After a quick trip last weekend to Husker heaven for a family reunion, it was back to the Front Range this weekend. The climbing started on Friday when Ryan and I rushed up to Bitty Buttress in lower Boulder Canyon to climb the area’s namesake route. Bitty is immediately across from Cob Rock and slightly east of Blob Rock. Both Blob and Bitty have many high-quality sport, trad and mixed multi and single pitch lines. We left my house after work at 5:45 and had three pitches of fantastic rock to scale, followed by a long scramble down, before dark. We viewed the necessity to hike quickly and climb efficiently as an excellent warm-up for Lone Eagle Peak (stay tuned…)
Bitty Buttress is worthy of its four-star status. The first pitch is about 50 meters of jamming various sized cracks while working on and off of an arete. The exposure was enough to keep the focus sharp and the adrenaline constant. Pitch two (35 m) was Ryan’s second trad lead and after the tricky and long first pitch his nerves were frayed. But he sacked-up in grand fashion and did a great job. The third pitch was the shortest, but had the crux and incredible exposure. The climb goes at 5.8, but felt significantly harder than any Boulder Canyon 5.8 I’ve done to date.
The view from the top of Bitty Buttress
Saturday we took a day off for good reason. Matt Oviatt (Elder brother of Sir Thomas) married Claudia (formerly) Madrones. Their wedding was outside on a gorgeous day. They are two first-class people who are crazy for each other. Congratulations to them. On a side note, I had a long conversation with Pamela Oviatt (the wonderful mother of three terrors, Matt, Tommy and Will) and have all the dirt you could ever want on all of them.
Sunday, Lizz, Kim and I got a Nebraska start and headed to Eldo’s Rincon Wall. I had climbed there for the first time with Chelsea a few weeks ago and have been wanting to get back since.
We started on the first pitch of Rincon, a tricky thin crack with just enough face holds to allow for small gear placements.
Right: Me getting started on Rincon.
As we did, many parties choose to only climb Rincon’s first pitch. In order to set up a toprope, it is necessary to traverse right about 35 feet to a bolted anchor at the top of the line. The traverse is easy, but doesn’t take much gear. I managed to get a marginal .75 in a non-uniform horizontal seam 15-20 feet over and a solid .5 about 5 feet after that before reaching the anchors. Lizz followed, leaving the top directional for Kim, who proceeded to cruise the route. After she pulled the directional and began the traverse, Kim went a little too low and popped off, still 15-18 feet straight sideways from the .75 which fortunately held. She took a very big pendulum fall, spinning near the end. Lizz lowered her and though quite shaken, she was fine other than a few scratches and bruises.
The moral of the story here is two-fold. First, always be aware of your followers. Long traverses, even when easy, need to be protected. That .75 probably saved her from a broken bone or two and possibly worse. Second, even when through the crux of a climb, it’s not over! It’s easy to let up after an intense section. However, many times, especially on sport climbs, the easier climbing is runout, leaving the leader, and possibly followers if the route wanders, exposed. Kim has been climbing for years and has been a partner of mine for almost three. She has shown me many new areas around the front range and we’re planning a trip to Lumpy Ridge in the near future. Today she officially won the scary fall of the summer award.
Left: Kim showing off some deft balance on Rincon
Right: The .75 after holding a 30 foot pendulum. This puppy is officially retired.
We continued with 5.10 crack, a climb similar to Rincon’s first pitch, protectable by small gear and with a move over a bulge to a couple of solid finger jams to the top.
Right: Lizz pulling a tricky move on 5.10 crack
Then, I was excited to get the redpoint on a classic Eldo 5.11, Center Route. I fell at the crux the first time I tried the line, but felt solid today. The climb has elements of a juggy overhang, liebacks with small feet, a balancy crux, hand and finger jams and is also quite pumpy. I find climbs that have so much variety are often some of the best and Center Route is no exception.
Me just past the crux on Center Route.
Now it’s back to work. But hey, with the dog days of summer stretching until 9:00, work ain’t too bad!
Great post, Adam! That was the scariest fall I had ever seen. I was thankful that Kim survived with only a few bruises and scratches. What a fun day! Thank you for popping my Eldo climbing cherry!
Sounds like a great weekend. You should check that cam again. Sometimes the cable just gets bent, but the cam is still completely functional. If that's the case, the cable can be bent back into place.
Sacking up is highly recommended in these parts. Speaking of 'parts' where did you tap that rad photo? It's got me all worked up.
That's actually an old photo of Ryan. I just googled "Ryan Wilson" and "Swimsuit" and that was the first thing to come up.
Haha…I wonder how much Ryan spends on waxing every month? He's looking like a 12 year old boy these days.