A Bouldering Treasure Map

Quite a few bouldering developers have started using Google Maps to document the areas and problems that they've developed.  For areas that aren't too forested it's a convenient way to record what you've done.  But it's far from a guidebook.  Access routes aren't explained, and often paper maps need to be consulted and marked before heading out due to lack of cell phone coverage, and important information such as private land boundaries.  So I'm not convinced that Google Maps will take the place of guidebooks anytime soon, but they can be useful for the truly motivated, the casually curious, and for developers who want a convenient way to journal what they've done.

So here's a map where I've been recording some of the new boulder problems put up around Lander.  Enjoy!

A Bouldering Google Map to Some New Problems near Lander, WY

Last Go, Best Go

"Together Alone" V4 Sweetwater Rocks, WY

Word has gotten out, but it hasn't been announced on this blog yet, that we'll be leaving Wyoming this summer.  Wyoming is still amazing, and I highly recommend the Lander area for any climber, but life isn't just about climbing.  Great teaching jobs opened up for both Ashley and me in the Grand Junction area.  We applied.  We were lucky enough to be offered the two jobs we wanted the most, and we decided to take them.  Since then, every bouldering trip this spring has felt like it could be my last one to each particular bouldering area.  With a teaching schedule, it's easy to envision summer bouldering trips back to the Rock Shop, or into the Winds, in my future.  It's harder to imagine a way that I'll make it back to shoulder season areas such as Sweetwater.  This season we ended up spending three sessions at the Weapons of Mass Destruction sector.  Abundant snow in Sinks canyon, and abundant mud on the two tracks to Oz made it the best option for multiple weekends this spring.  On Earth Day we decided to warm up on the balanced block seen north of the road on the way into Weapons of Mass Destruction.

I knew that Jesse, Justin, and Matt had spent a day on this boulder and I wanted to repeat "Together Alone."  It's a great line, and challenging for short climbers.  We saw other undone lines on the block, and we started trying them.  By the end of the session Ashley added two lines to the left of "Together Alone" and I added a classic line to the right.

"Earth Day" V6 sit starts with a good hold under the overhang.

Moves up the left side of the arete.

And traverses to the top of "Together Alone."

Our other two Sweetwater sessions were spent on the "Weapons of Mass Destruction" boulder proper.  "Weapons of Mass Destruction" V7 was at the top of Sierra's boulder project list.  She worked it for an entire session.

And she sent it during the next session!

While Sierra worked on her project, we enjoyed the sun.

And put up an interesting V4 to the right called "Mean Little Flower" V4.

Once the days got long enough, I was psyched to get Sinks Canyon sessions in after school.  Snow limited my options though, and I found myself back at the Kingsford boulder trying to add the full sit start to the "Seam Project" I'd put in the guidebook.  Towards the end of the session I noticed a line of vertical edges to the right, and it looked like maybe I could use them in opposition to the rail on "The Seam" and finish on nice edges just below the top, at the highest point of the boulder.  It looked beautiful, and I couldn't believe I'd never noticed the line before.  I tried it out, but was too tired to put much together.

One more session, and I thought it was possible.  At the end of my second full session on the line I put it all together.

Once I figured out the beta, it was even better than I ever hoped.  It ranks as one of the best dolomite boulder problems in Sinks, and it's the best first ascent I've put up in Sinks Canyon.

Only one weekend day was warm enough, still enough, and dry enough for my family to make it out to Oz this spring.  Sierra and Ashley worked out all their beta on "Heart Sing" V7.  I even set up a top rope so they could practice the committing top out.

And I got heartbreakingly close to finishing "Wild Thing Stand" V8.

We were all set to send next session, but we never got a next session.  Nick, Wendy, and Philip came out with us. Nick set up cameras and recorded the day.  He put together the following film from it.

Working beta, falling off problems, and talking a lot.  It's an accurate look at what it's actually like to boulder with the Lloyds.

We hiked up the Granite Buttress one weekend.

I scouted and brushed some lines for our day.  But we only finished one good line before we got stormed out.

"Hang Nail" V1

While hiking out in the rain and thunder we were passed by two cowboys on horseback followed by a pack of Corgi dogs.  They chased a marmot into it's burrow, and then caught up to the horses by running incredibly fast on their short little legs.  An interesting and unexpected sight!

Then came the highlight of my season one afternoon, after school.  I did my first V10.  The Camera at the Cabin Boulders is a short boulder, but the holds are very small, the move is big and surprisingly intricate. It has thwarted my countless attempts over multiple sessions for many years.  During my second session this spring, and my second "last go," it all came together.

I'm not sure that I'm actually stronger than I was last year.  But the thought that I might never get to try "The Camera" in good conditions again made me try harder than I ever had before.

The next weekend I gave Ken a tour of one sector at City Walls.  A cold wind from the west meant that the day wasn't as productive as I'd hoped.  We stayed on the downwind side of the formation, put up a few good warmups and then spent some time cleaning up "The Good Life" wall.

Ken helped brush from a six pad stack.

He gave me a great spot on the committing first ascent of "Wetland" V4.

And sampled a bit of the upwind patina covered stone before driving back home.

I've always been motivated by the knowledge that it might be a long time before I will get back to a project again.  But the knowledge that I might never find a chance to get back to something again was extra motivating.  It lead to a new level of productivity for me this spring season.  I thought I was already trying as hard as I could, but this season taught me that I can dig even deeper.  I'll try to remember that, even when there isn't a deadline looming.

I fall in love with wild landscapes, and I'm going to miss so many places that I've grown attached to over our last eight years in Lander.  Magical areas full of fond memories.  I've enjoyed small town life, teaching at the Lander Middle School, and the Lander community.  Moving here from Ft. Collins was a great decision, one that I'd never take back.  But the west is big, and life is short.  Good books have many chapters, and we're turning the page to the next one.

Winter Days on Sunny Stone

The good winter days are often the best days!  The air is still, the rock is cool, you can spend all day in the sun without getting burned, and because they are rare you appreciate the nice days more. Our winter began with warm weather, and a great day at Roy, New Mexico.

 "Buttercup" is pretty tricky for V5, but I figured it out, and climbed it, before the end of the session.

I highly recommend this problem!

 We were there on a weekend during Christmas Break, and we still had the Jumbles all to ourselves for the day.

We managed to hit Sweetwater during a good day in February.  We added a few new lines to the warm up wall in the Norwegian Sector.  

When the stone is good at Sweetwater, it's amazingly good!

 Ashley and Sierra used the day to train for a trip to Hueco.

 A Sweetwater view, photos don't to the distance justice.  Those are the Wind River Mountains in the background, over 70 miles away.

Ashley and Sierra spent a whole week at Hueco, had a great time, but didn't get any great photos.

When the weather was poor this winter I looked at a lot of boulders.  Sierra hiked the granite with me.

 And I looked at sandstone high on the hills of Sinks Canyon.

 And sometimes we bouldered despite less than perfect weather.

Sierra's been interested in seeing what she can do on a rope.  She redpointed "Hardware" 5.12 on her second attempt.

 Did "The Wilds" 5.12a in conditions too cold for my fingers.

 And she redpointed "Moe" 5.12b in a session.  Here's Dave giving it a valiant effort.

Before Science Fair in Laramie we got in a couple sessions in northern Colorado.  Sierra flashed "Punk Rock Traverse" V5 at Horsetooth Reservoir.

 She did "Corner Lock" V4 on her third attempt.

 And unlocked the reachy (for her) crimp line on the left side of Pitch Penny.

We were only able to pack one pad for this trip, so I worked on the only difficult line I was comfortable trying with one pad, "Beast House" V9 at Arthur's Rock.

I didn't do it, but I did a move I'd never stuck before.

Torrey Valley delivered great conditions on a couple weekends.

 We climbed every line and variation we could come up with on the Bunk House Boulder.

 And one fun line on the "Chances" boulder.

The ice was very clear on the creek.

 I had Sierra pose on a finger crack in the ice.  Then I posted it to Instagram.  I thought the reflection and the snow boots made it pretty obvious what was going on, but it appears that some people were fooled by it.

The wildlife in Torrey Valley adds to the experience.  Sheep watched while I worked on a new compression line.

My highlight for the season was finishing the first ascent of "Just Being" V7/8 at Sweetwater.  My fifth session on the line, I worked out a sequence and had good enough conditions to keep the right hand crimp.

Here's video.


I've also been working on writing projects, and spring has gotten off to a good start.  I should have more news to post soon.

Searching for Truth and Possibilities

The quest continues.  It was a very busy fall, and the lack of posts here was caused by too much happening rather than too little.  Instead of reporting in chronological order, I'm arranging this post by area.  We spent the most time at Sweetwater Rocks, and finished a handful of new lines out there.  The first is an amazing feature near "Weapons of Mass Destruction," a rail formed of some of the best rock out at Sweetwater.  I brushed it off, and we used Rock, Paper, Scissors to determine who would get the first shot at climbing it.  Sierra won the first attempt, and flashed it.  "55 Feet of Fun" has good holds for hands the whole way, but it gets pumpy by the end, we'll call it V3 even though no move is that difficult by itself.  Stepping off is usually an option, but it isn't a good idea to fall off this line.

Here's a photo of Ashley climbing a portion from the opposite angle.

Ashley put up a short new V4 a couple hundred feet to the east called "Hamstring" with a tough crux heal hook.

During another session Ashley climbed "Another Toe in the Ocean" V5 using a less reachy variation that looks a lot harder than the sequence I use.

A couple weeks later, Kian got the third ascent.

We were filmed on that day for a documentary series called "This American Land."  I'll let you know when it airs.

Another day I set up a rope to try out a tall crack project.  It still needs some brushing, and it will be difficult.

 To the right I climbed a new line called "Spookier than Expected" V3.

    We also finished the top of a fingery project.  We'll need to get back to finish it.                            

Here's a portrait of Sierra and the view from what I'm calling the "Bird Bath" zone.  Later that day she climbed "The Hampi Traverse" V7.

We got another good Sweetwater session in at the "Weapons of Mass Destruction" sector before the snow came in.  I repeated "Falkor" V5 and Sierra climbed "Fight the Nothing" V7.  Sierra almost climbed "Weapons of Mass Destruction" and Ashley had a good time showing her how it's done. 

On the downhill side of the boulder I added a new problem called "Top Down" V5 that starts as shown in the photo below.

The line might not be finished though. It should have a V8-10 sit start one day.

And that's the news from Sweetwater last Fall.

While I was out filming "This American Land" at Sweetwater, Ashley and Sierra were away.  They were checking out the bouldering around Chattanooga, TN.  They competed in the Triple Crown Bouldering at Stone Fort, and spent a day at Rock Town, Georgia.  

They report that the southern sandstone is good.  I still  haven't climbed on it yet.

I spent one perfect afternoon out at Oz with Steve, Noah, Siemay, and Zun.

A portrait of Steve at the end of the session.

We figured out a start to Jon's tall warmup that doesn't use the block under the roof.  I put it together first, and called it "While You're Away" V5.  It has immaculate stone.

Steve trying "While You're Away."

Siemay climbing the V4 left stand to "A Tribe Called Lander".  We also did a V6 stand version to the right.  None of us were able to climb Chris' full line that day.

Zun climbed a bunch of nice new lines on the block just north of "A Tribe Called Lander."  I think it will become known as Zun's Block.

I'm still looking forward to doing a lot more climbing and exploration out there.

Davin and Bryan made a trip for what looked like a perfect day in the Kitchen.  But high winds blew rain across the divide and into the canyon all morning.  In the afternoon, things dried up well enough to climb, but conditions weren't ideal. 

Davin demonstrating the crux on "Viscountess Olive."

Bryan working "Larry Bird."

The humidity stayed high and the rock never felt quite dry enough.  No lines were sent, but we had a fun day on hard projects, shared our knowledge, and looked at some new things.

Jesse Brown shared topos to Flaming Gorge with me a few years ago, and it bothered me that I still hadn't checked out one of the best looking sectors.  So we spent a nice day climbing there with Steve and Jan.

We all warmed up on a perfect line of slots that Jesse called "100 Degrees of Hate" V1.

And then climbed a crimpy line called"Jesse's Lap Dance" V4.

We did a few more moderates that I didn't get photos of, and ended the day on another great line called "Robber's Roost" V4.

The sector is beautiful and it still has a lot of potential, but it hasn't gotten much traffic, and the lichen is growing back.

Then the weather abruptly switched from a very warm fall to a very cold winter.  With Davin's help and direction, Sierra and I have hiked some areas that could offer winter bouldering near Lander.

And we've seen some beautiful landscapes along the way.

Even after the cold hit, we had a surprisingly beautiful session at Torrey Valley.

Sierra almost flashed "The Good Earth Traverse" V8.  She got it on her second try.

We sought out warmer temps at Unaweep Canyon, CO over Thanksgiving break.

Sierra flashed "Chinese Algebra" V6

Ashley and I did "Chinese Algebra" too, but my favorite climb was the "Hueco Problem" V4.

During the most recent cold weekends we've gone to Sinks canyon.

With one day spent at the beach.

And another day I went sport climbing with Sierra at the Main Wall.

It was only 13 degrees in Lander, but the cliffs were really nice that day.

And that's what we've been up to.  But there is an underlying theme to this long and wide ranging post.  The truth is what's out there, and the possibilities are what can be done with the truth.  We spent the last season searching for both.


Once again, I'm working on this blog on New Years Eve as the fireworks go off in Lander.  We just got back from a Christmas trip to New Mexico today, but this post is long enough already.  I'll have photos from Roy, and the 2016 List of new boulder problems posted soon.

Happy New Year!