
In 2003 nothing at Mt. Evans more difficult than V9 had been climbed. While there were many obvious and hard projects there, one stood head and shoulders above the rest. Ben Scott and I had always referred to it as “The Lime Wall Project”. This was a stunning and pure line of difficult climbing up a cresting wave of rock on the Dali Boulder. Ben and I had both put many days into it and it was well above our ability. Enter James Litz, who was absolutely unstoppable that summer and had systematically climbed every hard problem in Colorado. James struggled to do the moves on the lower section and told us he thought it was V15. This made me feel much better as his suggestion seemed appropriate to my rate of failure.
The next year, local strong man Luke Parady stepped up to the plate and quickly made the first ascent of this incredible project calling it No More Greener Grasses.
In my mind this is the most coveted tick at Mt. Evans. The quality of the rock, the purity of the line, the difficulty of the movement all add up to one of the finest V12s in America.

No More Greener Grasses
I have tried the problem more days than I care to count, often getting shut down on the brutal shoulder move at the beginning. Each year feeling more motivated than the last and each year coming away humbled. I couldn’t design a problem to fit me less than this one. I made up my mind that after 5 years of failing it was time to stop making excuses and time to bring myself up to the immense challenges this problem presented me with. I patiently gained fitness this fall climbing in the Park and waiting for the temperatures to cool off. I sent Clear Blue Skies, its easier counterpart and felt ready for a full on assault.

Last Saturday I fell off the last move and patiently waited all week in hopes of good weather. Most of the alpine regulars have left the mountains as the fall fades to winter. A snowstorm threatened on Tuesday but local legend Christian Griffith ran up and came back with a good report. From the moment we left Boulder I felt confident and supremely motivated. Saturday, my good friends Jason Pinto and Brian Capps joined me to the Dali Boulder. Conditions were absolutely perfect. We arrived to almost no snow, 45 degrees, breezy and partly cloudy conditions. It took me a bit to warm up my fingers but after taking a long rest I finally sent the boulder. Making the final commiting jump to the lip felt stunning from the start.

A perfect feeling for a perfect problem.
I know this isn’t the hardest or most impressive bit of news to come out of Colorado, however, this is a personal epic over with and I can’t begin to express how happy I am to finish off this classic and amazing problem. I hiked out to a glowing and incredible Colorado sunset, eveything in its right place.

W3rd