Horsetooth Hang 2007 Report

Weeks before the Horsetooth Hang this year, the buzz began to build. This year it was going to be a formal competition. Paul Robinson the #1 8a.nu ranked boulderer in the world would be giving the slideshow. 150 dollars would go to anyone who could repeat Jim Holloway's Meathook, which hasn't been done in the original style since the 1970s. Rumors were circulating that Jamie Emerson who has climbed Circadiam Rhythm V13, and thinks Crown of Aragorn is soft, had tried Meathook and had plans to send it. Would these visitors win, or would one of the strong locals like Ian Dory or Andre DiFelice who have more experience on Horsetooth's problems take the title.

On the female side there wasn't as much excitement. When Ashley managed to add the V10 Kelley Traverse into her already impressive Hang circuit last year, the chance of another girl showing up and taking the title became quite slim. Ashley had been the female winner of the Hang for the last five years in a row. Sean Drolet had her going for a second when he told her that he had heard "Josune Bereziartu might be coming out from Spain this year." Good one Sean.

I was busy competing, but during the competition I heard and saw a lot things. Ian Dory was crushing. He had done Moon Arete V11, Cheathook V8-10, the Kelley Traverse V10, Powerglide V7/8, and Talent Scout without the undercling Vcrimpyashell.
Andre DiFelice was working till the afternoon and wouldn't be competing. Rumor had it that the pro's from out of town were sending too. Paul Robinson did the Kelley Traverse V10. Jamie had done Mammen Traverse V9. Tyler Landman who had done the second ascent of Jade V15 this summer had entered the competition.

Meanwhile, my time was occupied trying to score well against Ashley. Two years ago in perfect conditions I had managed to climb Powerglide V7/8 and beat her by a few points. I hoped to do it again since I had added Pinch Overhang V6 to my circuit this year. If Ashley didn't send the Kelley Traverse or the Silver Dollar Traverse it would be possible for me to outscore her. She sent the Kelley Traverse second try, early in the morning, and with that she had me beat.

We went to the after Hang party at Hodi's Half-Note. The pizza and beer were good. The sound system not quite loud enough. Then the winners were announced. Cameron announced that the winners of the Mens' and Womens' open category were married to each other. My first thought was WTF! "David and Ashley Lloyd are the winners." I was very confused, and Ashley grabbed the hundred dollar bill, before I even recognized what it was. We also won one membership to the Spot comp series.

How did I win the first Horsetooth Hang formal competition since Jim Karn didn't show up to the awards ceremony many years ago? This is what I've learned, and what I speculate. Ian Dory climbed what is probably the most impressive Horstooth Hang circuit ever done yesterday and had the most points in the comp, but he was entered in the Junior division, so he couldn't win the Open division, and as I said before Andre wasn't competing.

How did I beat the other strong climbers? I observed many of the top climbers falling off the Kelley Traverse, and they weren't happy about it. I speculate, that after spending countless sessions bouldering on perfect alpine rock in perfect conditions, they couldn't handle the Horsetooth Hang/Kelley Traverse experience. The long, low ball, not dabbing is the crux, finger wrecking, sharp as hell, nightmare problem they had already seen a girl do, the crowds with screaming kids, the warm conditions, and waiting in line to try problems wasn't fun after a summer of bouldering Eden in alpine environments, and they decided to leave. They left early to climb up Poudre canyon, and I don't think they turned in their scorecards.

A perfect storm of circumstances lead to me being the Men's Open winner. I like to imagine that an observant climber noticed these factors coming together, and placed a lot of money on David Lloyd #488 in the 8a.nu bouldering world rankings to win the Horsetooth Hang Open division this year. The odds were placed at greater than 100 to one against it. Today that climber is flying out to a destination like Virgin Gorda or Thailand with a suitcase full of cash made through betting on me. They will live the rest of their life off the funds, just spending their days putting up new climbs. Maybe that climber is Craig Luebben who organized the Hang years ago knowing he could someday gamble on it and make a fortune. If you are a climber who bet on my win, and you feel guilty, feel free to send some of that money my way.

Thanks to Cameron Cross and all the other great volunteers and sponsors who made the Hang happen this year. We had a great time. It was tons of fun for the vast majority of the people involved.


Steve Woods finishing the corner after climbing Cat Eye.

Andi Rose strikes a pose.

Super Kind Video

Here is the video from Super Kind. Since no one was up there to film, Ashley set the camera on the best rock she could find. It's all from one angle, but it moves faster than I expected because Ashley never stopped to rest. The end is my favorite part. Ashley's excitement from the send ended up being recorded despite the stationary camera.

Beautiful Day for Sending Super Kind

Yesterday (Sep. 27th) was an incredibly beautiful day at Rocky. I took the day off school, dropped off Sierra and Autumn at pre-school, and headed up to Rocky to try my big summer project, Super Kind, on the Kind Boulder at Emerald Lake. I asked several people to go with me, but nobody could, so I packed the video camera, the pad, and set off by myself.

The weather was georgeous-no wind and about 70 degress in the sun. However, the east face of the Kind boulder was in the shade and at least 10 degrees cooler than the sun, and the rock was COLD! I was worried that this might interfere with my goal, as I have had lots of trouble in the past sending long problems with cold hands. Nevertheless, I tried to stay positive as I warmed up.

After positioning the camera the best I could, I decided to go for it. The beginning felt smooth, but I didn't stop to shake out at the "rest" because my hands were getting cold. I cruised through the middle section and hit the crux. Amazingly, it felt better than ever before, and I dropped down to the lower section with a lot of control. I was a bit pumped but I was able to shake out a little bit and go for the last hard moves. They felt difficult, but not at my limit, and I couldn't believe it when I got to the hand-jam rest before the last few moves! I was excited and nervous at the same time, and I kept telling myself, "Don't screw up now!". When I made it to the top, I felt like I was dreaming and I wasn't sure if I had actually just climbed the thing!

Luckily, the camera had recorded the send, and I was so relieved and happy to have finally sent a problem that I had worked really hard on. It took me ~8 days over almost 2 months. I have never projected something so long, and it was awesome to send it this season. I was really worried that I would have to wait until next summer to send it and would have to re-work it all over again. Now we can go to different areas and try new things-yeah!

I want to say a big THANK YOU to Dave, Sierra and Autumn for being so supportive of me and helping me reach my goal for the summer.

Now to get ready for the Hang tomorrow... Ashley

Taking it to the Next Level. In a couple ways.

When I get tired of my plateau (see a post below on how to plateau) sometimes I try to take my climbing to the next level by working on something really hard. When I do this, I do get stronger, and eventually send my hard project, but it can take a long time. That is where I'm at right now. I've been working on a project for about a month and a half. I've come very close so many times, but each day I end up hiking out without a single new ascent to add to my ticklist. At times like these, I realize how much I appreciate the things that go along with climbing in a way that I don't when I am getting my climbs. When you're sending, you're mind spends a lot of time replaying the send and thinking about what you'll climb on next. When you aren't sending your mind is more centered in the present. I realize that just being outdoors in beautiful environments is enough. The focus present in each attempt, send or not.

It is the best season of the year to climb in the high country. Get out there!

The End of Summer Bouldering Comp

On Sunday, while hiking up to the boulders in Rocky Mountain National Park, a hail storm hit us. I sheltered the girls under the bouldering pad, but all our coats got soaked. We decided to hike back out and climb that afternoon at the End of Summer bouldering comp at Inner Strength. It was a fun comp with more participants than were expected. I climbed well, and was happy to come in 10th. Ashley was one of the top four females who competed in the finals round. She had to go into isolation for about 30 minutes while the two finals problems were set. Both finals problems had one big move, and I wasn't sure if Ashley would be able to win. The long move on the first problem threw off the first two competitors, but the third , a tall and strong high school freshman named Ellie, managed to tag the hold past the large move. Ashley managed to tag the hold to tie Ellie's score. Then Ellie flashed the second finals problem. Ashley stepped up to the second problem not knowing that she needed to reach the top to win. She climbed smoothly to a huge undercling move to a high left sidepull. She couldn't reach it so she grabbed the lower hold again and moved her right foot to a higher hold further to the right. She stretched up and left again, and her finger tips just barely made it around the hold to cheers from the crowd. She floated the rest of the problem. It was a tie in the finals, but Ashley had a higher score in the qualifying round, so she won the comp and a pair of Evolv shoes. She also caught a t-shirt, and I won a pink water bottle, and a free burrito. It was a fun day. Thanks to Bryan, Colin, Chase, Mike, Tracy and everyone else who made the comp happen.

The Diamond

Sunday, Andre and I headed up to the Diamond. I'm still sore, and even feel a bit sick. We left at 1:30 am, and started the hike at 3:00. It was a neat hike at night. The sky was clear. The stars were bright, and at spots we could see the city lights of the Frontrange. We got to Chasm Lake before sunrise, just as the sky began to brighten. I'd never been around Chasm Lake before, and I was surprised by how much talus we had to cross to get to the base of the Diamond. At the base I felt dizzy, and had a slight headache. I had a bit of altitude sickness, but I didn't realize it at the time. I thought I was simply tired from the hike, and out of breath from the altitude. The North Chimney was completely clear of snow. It looked low angle and easy, so we started up unroped. It got steeper, and the rock was much worse than I had expected. We didn't solo much before we decided to rope up. The chimney was full of dirt, and sliding rock. The flakes on the side of it are loose, and once I grabbed the top of a ledge and a huge section of it rocked out towards me. We ended up doing 3 roped pitches to get to Broadway ledge, and it took us a lot longer than expected. The clock on my phone didn't work because it couldn't connect, but I estimate that it was 11:00 am when we got there.

We took a short hydration break on the ledge. I was feeling a bit sick, and was upset at how bad the North Chimney had been. There were a lot of protection options, but the route felt like 5.5 X because falling rock could easily kill you in there. While setting up a belay, Andre knocked down a rock that hit my helmet pretty hard. I was lucky I hadn't been looking up. Truthfully, I wasn't that psyched to climb anymore, but the weather was good. Andre was into it, and we had done so much work to get there that I decided to go for it. Andre lead the first 5.6 pitch very quickly. I took the sharp end for pitch two and headed up the 5.9 finger crack to slings. My topo said "climb to the slings, then climb left across the flake traverse." It warned not to traverse too low or you would end up doing poorly protected 5.10 moves. I saw what appeared to be a good line of flakes. I looked below it and thought "Yeah, you wouldn't want to traverse out there." I started to traverse looking for the fixed pins that are supposed to protect the traverse. I kept traversing farther. Putting in very marginal gear as I went, I kept thinking that a fixed pin must be around the next little corner of rock. I was fifty feet out sideways with four bad nuts placed before I realized I was off route. I had traversed too early. I climbed left 5 more feet to a flake and tried twice to fit a #2 cam behind it, but it wouldn't fit deep enough. I needed a .75, but I had used it already on the crack below. It took many nervous minutes, but I managed to get three nuts behind the flake and then clip into the anchor. The possibility of taking a huge gear popping pedulum, and getting seriously injured, without a working phone, where rescue would cost over ten thousand dollars in helicopter fees, left me very nervous. Andre followed the pitch to the sling anchor in the crack, and belayed me back across the traverse. It was now probably 2:00 pm, and we could see many small storms to the east.

It was only a matter of time before the storms would hit us. We were behind schedule to reach the top with light for the descent, and I was still scared from my off route epic. I told Andre it was time to retreat.


It took six double rope rappels to get back to the base. On the way down, we got hit by some hail, but luckily it stopped quickly. The hike out seemed much longer than the hike in, even though it was downhill. It rained heavily for a little bit, and I was very happy that we were off the Diamond. We got back to the car at 8:00 pm.

Andre is still psyched to climb the Diamond, but I'm not planning to go back. I've checked it out, and for me the planning, work, commitment, and dangerous loose rock in the North Chimney outweigh the benefits. It's a cool environment. The Diamond above Broadway has great rock, but it is hard to enjoy it when you need to climb as fast as possible to beat the storms. I can climb pitches that are of similar quality elsewhere, and have more fun, with much less stress. I understand the Diamond's appeal. I felt it's pull for years, but I don't anymore. I learned a lot on the Diamond, and I think I'll go back to bouldering for a while.

Kind of Like Morrison

A little over a week ago, I did the two V7ish traverses from the right arete sit start into the Kind. Since then I've wanted to link the two together into a loop by going left on the upper traverse, then down to the lower traverse, and climb right on the lower one back to the start. Just like problems at Morrison where it is common for climbers put two problems together, give it a new name, and a higher grade.

Now it's quite likely that someone like Dean Potter did this problem before I even knew the boulder existed, and named it something like "Black Pearl Necklace", but I've never heard of it before. People I've met lately at the Kind boulder have never seen anyone work on it. So it could be new. I showed Ashley my idea, and mentioned I wanted to call it the "Kind Circuit." Ashley started to work on it too, and said that if she got it first she would call it "Kind of Loopy." I hated that name, so we were quite competitive over who would get the first send. My power endurance is far from being as good as Ashley's, but a couple big moves on the upper traverse were harder for her. I thought I had a chance. Long story short, Ashley climbed it today, and it's still a project for me. I did get her to compromise on the name though. She decided to call it "Kind Loopis" because of its similarity in style to "Air Loopis" at Morrison. It feels about V9 with the crux being a couple difficult downward moves into the lower traverse. It's a fun problem, and if you know that someone else did it first, then let me know.

Vedauwoo Bouldering

Over the past few summers, Ashley and I have been bouldering primarily at Vedauwoo and RMNP. Rocky has lots of other climbers, but we almost never see anyone at Vedauwoo. The other day I was talking with a boulderer who implied that Vedauwoo bouldering sucked. I disagreed, and stated that Vedauwoo, when taken as a whole, is as good as any other Front Range area. I was asked to name Vedauwoo problems that were as good as Rocky problems. I named a few that came to me quickly, but my mind has been churning over the topic quite a bit since that discussion. Here is an explanation of my experience with Vedauwoo bouldering. Hopefully it will help others discover that the best bouldering at Vedauwoo matches the best bouldering anywhere. Take care of the area if you visit. This post may increase bouldering traffic at Vedauwoo, but that could be a good thing. People often say that lichen takes hundreds of years to grow, but that is wrong when it comes to Vedauwoo. I've seen cleaned boulders grow a new layer of lichen in the course of a year. Nowhere needs crowds, but enough traffic to keep the classics clean should be considered a good thing. An increase in the climber to redneck ratio would also be welcome.

Vedauwoo bouldering has a greater range of quality than your average area. The majority of boulders at Vedauwoo are climbable, but most boulderers wouldn't want to bother. Most problems and possible first ascents are vertical to slabby on sharp crystals that sometimes break, or are crack problems. One can learn to have fun on these types of problems, but to most boulderers it doesn't come naturally. Here is a picture of me climbing a V6 near Tempest. This is what many problems at Vedauwoo are like.


Instead of this problem type, most boulderers would rather climb on overhanging problems with solid, comfortable holds. Many boulderers don't realize that Vedauwoo has these types of problems. Davin Bagdonas wrote the guide to Vedauwoo bouldering, and he did a great job of documenting and giving directions to the problems. I really like the guide, but it doesn't have star ratings or area descriptions to guide readers to the best problems. That is what I will do here.

Here are a couple general guidelines to help you use the guide. 1. Problems with names are usually worth climbing. Problems without names usually aren't. 2. The farther north the area is in the Vedauwoo area, the better the rock is.

The Nautilus is popular with roped climbers, but it has only two problems that are really good. The Tempest V10 and Sun Up to Sundown V6/7.




The main area has a few more spectacular problems, but they are very spread out from each other. The Gill Seam V6 is pretty good as is Har Mar Superstar V11(?).


The list of outstanding problems at the main area would include Analog V8/9 which was found by Josh Helke and isn't in the guide. It is easily found if you follow the old nature trail to the Land of the Rising Moon.


Daisy Cutter V6 is a perfect highball arete that can be easily toproped, and the NFL Dyno V10 looks really good if you're into V10 dynos.

The best rock quality at Vedauwoo can be found at the Eagle's Nest Area. All the problems here are covered in patina, and the best ones have rock that feels more like quartzite than granite. The Pawn V2/3 doesn't top out, but has excellent movement. The rock and moves on 80 Pounds of Adorable V7 are so good that I consider it an outstanding problem even though it's only 10 feet tall.


Camp Jack is probably my favorite single area at Vedauwoo. I've heard rumors that parts of it may be on private land. Keep a low profile, and if a landowner does show up, be polite. I've spent about 10 days there, mostly on weekends, and have never run into anyone out there. Outstanding problems in this area include Sweet, Sweet Lovin V1, Skeavey Bastard V4, Suzuki Roof V5/6, and Desperado V9. Below are Suzuki Roof, and Skeavey Bastard.



Coyote Rocks is a very nice, and concentrated area by Vedauwoo standards. Roast Possum Vinegar Pie V5, Acid House V6, and Heart of Stone V6 (V8 in the guide) are the best problems. Short Bus V8 might make the cut, if I could figure it out. The Rose V7 and the Thorn V8 should be tried if you're in the area. Below is Heart of Stone.


Building Blocks V6 at the Citadel is fantastic, but I haven't enjoyed most of the other problems at that area. I really like the Bunker, but no specific problem there feels perfect. There are many other good problems at Vedauwoo, but this is a list of problems that really stand out for me. Hopefully this list of recommended problems will help people have better sessions at the Voo. If you're inspired to make a trip to the Voo, I recommend late September and early October. This time of year often has the best weather, and the most beautiful aspen leaves. This article leaves out the crack boulder problems which can be fun if you take the time to learn how to climb them. If you're ready for a new type of challenge, bring a roll of tape and jump on a few.

The Secrets of My Plateau

People always ask me "Dave you climb all the time. Why aren't you getting any stronger?" Well here is the answer. The Secrets to My Plateau. The first secret is never train. Only climb for fun, indoors or out. If you climb longer, harder, faster, or slower than you feel like climbing, that is training.

"But Dave, what about when I have a day of climbing that is so intense that it might increase my strength?" Sometimes this happens, and here is what you do. Find a way to undo the workout. My favorite way is by drinking a vanilla malt as soon as possible. Vanilla malts are full of empty calories. The weight gain will counteract any strength gain, thereby preserving your plateau. Plateaus are great. They keep you from climbing out areas, and let you savor projects for a longer period of time. You also get to savor vanilla malts.

The Kind Boulder is Very Nice

The possibility for storms has finally fallen, and Ashley and I took the girls to Rocky for the first time this year. The trips were rough last year. We had to carry both girls, and Autumn would cry a lot because she missed her naps.
This year Sierra was hiking, Autumn doesn't need naps, and it went quite well. Temps were great. We had alot of fun on two V7 traverses into and up the Kind from the right sit start. One is at a nice height and is 3 star. The other is lowball, and might be a bit soft at V7. The pictures show Ashley on the lower one, and me on the higher one.