V12 Boulders in Colorado

Posted on 28. Aug, 2009 by B3 in News

Here is a list of all the V12 boulders I could come up with in the State. Surely there are more but I just wanted to get this up and get some discussion started. I will gladly fill in any gaps, or make corrections as necessary. I added this list and the graph to the Hardest Boulders page at the top.

So far the stats look like this:
graph There are a total of 74 problems V12 or harder in the state, with more to come I am sure. Enjoy.

The List:
Trice, Flagstaff Mtn, 1975 Jim Holloway

Meathook, Horsetooth, 1976 Jim Holloway (unconfirmed but certainly hard)

Slapshot, Flatirons, 1977 Jim Holloway (broken)

European Human Being, RMNP Lower Chaos 2000 Dave Graham
The Centuar, RMNP Lower Chaos 2000 Dave Graham
Freshly Squeezed Lower Chaos 2000 Dave Graham

Turn the Frown Upside Down, Gross Reservoir, 2001 Tommy Caldwell (private property although not when TC did the FA)
Leviathan Style, Upper Chaos, 2001 David Graham

Stranger in a Strange Land, RMNP Hallet 2003 Dave Graham

Clear Blue Skies, Mt. Evans, 2004 Harry Robertson
Mental Mastubation, Mt. Evans, 2004 Harry Robertson
No More Greener Grasses, Mt. Evans, 2004 Luke Parady

Suspension of Disbelief Stand, Eldorado Canyon, 2005 David Graham
Stanley Kubrick Sit, Clear Creek Canyon, 2005 Joel Gilmore

Cam’s Pinch, Red Feather Lakes, 2006 Cam Cross
Dark Waters, Clear Creek Canyon, 2006 Daniel Woods
Riddles in the Park, Upper Chaos, 2006 Paul Robinson
Oz, Lower Chaos, 2006 Daniel Woods (broken)
Secret Splendour, Lower Chaos, 2006 Ty Landman
The Element of Surprise, RMNP Lower Chaos 2006 Ty Landman
Chrome, Mt. Evans, Area A, 2006 Seth Allred
Wild and Wolly, Mt. Evans, Area C, 2006 Johnny G
Phallus, RMNP Lower Chaos 2006 Scotty French
Ground Control, Mt. Evans Area A 2006 Chris Schulte
The Big Picture, Penitente, 2006 Daniel Woods (broken)

Child Stars, Mt. Evans Area A 2007 Chris Schulte
The Lochness Monster, Upper Chaos, 2007 Daniel Woods
Wildcat, Upper Chaos, 2007 Nick Sherman
The Power of Ten, RMNP Stinkbug 2007 Ty Landman
Low Left Veritas, RMNP Veritas 2007 Dave Graham
Both Sides of the Spectrum, Moraine Park, 2007 Harry Robertson
Gatecrasher, Mt. Evans Area B, 2007 Chris Schulte
Burnout, Gross Reservoir, 2007, Ryan Olson
Formula 500, Clear Creek Canyon, 2007 Paul Robinson
Fish out of Water, Allenspark, 2007 Kevin Jorgeson
Mind Matters, Guanella Pass, 2007 Kevin Jorgeson
Trainspotting, Boulder Canyon, 2007 Ty Landman

Freak Accident, Boulder Canyon, 2008 Ty Landman
William Shatner, Newlin Creek, 2008 Chuck Fryberger
Bambi, Millenium, 2008 Thomas Betterton
Corona, Red Feather Lakes, 2008 Andre Difelice
Critical Mass, Poudre Canyon, 2008 Andre Difelice
Black Swan, Poudre Canyon, 2008 Blake Rutherford
Paths of Glory, Clear Creek Canyon 2008 Carlo Traversi
Cloudwalker Low Start, Poudre Canyon, 2008, Blake Rutherford
Conquest, RMNP Emerald Lake, 2008 Andre Difelice
Storm Shadow, RMNP Emerald Lake 2008 Chris Schulte
Pterodactyle, Upper Chaos 2008 Andre Difelice
The Hobbit SDS, Upper Chaos, 2008 Jamie Emerson
Blood Money, Upper Chaos, 2008 Daniel Woods
Ganesh, Mt. Evans Area B, 2008 Chris Schulte
The Basilisk, Mt. Evans Area B, 2008 Chris Schulte
Epoch, Flagstaff Mtn, 2008, Carlo Tarversi

The Hiest, Eldorado Canyon, 2009 Kevin Jorgeson
The Big Bang, Red Feather Lakes, 2009 Jamie Emerson
The Vampire, Red Feather Lakes, 2009 Jamie Emerson
Mastadon, Red Feather Lakes, 2009 Jamie Emerson

24 Responses to “V12 Boulders in Colorado”

hayden

28. Aug, 2009

dave marquess proposed v12 for daddy fat sacks at ute pass, although i considered it to maybe warrant a slash grade of 11/12 when i repeated it. put it on if you wish
Markku Laine

28. Aug, 2009

Is Jade (V15) included to the list of yours? Can’t find it… Would be nice if you could add the grade after the name and/or sort the problems by grade. Good job with the list!
paul enis

28. Aug, 2009

cairo. that’s in egypt right?
B3

28. Aug, 2009

@Markku Laine Jade is in the list of “Hardest Boulders” at the top of the page.
B3

28. Aug, 2009

@hayden I knew of Daddy Fat Sacks, and had tried it myself. I fell off the end in a few tries, before splitting my tip really badly. thought it might be easier and I thought I had remembered you suggesting that it could be easier. Because there seemed to be some doubt, I left it off the list.
peter b

28. Aug, 2009

The problem called Bambi may not be V12

http://mountainproject.com/v/colorado/morrisonevergreen/matthewswinters_park/106035336

This is just hearsay
yosh

28. Aug, 2009

The thesis of this list: Jim Holloway is the man!
B3

28. Aug, 2009

I think that Thomas had it as V12 on card before he took it down, and Jon Cardwell has it as V12 on his card.
Lee

28. Aug, 2009

How about a little controversy… These numbers look mighty close to the number of climbers that can climb at that corresponding grade in Colorado. How similar are they?

Note: Bambi is probably v12.
B3

28. Aug, 2009

Lee, I think you are probably right, but I don’t think I have time to figure that out. Not until someone starts paying me to do this. What I do find interesting is that for climbers who spend alot of time climbing outside there is a definite pyramid. Yourself, Daniel, Paul, myself, Olson etc That same pyramid exists here, in the problems that have been climbed. I really know nothing of statistics but there is a pattern and it is interesting.
I tried Bambi one day and thought the same. I think it is solid at 12. @Peter the mountainproject link you provided doesn’t seem well informed.
CT

29. Aug, 2009

paths of glory, clear creek canyon
B3

29. Aug, 2009

thanks Carlo!
Blake

29. Aug, 2009

4 dollar, arthurs, sleight of hand, camp dick?
B3

29. Aug, 2009

Blake, I had tried 4 Dollar Arete 4 years ago and almost did it, and thought it was in the V11 range, and I think Shawn Drolet did it quickly and told me the same. But it is rarely repeated so it’s hard to say. I’d like to try it this fall.
Sleight of Hand of course was V10 for a while, but I wasn’t sure it had been climbed since the right hand gaston broke off. If it has been and the suggestion is V12 I would happily add it to the list. Thanks for the input!
BA

01. Sep, 2009

Free Range seems to be considered by some to be v12 these days…
Cam

07. Sep, 2009

Cam’s Pinch? What’s that? I’ve never climbed V12….Must be something some other Red Feather Troll put up.
B3

08. Sep, 2009

Ben told me you called it V12! The visor thing with the hard match on the pinch below the route wall. Do you at least have a proper name for it?
News & Notes – 08/28/2009 | Climbing Narcissist

15. Sep, 2009

[...] Jamie Emerson has put together a cool list of Colorado’s hardest boulders (V13 & up) as well as a list of all the V12s in the State. [...]
sendaustin

20. Sep, 2009

Uh, aren’t they called “problems”? jus saying.
B3

20. Sep, 2009

Another word people in Colorado use is boulders.
Cam

21. Sep, 2009

I never rated it…but given the fact that I can’t get my ass off the ground on all the routes on your list, I don’t think it qualifies. The low start is still a project and would be hard for sure. You should check it out and tell me what you think.

It’s called The Supervisor.
chuffer

06. Jan, 2010

Over Yourself … Flagstaff Mountain … I am aware that Benningfield’s and other guidebooks have historically pegged this rig at V10 due to the difficulty of grading traverses.

After a LONG battle over a few seasons, Will Lemaire repeated Skip Guerin’s early 1990′s traverse problem Over Yourself in 2005. He said SOLID V12. FWIW, he subsequently established Window Shopper on Flag, thought it was V12 too but called it V10/11 anyway … and that problem has gone unrepeated as far as I know.

There are a lot of rules on Over Yourself, it is contrived and it is a traverse worthy one MAYBE one star on your scale but there is no denying that it qualifies as one of Colorado’s hardest, with 3 ascents in two decades.
chuffer

10. Jan, 2010

Blake repeated 4 Dollar Arete, suggested V11 and commented maybe V10.
Nietzsche

04. Dec, 2011

Update?