seen before and absolutely walked Power Glide, the harder version of the Talent Scout Roof. No grunts, no thrutching, just perfect control. I was shocked and humbled. He cooled off by sending my project with similar ease. I saw something that was very special that day, a master in control. As an up and coming climber from Michigan few things could have been more inspiring. There is a new interview on www.frontrangebouldering.com of Steve Mammen and I recommend checking it out.
Here is some video from our road trip of Angie climbing the classic Bed Wetters V9, at Little Rock City. Enjoy.
Poudre Canyon
After 6 months of nonstop bouldering, I have taken the last few weeks to rest. It really feels great and the timing couldn’t be better as the alpine areas continue to get more and more snow. I have gone out a few days to snap some pictures and enjoy the company of friends. Here are some nice shots of two classic Poudre Canyon problems that don’t see nearly enough attention.
Justin Jaeger
Small Axe V8
Clayton Reagan FA
Just down the hills from Small Axe is an outstanding unrepeated Ben Scott FA called The Eye of Sumara. It climbs a very nice nice arete over a workable landing on awesome rock. One of the best problems in the Poudre Canyon and strangely neglected, in my opinion.
The Eye of Sumara V10?
Cameron Cross getting close on the unrepeated Ben Scott testpiece.
More news from Magicwood, as it has now come into season. Just a few weeks before Daniel Woods is to leave Europe, he finished off his project in the Darkness roof at Magicwood. He called the new problem In Search of Time Lost and has graded it 8C. The Darkness roof is an extremely steep over hang, very similar to the infamous CATS roof, where Daniel has spent much time training. It is littered with very small, but positive incut crimps. Previous to Daniels ascent, Dave had put up The Left Hand of Darkness, an 8A that starts on a jug and heads straight out the roof. In Search of Time Lost powers out the left side of this massive overhang. Nice Job Daniel!!
Magic Wood
Barbara Zangerl has made the first female ascent of Pura Vida, given 8B, in Magic Wood, Switzerland. Pura Vida is a classic problem and a quick search on 8a.nu shows that more climbers than not have registered it as 8B including Dave Graham, Bernd Zangerl and Gareth Perry. Others, like Ty Landman and Andreas Barth suggest 8A+. Either way, an impressive ascent of an amazing problem and perhaps the hardest boulder problem climbed by a female.
