New 8C in RMNP Paint it Black

Posted on 01. Mar, 2012 by B3 in RMNP

Daniel Woods has made the FA of new potential 8C in RMNP. Very well done! The problem climbs a gorgeous and singular line out a massive roof that sits hidden just off the Bear Lake Road on exceptional swirling granite. The problem begins with difficult tension climbing that culminates in a very hard crux move. This is an outstanding addition to the long list of amazing hard problems in RMNP. Daniel’s commitment to putting up new problems is again to be commended. His contribution to Colorado bouldering represents an outstanding achievement.

The boulder is labeled on a map on page 88 of the Bouldering RMNP and Mt. Evans guide as the Sprague Lake Boulder . Park at the picnic area near there, hike down to Glacier Creek and follow a path downstream about 100 yds to a large boulder set on the south side of the creek.

Daniel Woods on his first day trying this amazing new line.

Here is a link to some more history about the line.

37 Responses to “New 8C in RMNP Paint it Black”

koala tusk

01. Mar, 2012

whats an 8C
Adam M

01. Mar, 2012

Sick man. Really great work! What a gorgeous line. You really are that strong you know, it’s crazy how good you are at rock climbing.

@Koala: hard as balls. All numbers and letters aside. It takes years of experience and psych to pull that roof, so let the other people start yelling about whether they believe the “grade” to be true.
Jesus

01. Mar, 2012

V15
alex

01. Mar, 2012

8C? Why not V15? Last I checked Colorado was in America.
JamesO

01. Mar, 2012

Typical elite liberal media trying to turn America into Europe.
cardboard dog

02. Mar, 2012

thank god someone finally said something about the rediculously pretentious Euro grading.

That line looks sick. No matta how you grade them shits. its still SICK.
Jon

02. Mar, 2012

and again a great example why you’re still not using the metric system…..
Michael Rathke

02. Mar, 2012

Is a troll the devil?

No, the devil is the devil
Adrian S.

02. Mar, 2012

Yeah alex, stupid French grades, maybe we should call them Freedom grades, so we can still use the 8C grade for those who are intelligent enough to remember two grade scales….
Cady

02. Mar, 2012

Does it really matter whether it’s shown as 8C or V15? I think not, and great job by Daniel!!!
pootytaang

03. Mar, 2012

A minor point here, but “difficult tension climbing” culminating in a “very hard crux move” could describe about a million boulder problems.
pootytaang

03. Mar, 2012

An awesome accomplishment by Mr. Woods nonetheless.
DanNeuf

03. Mar, 2012

Constantly seeing these amazing problems getting sent makes me yearn for a different place to live. Not a lot of rock to climb in winter (or summer!) around Winnipeg… But congrats to Daniel, this roof looks amazing.

On a different note, (and without alex’s ” ‘Merica!1! F#*k Yeah!” attitude), what’s the reason for using the Font grading system rather than the V scale? I’ve noticed a lot of Font grades getting mentioned by the likes of Dave Graham and DWoods. (Dave seems to use Font almost exclusively, from the videos and articles I seem to remember)

Not that I care which system gets used at all, as a climb is exactly as hard as it is, regardless of the # we assign to it. Just something I’ve been wondering…
cardboard dog

03. Mar, 2012

DanNeuf, it’s this kind of Progressive rationale that is going to really move this sport forward. Really, what does it matter what # we assign to a climb? wether it’s V15, or the ostentatious 8c, or W15 or 7b E10, or G6 A4, it’s all the same thing. It all boils down to one thing .. that Daniel Woods deserves to have his boots licked CLEAN by the likes of climbers like you and me.

I would carry his pad to Upper Choas. I would spot him on his proj. I would hold his purse while he shopped .. all over his tits.
Adam M

03. Mar, 2012

“difficult Tension climbing” and a “very hard crux move” only describes a few boulder problems when spoken by a guy like Daniel.

NEWS: Daniel Woods sends new hard boulder problem in RMNP. Go up and check out this new line that has been opened and see if you can do some moves on it!

Goodness gracious…
Medic

03. Mar, 2012

I dunno, t I always thought it sat somewhere between Godan and Rokudan, 8c sounds a little sharp and inhhuman to me.

NINJAGRDZ4LYF
Medic

03. Mar, 2012

AKA Climb with honor or die
brian

04. Mar, 2012

Now that Emerson is studying physics, I can say that the Font and V systems are isomorphic at the upper end. Still, seems a shame to leave behind the history of our Verm grades. They’re sticking with E grades in the U,K after all, and those are completely ridiculous.
kp

05. Mar, 2012

What the hell is “swirled granite”? The rating system might not matter but making up a rock is dumb. It looks like gneiss to me.
Michael Rathke

05. Mar, 2012

The first ascentionist said 8C and thats why the title says what it says

oh i am so smart, Jamie what do I win this time?
'Merica

05. Mar, 2012

Euro grading is for frenchy queers
keu

05. Mar, 2012

Good God people, is there nowhere else some of you can go to spray your pointless commentary? Don’t you have a roadside choss heap nearby where you can argue the slash grade of a 5.13 that you probably can’t climb in the first place? And come on, “swirled” is an “adjective.” Look it up. Go back to grade school. Oh wait, you never left.
Michael Rathke

06. Mar, 2012

We all deserve a break, how can we possibly understand earthly things when we dont understand heavenly things?

Prophecy comes from Jesus, like the time I told Jamie he was going to flash a climb that Lamiche said is 8b
mike h

06. Mar, 2012

Jamie- as others have asked, why the move to font? It seems that, as a very recent guidebook author for this exact area, you reinforced the standard that all problems in RMNP are given V-grades.

What’s the purpose of changing scales in these articles? It seems clear from the comments that it does not help your audience understand whats going on…
B3

06. Mar, 2012

I didn’t move to font grades, Daniel did. In his Facebook status update he recounts “Last year I tried the boulder for 4 days and was unable to do the two foot moves and one of the upper hand movements. My first day back on the project this year, I completed these moves relatively fast. I then did the problem from one move in to basically the top, but was denied of the topout due to snow. Today, I returned back and shoveled off just enough snow to crawl onto the top and descend. The conditions were 25 degrees F with wind. After a couple of failed attempts, I gathered myself and executed the moves perfectly. For the topout, I had to grab some wet and icy holds, but soon found myself standing on top of the boulder on a snow bank. The feeling was amazing and i was so psyched to complete such a beautiful roof. I named the climb Paint it Black and am proposing lower end 8C.”
cardboard_dog

06. Mar, 2012

so are you saying that you’re NOT part of the elite, liberal media?? I don’t believe it.
B3

07. Mar, 2012

Is it just me, or are the comments on this site getting more and more tangential (to be kind)? I don’t understand what half of you are talking about most of the time.
Nonsequitur

07. Mar, 2012

I like marshmallows.

8C(V15) – there, fixed it for ya.

Don’t start using your hoity toity physics and geometry terms on us, Mr Poopypants. None of US understand what a tangent is!
Adam M

07. Mar, 2012

HAHAHA! Way to bring it back Jamie and everyone else. Now i’m laughing. We CAN have a good time here ya know.

v15 8c is so damn hard. Can’t wait to be able to climb with Daniel again. It’s awesome to pull with guys that strong (Like PRob) even if i’m not getting any of the moves. Motivation!

If only I didn’t have a career, I’d be stronger than Daniel…
Michael Rathke

07. Mar, 2012

Now hear this

New climb @ GL called Dont Cast Pearls to the Swine

I’m rating it e11

Starts on a sick sloper pinch and if you can squeeze it hard enough it goes up to this pretty good hold..Thats it
Justin

08. Mar, 2012

I personally would like to hear what people think of the difference between V-grades (like verms original grades) and font grades. I could swear that the fact that the font system was envisioned as more finely cut screws up the conversions (for example, lets say a five unit incrase on the font scale leads to a three unit increase on the v-scale) and subsequent conversions as if it were a one-to-one correspondence have muudied the waters, and no one mentions it. A good example of this is Jamie using V-grades in place of the font grades in his RMNP guide.

Also, mad props to Daniel on this and his climbing in general. I just saw how many of each grade this fellow has completed and GOOD GOD! Does no problem escape him? He is a true master of his craft.
Sequitur

09. Mar, 2012

Well, most people seem to agree consistently that apart from the lower grades in the Font scale, where apparently they missed a bunch of numbers just like most grading scales, 7B+ is the only other problematic grade. V8-9? But why not a V9-10? V10-11?

In fact, v14-15-16 should be 8C+. Yes, that is a triple slash grade.

Did anyone ever wonder how Dave Graham could send 5.14 in a year but still can’t send V16?
… Nuff said.
Adam M

10. Mar, 2012

Because 5.14 and v16 are two completely different things. Like…completely different. 5.14′s at Rumney are also totally different from 5.14′s in Rifle. It’s like, “how come you could drive a Porche 911, but had trouble with that Big Rig 18 wheeler?”

Grades are guidelines. One number difference is nothing. There is NO difference between a v5 and v6, v6 and v7, v8 and v9, etc.

But there IS a difference between a v6 and a v8, a v7 and v9, v8 and v10, etc.

Like 5.10 slab (trad) vs. 5.10 overhanging sport. Grades just help you know what you’re getting into so you don’t get into trouble. There purpose is not to make us bicker over what the “real” grade is, v14/v15. IMO.

this goes for a V system or a Font system. It’s the same idea.
Anotherfrenchword

11. Mar, 2012

I didnt really need an explanation Adam, it was a reetorickal question. The basis for the question was how can someone advance in climbing skill so quickly but never send the hardest lines. The answer is that V16 doesnt really exist and Dave can climb V15 so he does send the hardest lines!

The fact that font grades cleave to all the high end V grades bar one suggests that font climbers think there is a difference between one number grade i.e. V10 and V11. After 7B+, it is one V grade per letter/number of the font scale. As for the ‘real’ grade, I find it best to use a binary system. I sent it/I didn’t send it.
Adam M

12. Mar, 2012

With ya. I’m down with that binary system too.
cardboard_dog

16. Mar, 2012

I’m down with sending all yo’ projex bishes.
simon

20. Apr, 2012

oh my god, why is it so hard for you guys to understand why people like DG or DW tend to use the Font scale instead of the V-scale?!
It is logical, it makes sense. The world’s first V11/8a is in Font (c’etait demain) the first V13 in switzerland (danse de balrog) and dreamtime, the first v14/15 as well.
all those benchmark-problems have been graded on the Font-scale, Europe is the place where DG and others experienced how hard an 8a, b or c is. get it?!

and yes, daniel woods is soo cool and smart and sexy and he is such a fabolous rockclimber and i would love to meet him one day and take a picture with him!!!!!!
oh come on guys