The List for 2014 (with a few previously unpublished photos)

Late afternoon photo taken last summer near Deer Park.

It's been a big year!  Below is an attempt to compile the Lander area bouldering first ascents from last year.  We've got at least 167 new problems, put up by 20 first ascentionists, including two named Justin and three named Matt!  A few of the problems listed below went up earlier, but the vast majority of the listed lines were done in 2014.  The order of the list for each bouldering area is pretty much random.  I just listed the lines as they came to mind, or I found them online, and then cut and pasted them into the right geographic area.  This list will help me make sure that I don't forget lines when it's time to write the next guide, and give all of you some idea of the amount of development that happened in the Lander area over the last year.  But this list isn't comprehensive yet.  Many problems done during the last year are missing from this list.  I'd love to include them, but I don't have the necessary information yet. Names in quotes are descriptions rather than names.  If you have any ascents to share, or can fill in any of my question marks, or see a mistake, please send info to davlloyd3@yahoo.com or message me on Facebook. I'll update this list as soon as I get new info.  Thanks!

Sinks Canyon: The Beach
Soft Like Me V5 Justin Iskra
Bad Girls at the Beach V5/6 Ashley Lloyd
Starting Over V2 David Lloyd
Dune V3 David Lloyd
Black Slabbath HB V0+ Shane Williams
Truth Hurts V5 David Lloyd
Get Shorty V4 David Lloyd
Scalpel V1 Shane Williams
Surfer's Paradise V0 Ashley Lloyd
Mirage V4 David Lloyd
Step Right Up V3 David Lloyd
Chobra V6 Matt Harrison/ lower start Justin Iskra
"Straight up from Chobra start" V3/4 ?
Turdy Harry V8? Justin Iskra
Lioness V7 Ashley Lloyd
Dusty Springfield V2/3 David Lloyd
Big Jugs at the Beach V0 David Lloyd
"Ashley's V2 Traverse" V2 Ashley Lloyd
Sure Thing V3 David Lloyd
Sand Cat V3 David Lloyd


Sinks Canyon: Sandstone
Into the Mind V? Jason Burleson


Sinks Canyon: The Upper Cabins

Calen climbing "Zoloft."

Zoloft V4 Justin Iskra
Trailer Tears V4 Jesse Brown
Money for Nothing V7 Justin Iskra with a jump, Chris Marley from the ground.
Maximum Overdrive V7 Justin Iskra
Ocean Man V5 Justin Iskra
Scrub a Dub Dub V3 David Lloyd
Three Men in a Tub  V1 Calen Campbell
The Mollusk V5 Justin Iskra
Bananas and Blow V5 Justin Iskra
Dark Horse V6 Justin Iskra
High on Fire V6 Justin Iskra


Sinks Canyon: The Summit



Warm Up Wall (5 lines V0-1) David and Ashley Lloyd
Riversong V3/4 David Lloyd
Walk the Line V4/5 David Lloyd
Buttercup V2 Ashley Lloyd

The Source
Diamonds, Guns, and Money V7 Justin Iskra


Worthen Reservoir
Worthen Prow V5 Davin Bagdonas or Dave Nash many years ago
Shadow Boxing V7 Jesse Brown
Lapis V6 Jesse Brown
"Chris Marley V10" V10 Chris Marley
"Big Boulder" V2 Jake Novotny


Roaring Fork
"Junker Boulder maybe 4? V4s" multiple V4s Ana and Devlin Junker
Slippery Nipple V4 Jesse Brown
Sweetwater Rock Traverse V3 David Lloyd

Behind Closed Doors V7 Jesse Brown (done earlier than 2014)
Slip and Slide V8 Jesse Brown (done earlier than 2014)
Too Close for Comfort V5 Ashley Lloyd
Short Stuff V3/4 David Lloyd

Roaring Fork: White Stripes Sector
Old Mountain Chrome V8 Davin Bagdonas
Guardian Angel Arm V5 Davin Bagdonas
Legend V6 David Lloyd
Mini Mini V6 David Lloyd
Mountain Dharma V4 David Lloyd
The Mummy V2 Justin Loyka
"The sharp one that I forgot the name of" V3 Justin Loyka
Tic Tac Crack V3 Justin Loyka
That's Pretty V6 Ashley Lloyd
Kewpie V1 Ashley Lloyd
Chia Pet V3/4 David Lloyd
V2 Records V2 David Lloyd
V0 Corner V0 David Lloyd
Sticky Slab V0 Davin Bagdonas
Sticky Roof V4 David Lloyd
Justin's Arete V1 HB Justin Loyka
Justin's Warmup V1 Justin Loyka

Deer Park
Dracula V5/6 Jesse Brown
Horror Show V1 HB Jesse Brown
Spooky V6 David Lloyd
Ghost Story V7 David Lloyd
Thomassons SDS V1 David Lloyd

Oz
Mark It 8 V9  Mark Avery
Ivy League V5 Mark Avery
Minor League V3 Jesse Brown
Camp Boulder V6 Chris Marley?
The Wonderful Warmups of Oz V1-3 David and Ashley Lloyd
"Jon's High Warmup" V? Jon Glassberg
"Unknown V4 SDS in the gulley" V4    ?

Sweetwater
Silhouette V11 Chris Marley
The Grey V6 Ashley Lloyd
Tick Tock SDS V5 Ashley Lloyd
Tick Tock Arete V4 David Lloyd
"Shane's V3s" Two V3s Shane Williams
Very Blustery Day V4 Ashley Lloyd
The Ivory Traverse V2 David Lloyd
Ivory Warm Up V1 David Lloyd
Thunderbird V3 David Lloyd
Hunny Pot Roof V3 David Lloyd
The Hunny Pot Traverse V4 Ashley Lloyd
Sunshine V3 David Lloyd
Rock and Ice V4 David Lloyd

Devlin on "Rock and Ice."

The Rock Shop
True Blood V6 Matt Saunders
Grave Wave V5 Justin Iskra
Electric Storm V9 Chris Marley
Lander Before Time V7 Connor Griffith
Philanderer V10 Jon Glassberg
Lander Calrissian V7/8 Connor Griffith
Lander Calphilanderer V9 Jon Glassberg
Philander Calrissian V9 Jon Glassberg
Trick Ass Mark V10/11 Jon Glassberg
Name of the Wind V8 Connor Griffith
Name of the Wind SDS V9 Jon Glassberg
Big Fudge V2 Calen Campbell
Skid Marks V2 Calen Campbell
"Two V2s near Lord of the Flies" V2 Chris Marley and Tony Stark?
Foul Mouth V4 Tony Stark
"Swan Boulder Three Problems" V3- ~6 Chris Marley
"Unnamed Traverse and Up Problem" V5 and V6 Chris Marley
Millenium Falcon V5 David Lloyd
Stone Country SDS V7 David Lloyd
Gaston Gaston V5 David Lloyd
La Boulangerie V3 Alan Pirie
Sh#! Storm V5 Tony Stark
Perfect Storm V6 David Lloyd
The Unforgiving Tree V8/9 Zach Rudy
Smoking the Tree V12/13 Chris Marley

City Walls
Wind Tunnel V3 Ashley Lloyd
Crimp to It V2 Ashley Lloyd
Warm Up Wall Four V1s David Lloyd
Ashley's Low Traverse V5 Ashley Lloyd
Uncontrived Roof V2 David Lloyd
Contrived Roof V4 David Lloyd
Placer Gold V3/4 David Lloyd
The Lander Cutoff V2 David Lloyd
The Onion V3 Ashley Lloyd
The Other Warm Up Wall Five problems V0-2 David and Ashley Lloyd
Flaming Lips Traverse V3 Ashley Lloyd
The Oregon Trail Southern Traverse V5 Ashley Lloyd
The Oregon Trail Traverse V3 Ashley Lloyd
The Oregon Trail Northern Traverse V2 David Lloyd
Oregon Trail SDS V3HB David Lloyd
"Ben's Roof" V4 Ben Sears
"Justin's Wall" V2 Justin Loyka
Ashley's Favorite V4 David Lloyd

Justin Loyka on "Ashley's Favorite."

 Sloping Jug Traverse V3 Ashley Lloyd
"Justin's Best Line of the Day" V3 Justin Loyka
"Justin's Solo" V? Justin Loyka
Journey to "Justin's Wall" V3 David Lloyd
Short and Cool V4 David Lloyd

Rapid Lake
Jesse scoping boulders at Rapid Lake.

"Jesse's Compression Line" V5 Jesse Brown
Safety First V4 David Lloyd
Warm Up V1 David Lloyd
Shenanigans V2 David Lloyd
The Gathering Hordes SDS V4 David Lloyd

Falcon's Lair
Wheel of the Falcon V13 Chris Marley
Falcon Punch V5 Matt Pincus
Masonic V9 or 10? Chris Marley

Devil's Kitchen
Mission Accomplished V6 Jesse Brown
Lion Tamer V7  Justin Iskra
Watch Your Six V6/7 Justin Iskra
Triple Double V7 Justin Iskra
Pinches of Power V7 Kyle Vassilopoulos
Kitchen Corner V7 (consensus grade) Collin Horvat (2012)
Pinches of Power Direct V8/9 Kyle Vassilopoulos
Instant Karma V7 Collin Horvat (2011)

Last year I credited "War Tactics" V12 by Kyle Vassilopoulos as the problem of the year for it's combination of quality and difficulty.  This year it's Chris Marley who's been putting up the most difficult lines, and I've decided to award my pick for the line of the year to "Masonic" at the Falcon's Lair.  It isn't the most difficult line that Chris finished this year, but the amazing rock quality, prime location, and the fact that it's been a long standing project, make it the new problem that I was most excited to hear about.  

And some great looking walls have been found recently at Sweetwater.  So 2015 is looking good already! 

See you in the new year,
David

Sinks Canyon Sessions

Quite a few areas in Wyoming were boulderable during the past couple weekends.  But school's been keeping us very busy, and the weather forecast actually looked best for Sinks, so we spent our climbing days here.  It's really nice to have 275 boulder problems within a ten minute drive of the house.

Sierra's gotten serious about her climbing, so in addition to thinking about what Ashley and I would like to try, I'm now planning our sessions with Sierra in mind.  We went to the Slug boulder because it has fun warmups that Ashley and I could repeat, and lines that Sierra could work on.

Sierra's best send of the day was "Leeches" V3.

Later, we made the short hike over to "Buttwink" V7.  Ashley had never tried it in good conditions before.  She started to piece it together, but couldn't figure out a sequence through the long crux move.

Then we hiked to the Kingsford boulder.  My goal for the day was to climb at least one problem that I hadn't done before.  So I gave "The Seam" project a few tries.  I think it's possible, but quickly realized that it would take more than a day's work.  So I moved on to my last hope for the day, a line called "Flame" V6.

Since writing the new guide, I've had a couple people ask me about "Flame."  One person asked me for details on the sequence, and another said "There is no way that's a V6!"  I couldn't really give any advice or argue about it.  I'd tried the line on three separate days, and hadn't been able to do it either.  One of the rules I gave myself when I wrote the guidebook is that I wouldn't change historical grades unless I had climbed the problem, and even then only if I felt sure that the grade was at least two grades off.  Since I hadn't figured out the problem, I left the historical grade of V6 in my guide, and privately wondered if a hold had broken.

I won't take the time to go into detail about every sequence that I tried.  I tried so many variations.

But before the sun set that day, I climbed "Flame" V6!

And once I did it, the grade felt in line with the other dolomite V6s in Sinks.  I can usually send a given V6 in one session if it isn't a full out dyno.  But this one took me four days because it's just such an intricate puzzle!  After the nice starting edge there are quite a few sidepulls and tiny holds to choose from.  None of them had chalk, and none of them feel good, but in the right positions some are slightly better than others.  I was able to find one set of hand and foot holds that could give me the distance I needed to latch, and keep, the only good hold below the lip.

It's snowed again now, the chalk's probably gone, and if you aren't my size you might need to find your own way.  Good luck!  Sinks dolomite is sharp.  And most of the harder lines on it require perfectly done, powerful moves, on painful holds.  But it feels really good to finish some of these lines.  "Flame" isn't the hardest thing I've climbed, but it just might be the most impossible looking thing that I've done.  Standing under the line, after topping out, I still couldn't believe that it was possible to use such small holds to make such a big move.  I was quite satisfied with the day, and happy that the line does match what's written about it in the guide.

Sinks on Saturday morning.

On Saturday we were just hoping to get a quick session done before this snowstorm arrived, but we ended up getting a beautiful full day at the Beach.  We warmed up on a traverse that I put up last spring.

"Dusty Springfield" V3.

Then we hiked up to the highest climbable sandstone wall in the mini canyon.  I had brushed off some lines that I wanted to try.

On the right side Ashley added a left to right V2 traverse that she hasn't named yet.

I did a sit start from the flat hold to her right called "Sure Thing" V3.

Then I added a really nice SDS line at the left end of the wall called "Sand Cat" V3.

It could be harder than V3 if you're tall.  We brought our feet up while still using tiny crimps.

We moved on to another project, but I'll post about that once it's finished.  There's really quite a bit of potential left on the shady side of the Beach, and with some brushing on rappel, a few proud new lines could be added to most sandstone areas in Sinks.  When I get the time, I'll be excited to get to them.

That's all I've got to share this week.   But if you've gotten any bouldering first ascents near Lander during the last year, it is time to send them in.  I've already gotten started on The List 2014. All I'm asking for right now is the name, area, grade, and first ascentionist of each problem you'd like included.  I think we might have already surpassed last year's total.  Thanks for your help!

A Boulderer's Book List

I received my Climbing Magazine "Readers' Choice" Issue in the mail today.  And it's such a disappointment.  It surprised me that I could be so disappointed by it, because I've already lowered my expectations of Climbing magazine substantially.  But not a single thing in the entire issue passes as a real article.  Just page after page that look like what having A.D.D. must feel like.  Busy pages of lists, survey results, a few short columns, and a bunch of things taken straight from the internet.  If I want something from the internet, I'll just go get it from the internet!   Why would they ever think readers want to pay for a magazine to tell them what's already on Mountain Project, or repeat what people said on their blogs?  I realize that times are tough for the magazine business right now.  I'm not trying to kick Climbing magazine when it's already down.  But I would like to take it to the corner of the ring, slap it in the cover and tell it "You need to fight for your life or it's going to be over, and you're just not doing it right!  You can't out internet the internet!  It's time to calm down, just calm down, you have your own niche.  If you print some good full length articles in every issue, then everything will be okay. Just one knock out article is really all you need to stay in this game."

I'm absolutely sure that there are still things going on in the climbing world, and topics to be explored, that can keep readers' interest for more than a couple pages.  Rock and Ice still prints some really good full length articles, Alpinist is amazing (if you're into mountain climbing), and I enjoyed reading the most recent Climbing Zine from cover to cover.

But despite the previous rant, I'm just writing a list this week.  Like one of the lists you could find in Climbing Magazine.  What else can I do? The weather's been bad.  I don't have a story, or any new information, or truly original opinions to share this week.  But I have been reading a lot.  And it's fine for me to just write a list, because #1 that's the type of thing the internet is for, and #2 I'm not asking you to pay for it.

 So my true goal with this post is to help you spend some quality time away from the internet.  To read something meaningful, something someone spent quite a bit of time to produce, a work that's actually worth your precious time.  So here's a list of books that I'd recommend for anyone who's interested in bouldering.  Buy them, borrow them from a library, or add them to your Christmas list.  Then find a quiet spot, sit down with a warm drink during bad weather and enjoy one of them for a while.

For Bouldering History

John Gill Master of Rock by Pat Ament  -This book helped John Gill get this whole thing started.

Stone Crusade by John Sherman -An entertaining account of American bouldering history up until 1992.

For Bouldering Development

Rock 'n' Road by Tim Toula - Documenting over 2000 in North America, this atlas to climbing areas still beats the Internet when it comes to finding fresh boulders.  Buy some brushes, drive to any area in the guide, and see what you can find.

For Entertainment

Sherman Exposed by John Sherman - Still the funniest bouldering stories I've read.

Stone Play: The Art of Bouldering edited by J S Watson- Good photos, and even better articles.

A Night on the Ground A Day in the Open by Doug Robinson- Deeper articles that are still fun to read.

For Geology

Flakes, Jugs, & Splitters by Sarah Garlick- Learn how the boulders happened.  Appreciate the stone, the world, and time in a more complete, more accurate way.

For the Climbing Life

High Infatuation: A Climber's Guide to Love and Gravity by Steph Davis- It's all in there somewhere.

For Getting Even Deeper into the Topic

The Boulder: A Philosophy for Bouldering by Francis Sanzaro - Think about bouldering in whole new ways.

For your Coffee Table

Southern Nevada Bouldering by Tom Moulin - Almost too heavy and too nice to actually take out to the boulders with you, it's an amazing work!  If a guidebook can be art, this is the first that feels like a masterpiece.

I hope that you enjoy these books as much as I did.  Who would have thought that recent Climbing Magazines, and the proliferation of internet click bait, would give me a such a renewed appreciation for books?

It's time for Thanksgiving!

What a Way to Wrap Up the Season!

Winter is definitely here!  The snow outside squeaks underfoot, and the air makes my face hurt.  But before winter hit, so much was accomplished!  Jimmy Webb made a visit to Neverland.  Davin and Bryan gave him a tour of some of the hardest projects, and he sent two new V14s "The Multiverse" and "Komodo." One of them is now Wyoming's hardest boulder problem, and the other one is the second hardest.  Kasia Pietras made the first ascent of "Triple X" which was also a long standing Neverland project.
Then news came out that Jamie Emerson finished off the Mega Mega project at El Dakota.  He named it "The Hunter," rated it V12, and I recommend reading his well written account of it at B3bouldering.

Bryan, Davin, Mike, Brian and Jamie working at what was still the "Mega Mega Project" last July.

As the famous unfinished lines kept appearing on my Instagram feed with names and grades on an almost daily basis, for a moment it started to seem like all the hard projects in Wyoming were suddenly complete.   But with just a little thought, a bunch more came to mind.  And with so much good rock, I'm absolutely sure that new, never before seen, world class Wyoming lines will show up on Instagram by next year.  Even in my guidebook, there are still quite a few impressive undone projects listed in the V12-15 range.  And it isn't out of the realm of possibility that the Rock Shop could have the most difficult problem in the state if a strong enough climber visits the area.  Hopefully a few of the projects in the Lander area will get attention, now that the quality of Wyoming bouldering is becoming more well known.

With my teaching and family schedule, I wasn't able to make it out to Neverland to see all the strong climbers who visited over the last couple weekends.  But that's alright.  I got to climb in empty beautiful places, in amazing weather.  Here are some photos of Sierra and Matt from a recent trip to Torrey Valley.

Sierra climbing The Good Earth East Face V2.

 Matt on the Mead boulder.

 The fine grain Torrey texture on "Gold's Gym."

 Davin showed me "Gold's Gym" on my first trip to Torrey Valley and called it V5.  Matt and I might have been starting somewhat lower than the original line, but it felt really hard to me.

Matt sent it.

 I didn't.  But now I know what to do, and I'm excited to get back to it!

It's been one of the most exciting couple weeks ever for Wyoming bouldering as a spectator sport.  But as a participant, my last two weekends were exactly the same as they've been for many years.  Just wonderful days in vast lonely spaces, playing at getting up rocks, trying as hard as I can, with family and friends.  The types of days that I've become very accustomed to, yet seem to appreciate even more as time goes by.   So it's wonderful that some of the world's strongest boulders are making visits and putting up amazing lines.  I'm excited that it's finally happening.  As a Wyoming bouldering developer it's good to get some validation and recognition that these areas we have really are as amazing as we think they are.

But it's also good to occasionally ask the question "Is any validation actually necessary?"  I've finally come to realize that it isn't.  When you've got boulders you're excited to climb, that's really all you need.


Who knows when temps will be warm again?  Not by this weekend.

Luckily, there will be a bouldering comp at Elemental on Saturday.

Deer Park

Deer Park is the suburban sounding name for a pretty wild area north of Worthen Reservoir.  We spent a couple days over a three day weekend exploring and putting up some problems out there.

Jesse on the hunt for new blocks at Deer Park.

On Friday, Matt and I spent most of the day working on the first good overhang that I found out there last Summer.

Matt cleaning what turned out to be one of the best mantle top outs in the Lander area.

 Matt and I worked on a couple lines on Friday, but just one got sent.  We both made ascents of a V6 that climbs in from the right following a seam, throws to the top, traverses left a couple more moves on great slopers, to a committing full mantel top out.  I made the first ascent, but I never would have gone for the mantel move without Matt's beta and encouragement.  Thanks Matt!

Matt climbing "Spooky" V6.

 A shot of the rock formations as seen from Deer Park.

The next day, Jesse and my family joined me for another session out there.

Jesse warmed up by putting up a tall V1 slab named "Horror Show."

 Followed by the first ascent of "Dracula" V5/6.  Jesse made the exciting jump to the top a couple times before figuring out the top out sequence.

 My weekend was made with the first ascent of "Ghost Story" V7.  It's a SDS that begins right behind Autumn in the photo below, and ends at the long tick marks.  It's hard, climbs well, has perfect stone, is a nice height, and I just barely managed to finish it.  Exactly the type of problem I look for.

 Ashley had a strong session, making ascents of both "Spooky" and "Ghost Story."  I gave "Dracula" a few tries, but stopped trying after a dismount that tweaked my ankle.  No major injury, but it hurt enough to make me cautious.

Matt and I did a thorough hike of the first two formations on Friday, and Jesse and I explored the formation to the north on Saturday.  We didn't find nearly as much potential as I hoped to, but I did find one very nice overhang that will warrant a return trip.  Deer Park won't be one of Lander's major bouldering destinations, but it will remain a quiet place with some really nice lines to do.  A fine option to have when hit by certain moods or weather conditions.  I'm happy that I got a chance to spend last weekend out there, had fun sessions with both Matt and Jesse, did some good new problems, figured out what really is waiting to be done out there, and that I won't spend all Winter fantasizing about what  I thought might have been hidden in those trees.

Have a Happy Halloween!

Finding Gold at The City Walls

The City Walls are what I've been calling a set of small formations on the east side of the highway near South Pass City.  After looking at them from summits at the Rock Shop for a couple years now, I finally hiked some of the area at the end of my summer break.  On my initial hike I was very impressed by the rock quality, but disappointed that there wasn't very much overhanging rock out there.  That fact hasn't changed, but there are some really great lines and walls to be climbed here and there amongst the slabs.

City Walls at sunset, with the rising moon.

With so much bouldering to be done at a variety of areas this time of year, it's been difficult to decide where to focus my attention during the one day per week that I'm able to free up for climbing.  Two weekends ago, we ended up back at the City Walls just because it was the area with the lowest possibility of rain on the forecast map.

We ended that day climbing on a beautiful, slightly overhanging, wall of perfectly featured stone.

Due to some lichen on the upper holds, I didn't top out the wall on that day.  That fact bothered me all week, and so I went back after school on Friday afternoon to clean the upper holds on rappel.  I cleaned another line as well, and went home when it got dark.

On Saturday, it was a little windy, but I topped out the wall first try.  It felt easier than I thought it would.

"Oregon Trail" SDS HBV3

Ashley did a traverse across the middle of the wall "The Oregon Trail Traverse" at about V3.  I added a high traverse "Oregon Trail Northern Traverse" that's probably V2.  Then Ashley did the FA of a lower traverse, "Oregon Trail Southern Traverse" at V5.  All of these traverses follow clear lines of features and could be linked into zig zags or rings.  Ashley connected the Oregon Trail Southern Traverse with a return trip on the Oregon Trail.

Ashley climbing "The Oregon Trail Southern Traverse" V5.

While we've been out there we've climbed on a lot of other walls as well.

This is "The Other Warm Up Wall" with five V1 up problems, and the long "Flaming Lips Traverse" V3.

Ashley ending "The Flaming Lips Traverse."

Right in front of the "Other Warm Up Wall" is "The Onion" V3 which climbs from a SDS on the left arete of the boulder to top out in the center of the overhang.

It was Sierra's project, but she finished it last weekend.

Here are a few other lines that got done.

Ashley climbing "The Lander Cutoff" V2.

"Placer Gold" is a steep V3/4 with the crux at the top out.

"Uncontrived Roof" is a SDS that goes at V2 to the left, and "Contrived Roof" is a V4 that stand starts in underclings and goes straight out the biggest part.

To wrap this up, I'll say that all of these lines ended up being easier than expected because the rock at City Walls is well adorned with solid, incut features, that are perfect for pulling on.  For that same reason it offers the best bouldering in the V1-V3 range that I've seen anywhere in the Lander area.  And the views are great too!

Feel free to get in touch if you'd like more specific directions.

A Rainy Day Diversion

A few weeks ago, when I posted The Best of Horsetooth Reservoir Bouldering to YouTube.  A DVD extras section I'd made wound up on my computer with it.  Stuck at home on this rainy day, I decided to post it.

Before I started blogging, I recorded bouldering ascents on my video camera.  This video includes some favorite lines from Vedauwoo, RMNP, Carter Lake, The Flatirons, Morrison, Red Feather, Arthurs Rock, Poudre Canyon, Eldorado Canyon, and Horsetooth climbed by people much younger than they are today.  Most ascents are by Ashley and me when we were still in our twenties.  The soundtrack is composed of my favorite alternative music from the late nineties and early aughts.
Enjoy!

Or just skip it if you aren't in the mood for thirty-five minutes of Front Range bouldering from over a decade ago.

A Visit from LT11, and Another Trip to Sweetwater

Trying to teach well, and climb well, is cutting into my sleep, so I'm not planning to write much tonight. Let's see what I can put together in twenty minutes.

Jon came out to do some filming for LT11 the weekend before last.  I gave him a tour of Oz on Saturday.  It was a quiet day.  Just my family, Jon, and a couple bow hunters in the area.  They were looking for elk that I'm not sure are out there.

Jon warming up on The Walrus V6 (or possibly Wicked Witch?).

 Ashley and I warmed up on this unknown V4 lower in the gully.

 I didn't get many photos that day.  Just like when I went out with Kyle, while filming "Wind and Rattlesnakes," when I boulder with film makers,  I tend to leave the documentation to the professionals.

Jon sent "A Tribe Called Lander" very quickly and I used his sticky rubber knee pad for a few attempts.  Just one move is giving me trouble.  If I get a kneepad, and put in a session or two, I think the line might be within my reach.

My favorite send of the day was this unknown V6 on the campground boulder that climbs really well.

 We also added a few easy warmups "The Wonderful Warmups of Oz" V1-3 and Jon did the first ascent of the highball just to the right.

 On Sunday, I gave Jon a tour of lines, done and undone, at the Rock Shop.  Then Ashley and I put a little bit of time into "Grave Wave."  Neither of us sent it, but I'd like to work on it some more.

 Jon stayed here for about a week with a couple other friends who came up from Boulder.  It looks like they spent most of their time putting up first ascents at the Rock Shop.  It was fun to climb with Jon, and I'm looking forward to checking out the many new lines they did at the Rock Shop, and seeing the LT11 film!  Thanks Jon!

I'm always somewhat torn in September.  Should we take advantage of sending temps at the higher areas like the Roaring Fork?  Or should we take full advantage of warm sunny weather before the inevitable winter hits.  Lately we've been doing the latter.

Last Saturday we spent a beautiful (but somewhat warm) day bouldering at Sweetwater with Ana and Devlin.

Ana warming up on the Ivory Traverse V2.

 We repeated a few lines like Hunny Pot Roof V3.

And I did the first ascent of "Sunshine" a V3 SDS that ends up a somewhat committing slab just right of "Thunderbird."

Ana climbing "Sunshine."

From there we went up to the Ocean boulder, which was still in the shade.  We all put a bit of work into "Another Toe in the Ocean", but it didn't get any ascents from its SDS.  Incredibly psyched, and in very crisp conditions, I did the first ascent quickly last year.   That day, I thought it was a solid V4.  But now I think that I was way off.  It's probably a V6.

We added a new line that traverses into slippery features to an obvious top out to the left of "Debaser."  Devlin came so close to getting the first ascent, but had trouble with the committing top out.  I tried next, got scared, but shut off my brain and just rolled over the top as quickly as I could.

Devlin on "Rock and Ice" V4.

 We ended the day in a cool cave that will have some fun drop off problems (or highballs/free solos) some day.

Ashley looking at the project we spent our time puzzling out.

I think it will go when we visit it again with fresh fingers.

Well that took thirty-five minutes, and I need to get some sleep.  I've got class, and another weekend of climbing to rest up for...