Morrison bouldering…

Gina on Helicopter v6

today i bouldered some rocks in Morrison Colorado… so did Gina…

 

5.10 onsight free solo …. since v10 apparently was out of the question.

snow day

 

its a snow day so here are some cool old shots from nice days in eldo

Rincon 5.11a (dan gambino photo)

 

Rosie's Crucifixion 5.9 (Matus Sabolic)

Your Mother 5.12D (matt lloyd)

 

 

Yellow spur 5.10d (Natalie Marsh)

 

 

“The Web” 5.13b/c  (Gabe Craviero)

 

“The monument” 5.13a (Matt Lloyd)

 

The dihedral crux on “Vertigo” 5.11a (Lisa A. )

The 1 hour solo circuit of wind tower

This is our friend "the wind tower"... not the steepest nor the tallest, this rock offers very little to a climber who has passed out of gumby hood.... with that said , if you are willing to un-rope and for go the limitations of gear you can have a blast making mega link ups on this piece of Eldo magic... here is my link up.

This is a picture to get your bearings.

The 5.6 10 pitch linkup

(each pitch is worth a point)

start by climbing "the bomb" 5.4 and take it all the way to the true summit of the wind tower ( 3 points)

descend via down climbing where the rap anchors are located on the north west side of the feature

on your way down the trail stop at "wind ridge" 5.6 or 5.8 depending on how you go. Climb this route all the way to the top making sure to take delight in climbing the weird roof at the top of the second pitch. ( 3 points)

Down climb from the top as you would go up the bomb but after reaching the rap anchors at the top of the second pitch for the bomb descend "recon" 5.6 (2 points)

once at the bottom walk slightly up hill and climb "calypso" 5.6 (2 points)

down climb "boulder direct" 5.5 ( 1 point)

bouldering in Eldo

This is Adam, he likes crimps... this boulder problem is called "the grinch" and it is really hard v8/9 and dead vert on mega small crimpers. Get some...
This is Midnight Frightning im not sure how hard it is but i think it's V11...a pretty sick line...

Silver Raven and night endeavors on the Bastille

On Thursday I went up with Eldorado regular Scott Bennett and the newly transplanted Floridian Johanna Twiford. We walk our ass's all the way up to the top of the West Ridge and warmed up on "Darkness 'Til Dawn" 5.10a just above the green spur. If you have never climbed this route it a total master piece of Eldo rock climbing for 3 reasons:

1. it's long 2. it's sustained 3. it has amazing movement

After that i followed Scott to "Silver Raven" 5.11D and in no less than ten minutes, i found myself on the brink of tears and yelling like a stabbing victim, wondering why i had yet again listened to Scott. After my hour long epic up the route ( which i was only barely able to redpoint) i found out why he liked the route so much. It's scary enough to have your total concentration and it's hard, both technically and physically.

On our way down we decided, half jokingly, that we should take our new friend Jo up the Bastille... at night... with out proper headlamps... nearly solo..... and in tennis shoes..... lets just say we have made better decisions and Jo was slightly less than pleased sitting in the dark 200 feet up her "on sight" of the Eldo Mega classic. Upon reaching the top we decided that the appropriate action was to start drinking immediately.

back to eldo

Its been a pretty hefty brake this summer but Eldo just isn't the place to climbing during the hot summer months. My partner in crime Scott has returned from a very successful summer in the Valley and so we headed out to eldo on Saturday for good day of climbing. I found myself feeling quite out of the game though, climbing slowly and fumbling with gear like a gumby. Still we were able to climb some very cool pitches. We climbed Interceptor to XM to Outer space to Saturnalia and then Neon lights for the complete Bastille Day. I forgot my camera so no pic's today but i will go back and get some shots soon.

Interceptor 5.11b R - this route is amazing and quite hard with a difficult slab crux on some smaller gear. I'm not sure it deserves the "R" as your feet are at some gear while you pull the crux but it's still enough to get the heart beat up. If you yank that piece your taking a 30 footer, which in some sick way i hoped would happen.

XM 5.10c R - ok so this one deserves the "R" if you fall at the crux your only gear is two terrible looking pins. I have climbed the right variation before but stayed clear of this due to it's relatively daunting fall potential. This climb is short and scary but a full value eldo classic. If your feeling tough at the grade i totally recommend this route... just remember this beta.... smear, crimp , huck....aaahhhh we finished XM to Outer space which i have climbed about a million times and always gets me thinking.

Saturnalia 5.11b (pg13) - how did i miss this route? i always thought that Outer space was exposed...hah this thing is sweet and exciting and everything i want out of a 5.11 on the Bastille. cruxy, exciting but not dangerous, and ooh so exposed.

Neon lights 5.11a R - just to the right of "your mother 5.12d" sits this roof crack. it's hard for the grade but actually very safe.... does not deserve the "R" short and sweet. After climbing this i realised that it was probably my first time on the true top of the Bastille.

Wishbone 5.11 b/c (pg13) - first off no bolted route can be "pg 13" yeah it's run out and scary but every fall is totally safe. This route was cryptic and technical and hard. felt like a 5.12a onsight to me. and i didn't onsight. this route is hard to find sitting at the base of the west ridge.

back in the USA and back in Eldo

I just got back... here is a picture from my recent solo of Sunset strip 5.11 in eldorado. I have climbed the route a handful of times this summer and thought it would be a fun solo due to it's length and angle. I have written about this route before and as i said then, it is great route.