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Nalle Hukkataival has made the second ascent of the Island V15 in Fontainebleau. Dave Graham did the first ascent this spring while we were in France. This is a stunning boulder problem, one of the best we saw in Font. Both of Dave’s other testpieces, From the Dirt Grows the Flowers, in Chironico and The Story of Two World’s in Cresciano have remained unrepeated for three years.

Also, Mark Hobson has repeated Skyler Weekes dyno Zion in Clear Creek Canyon, in three tries. This was suggested by www.8a.nu to be a possible V16. Cookie most definitely does not train with the Denver Nuggets. I just got word that Brian Solano has footage from the send and will be posting it on MVM very soon!

Sunday was a brilliant fall day and I went to the Poudre with my good friend Brian Camp. I wanted to try to climb Canopener, which has broken several times recently. Canopener was the first V10 I ever climbed and it has a special place in my heart. The starting jug had broken off a few months back (that hold currently resides on Kelly McBride’s fireplace) I believe some Japanese climbers reclimbed it and possibly Daniel Woods as well, but a few weeks ago the hold broke again. It took a few tries to figure out a good method for the bottom, and Brian found the solution. His beta opened the door and I climbed it soon afterword, starting matched on the lowest holds. The new climb is much harder than the original version, but I am not sure how much harder. It’s at least V11 in its current state, although some suggested V12. More repeats will confirm one way or the other.

The rest of the day was just pure fun. I climbed a few V9s I hadn’t done before and just enjoyed the company of good friends. It was a wonderful Sunday session.

Last year the first stop on our road trip lead us to a new area called Dayton, near Chattanooga, TN. After a quick tour from the locals I decided to hike a little further and I found an absolutely amazing project. I spent an afternoon rappelling and cleaning it, but we had to leave a few days later and I never got a chance to climb on it. I met so many great people in the South and I was hoping that one of them would get motivated and head out there and try it. Well I just got word that local strong kid Jimmy Webb has done the first ascent of Western Gold V11. Here are some pics I took last year. Well done! I think this is one of the first of many great problems to be done at the area.

Western Gold V11 FA Jimmy Webb

more info at www.jimmywebb.blogspot.com

Video courtesy of Jason Pinto by double clicking the video you can go to Youtube.com where you can choose to watch a higher quality version of what is here.

Saturday I finished off No More Greener Grasses at Mt. Evans! So psyched! More on this great day below.

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

Here is a quick video of Cumulus in Vedauwoo, WY.

I was sore this morning and I went to Vedauwoo by myself. It was a long and quiet drive. To be honest I miss having the old crew around and somehow lonely Wyoming seemed to be an appropriate choice today.
My sights were set on Cumulus, a problem put up a while back by local Davin Bagdonas. Davin suggested this to be the hardest problem in Vedauwoo. To my knowledge it was unrepeated. I had not seen it before today and was looking forward to trying something new. I hiked in about 20 minutes with one pad and soon realized I would need more. The problem climbs a polished 15ft face on sharp rock with a flat landing.

Cumulus

After sorting out the lower moves, I hiked back to the car, grabbed two more pads, and returned with new motivation.

One of the hardest moves revolves around a terrible left hand crimp. It was threatening to split my tip from the outset. After several hours, the skin on all of my fingers was burning. I was climbing less and resting more. The sun lowered in the sky, and the wind picked up. On what would be my final attempt, I broke through, commited to the final dynamic move to the lip and rolled over the barnacle-like top out. Blood dripped out of the end of my finger. Everything was silent and I was alone. It was a nice moment for me. I quickly packed up my things, and hiked all three pads back down the hill.
Sometimes bouldering is very social, and the company of good friends and laughter is priceless. It’s something I look forward to each time I go with a group.
Today, while equally rewarding, was something different.

Alex Puccio has made the first female ascent of Trice V12 on Flagstaff Mountain. This comes after climbing Clear Blue Skies V12 at Mt. Evans on Thursday. This is certainly one of the most impressive weeks any female boulderer has ever had. Well Done!

Here is a quick video of Formula 50 in Clear Creek Canyon. It is essentially a right variation to Dark Waters. Luke Parady, I believe, put up the first ascent and graded it V10. Although it is quite low, fun moves and good rock make it worthwhile.

Formula 50

In case you haven’t heard there is a new gym coming to Boulder and it looks stunning. I have had a chance to look over some of the drawings with my good friends Mike and Anne-Worley Moelter, and it’s very exciting to get a first hand look at what is soon to be. Check out their website for the inside scoop and updates on what looks to be a really amazing new facility.

http://www.movementboulder.com/blog/