This weekend marked a unique contrast of climbing. Friday and Saturday we were cranking away on crimps and pockets on Shelf Road’s characteristic sport routes while on Sunday, The Yellow Spur beckoned us skyward with pitch after varied pitch of quality.
The Gem - 5.12c (Photo: Doug Lintz)
Doug captured a few fantastic images of our stormy time at Shelf. Check out some photos and notes from the weekend.
Continue reading »
A week ago I tweaked my back and have been fighting the pain since. Over the weekend it felt good enough to check off one of the Boulder locals must-do’s that has thus far evaded my list: Soloing the 2nd Flatiron
Ron soloing the 2nd Flatiron
Ron, Grant, Ryan and I had a good time in beautiful weather climbing the easy 5th class terrain. The route’s crux is the required jump from a detached fin back onto solid sandstone.
Continue reading »
*Editors Note: This is a guest contribution from Tyler Scheer. All photos, the awesome video and text are from Tyler.
It’s 6:30. In the morning. The sun is barely up, and for some reason my alarm is going off. I do what any reasonable person would, and hit the snooze button for twenty minutes. Adam’s up, and Ted is meeting us to head to The Monastery in Big Thompson Canyon.
It’s a pretty drive from Boulder, and eventually we turn off a main road to head up a twisting single-lane route into the mountains, leaving the buzz of the busy highway behind. We park at a campground overrun with teenagers blasting Kid Rock out the back of an open Subaru, and revving the engines of their two-stroke bikes, sending noise and blue smoke rocketing out over an otherwise peaceful area. After a few switchbacks on the steep and rocky trail, we leave the howl of the engines behind and enjoy the beautiful hike down into the hills.
Ted ready to send Dreamcatcher (5.13+)
I’ve never been to the Monastery before, and the setting is spectacular. Tall, thin fins of mica-streaked granite jut from the ground. A narrow causeway called the Vestibule is formed by massive parallel outcroppings. Looking down-canyon provides a spectacular view of a huge valley, and looking up shows steepening faces with some of Colorado’s hardest face-climbing test pieces. Ted is here for Dreamcatcher, a 5.13+, with a difficult boulder problem start leading to a 5.12 midsection followed by a dynamic, bouldery finish. Enjoy some photos and video of Ted putting Dreamcatcher to bed.
Continue reading »
With so much amazing climbing around Boulder, my priorities usually don’t involve lengthy projects. A number of the routes I’ve had success on this year have required around five total attempts over the course of 2-3 days. Most of those routes I’ve chosen because they are compelling lines worth multiple visits. But in the back [continue reading]
Spur of the moment trips and destinations can yield some of the best and most memorable climbing. That was the case this week. After twice getting rained out of the Flatirons I stopped by the gym for a quick workout. There Ted Lanzano, noted Front Range first ascensionist and all-around good dude, asked if I [continue reading]
The Rocky Mountain bouldering season is in full swing and with Boulder still baking we’d be crazy not to join in the fun. Following up our trip last weekend to Upper Chaos, this time we decided to visit the Lower Chaos boulders. The photos above (D-Rock) show a crux move on Skipper G (V8) at [continue reading]
Talk