Bro Time = Go Time!

My brother, Matt, was in town last week for what has become his monthly visit to Boulder.   I always love it when he makes the trip from Chicago, because he is a guaranteed and trustworthy climbing/skiing partner who "has the stoke."    Whenever he is in town we really get after it.  In fact, most of my wild and crazy adventures have involved him. 


Climbing outside this time of year around Boulder is very weather dependent, but we got 2 great days of climbing in which were definite highlights of his visit.  Our first day of climbing was in Lower Dream Canyon which is a spectacular side canyon off of Boulder Canyon.  We did 2 routes on the Wall of Winter Warmth, aptly named for it's southern exposure and one of the tallest features in Boulder Canyon.  Our friend, Laura, from CO Springs joined us to make a party of 3.  The first route was "Left Side" (5.10a).  It was a good 4 pitch route, although the climbing was a bit strange and surprisingly run-out in areas.  The next route was "Right Side."  It was supposedly 5.10a as well, but turned out to be one of the worst sandbags I've encountered.  The crux was great climbing but it was very airy, exposed, and hard.  It climbed out a stunning roof with a tips, undercling crack.  Matt made impressive work of the crux pitch on lead.  I thought it felt like 5.11a minimum while following it.  The rest of the climb was pretty terrible.  It was either dirty, chossy, or covered in poop, but the exciting crux and setting made it worthwhile.

Fierce Stoke headed into the crux of "Right Side" (5.10a haha)

Pulling the Crux

The next day Matt and I set our sights on the Naked Edge (5.11b).  It is one of the most famous climbs in Colorado and is a test-piece to this day.  For years Matt and I have looked at this obvious and stunning line, wondering if we would ever be good enough to climb it.  With another day of pleasant December weather, we hopped on it, swinging leads.  The climbing was phenomenal and we cruised it for the mort part which felt really good.  The highlight pitches were the lower 5.11 dihedral and the wild 5.11 bombay chimney.

Bombay chimney crux on the Naked Edge (5.11b)

Upper pitches of the N.E.

After our climbing adventures, we headed up to Vail to take advantage of the snow that has finally started to show up!  We caught a great day on Sunday and thoroughly enjoyed the surprisingly good early-season conditions.   I'm excited for the backcountry season this year!  Hopefully we get tons of snow and a stable snowpack!


MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Off to Patagonia tomorrow with Matt Combs and Andrew Wein.  Valle Cochamo and Torres del Paine

MOAB

Its officially gym climbing season.  More because of the short hours of daylight than the temperatures.  It's tough to make it up Boulder Canyon or down to Eldo after work.  Outdoor climbing is now relegated to the weekends, and lower elevations.  Unfortunately the snow hasn't showed up yet in the high-country, so it's not ski season either.  Investing in a pair of ice tools and screws could be a good investment this year.  It looks like there is already some great ice and mixed climbing to be had up in RMNP. 

I had the pleasure of wrapping-up my climbing season with a trip to Indian Creek.  I had never been before and it was everything I had hoped it would be: splitter cracks, great weather, fun camping, and a great crew of friends.  Conveniently, we had 5 doubles racks so we could easily get on any climb.  My brother Matthew and I arrived on Friday night, with just enough daylight for 1 climb.  We headed up to the Rambo Walls, which was close to our campsite in the cottonwoods.  We hopped on a 2 star 5.9 called Rochambeau.  If that climb were anywhere else it would be a 4 star classic.  After such a great warm-up I was stoked and knew we were going to have a great trip.

Matt cleaning Rochambeau (5.9) just before sunset

We spent all day Saturday at Battle of the Bulge and Donnely Canyon.  The Cave Route (5.11), Railroad Tracks (5.10), Mr. Peanut (5.10+), and Chocolate Corner (5.10-) were the highlights of the day, as well as the company of our group!  In fact, the company was as good as the climbing in my opinion.  Time around camp cooking, talking, eating, drinking and spending time around the campfire was great. 

Breakfast in the Cottonwoods

The base of the Cave route (5.11)

Railroad Tracks (5.10)

Chocolate Corner (5.10-)

Campfire

Sunday, we headed back up to the Rambo Walls.  Before sunset on Friday, Matthew and I ran around the base of the cliff  scoping cool lines and assembling a tick list.  The crag was PACKED when we got there, and all the lines we had scoped were taken, which is a terrible feeling.  We were obviously trying to get our bearings and find something...anything that was open.  To make the situation worse, a famous old-school hard-man came over to us and started spraying.  He capped off his unsolicited advice by recommending we go climb somewhere 5 hours away in southwestern Utah.  By that point in the day it would have been the same if he had recommended climbing in the Yosemite Valley.   Our group scrambled around to Left Rambo where we finally found some great, available climbs.  We spent the day working back along the crag and by late afternoon all the early birds had left and we had the crag to ourselves.  So, it all worked out in the end, except that we were too exhausted to make a real attempt at Way Rambo (5.12).  The best climbs of Sunday were Way Rambo, Blue Sun (5.10-), and the Monk (5.10).
 

Those of us who played hooky and stayed until Monday headed over to the Fisher Towers for a quick lap up Stolen Chimney on Ancient Art (5.10d) before hitting the road.  Any time I plan for a smash and grab ascent of a classic line I inevitably get stuck behind a slow party, and this time was no exception.  We got gummed up behind a slow party of 3 who must have been really slow as our party of 5 caught them very quickly.  Thankfully the route has massive belay ledges, so we were able to sit around comfortably while we waited and we made friends with the slow party.  The climbing was pretty good and the summit was outstanding!

Fisher Towers with the Stolen Chimney Summit in the upper right

Anthony on pitch 1 Stolen Chimney (5.10)

The famous summit

Injury, Bonking, Postponed Dreams, New Stoke... AKA Life as Climber

If you spend any time reading about outdoor adventure or climbing like I do, you've probably heard how "peaks" are fleeting and "valleys" can seem to last forever and everything really boils down to "enjoying the journey," which can be an emotional roller-coaster.  My September (AKA Sendtember) was a year's worth of those cliche truths wrapped into one month.  

I had plans for a bid on the Nose in mid September with my brother Matthew, but the last week in July I partially tore a pulley in my ring finger working some lame boulder problem at the gym.  Suddenly the El Cap bid was in question, and I swore off bouldering forever (my only real climbing injuries have happened while bouldering, of course I have also been bouldering since).  I spent the next few weeks practicing aid and resting.  Some initial healing happened quite quickly and I was soon confident on 5.9.  I even found I could climb harder if I stuck to crack climbing and stayed away from crimps.

With the alpine rock season winding down, I made some last minute plans to climb Pervertical Sanctuary, 5.11- on the Diamond.  It had been on my tick list since last summer and I thought it would be good training for the Nose, as well as a test of my finger.  I've only climbed the Diamond twice and each time it had proven to be quite a challenge.  My partner, Anthony, and I headed up on Friday afternoon, planning on bivying at Chasm Lake.  However, after a comedy of errors we got to the trail-head just before dusk.  We were out of daylight and too late to obtain a bivy permit.  After weighing our options, we decided to camp nearby and go for it car-to-car in the morning. 

Looking down the Diamond

The Diamond car-to-car makes for an arduous day, but the climbing was spectacular and we had perfect weather.  I was hoping Anthony would lead the hard stuff, as he usually climbs a bit harder than me and I had a bad finger. Unfortunately, the approach and alpine conditions were pretty taxing on him which left most of the leading up to me.  After the second to last pitch (5.10 off-width at 14,000ft) we were both bonking.  On the last pitch to Table Ledge my hands kept cramping shut every time I let go of the rock, due to the cold, dehydration, and exhaustion.  It made climbing tough and placing gear even tougher.  Thankfully the climbing was only 5.9 at that point.  We did the D7 rappels and hit the trail for the 3hr hike back to the car.  After a 2am start we finally made it back to the car by 10pm.  I still can't believe Steph Davis free soloed this route!  The video below is an account of her free solo, it has some great footage of Pervertical Sanctuary and is a good depiction of climbing on the Diamond, except that she makes it look way too easy.  It felt great to climb the Diamond, but I'm a little embarrassed about how much it worked me. 

 

 

Upon returning to Boulder, I had a text message from my brother Matt, saying he had broken his arm slacklining.  Just like that Yosemite was unquestionably out the window.  I canceled my flight 2 days later, but we are already making plans for next year.  It was pretty disappointing though.

I spent the rest of my September climbing around Boulder.  I'm super stoked on Lumpy Ridge right now.  The climbing up there is so good!  I also made a trip to Independence Pass.  I was very impressed with the climbing there.  I wasn't expecting it to be such a destination, but the setting was very pretty and the rock was excellent with a mix of great trad and sport climbing.  Apparently Rock and Ice agrees, because it is currently the cover article!

Lumpy Ridge

 UP NEXT:  Indian Creek? Ski Season? Country Club Crack Send?  The Naked Edge?

Teton Backpacking

My other recent backpacking trip was to the Tetons with Laura over Labor Day weekend.  We hit the road Friday afternoon and made it to the Tetons a little after midnight.  We slept in the back of the Sequoia (I love that SUV, it doubles as a camper) in the parking lot for a local climbing crag.  At dawn we awoke to a spectacular sunrise that turned the Tetons shades of orange and pink.  Since it was Labor Day weekend, there were people lining up at the ranger station for walk-in backcountry permits.  Laura and I cooked breakfast in line (GNAR points??)  and after obtaining our permit and bear canister we hit the Paintbrush Canyon trail.  Low-hanging clouds were around for most of the morning,  but the weather held for our 7 mile hike in to Holly Lake.

After setting up camp at the lake some darker clouds rolled through and it began to rain.  We got in the tent and took a much needed nap.  A few hours later, the skies began to clear and we headed over to the lake for a swim.  I love swimming when I go backpacking.  It doesn't matter how cold the water is, I almost always go for a quick dip.  I always feel so refreshed afterwards and I sleep better.  Shortly after our swim more dark clouds began to build to the West.  Supposedly there had been a lot of bear activity around Holly Lake, so we hustled to cook dinner away from our camp before the next round of thunderstorms.  Unfortunately, as we finished cooking it started hailing hard and thundering and lightning.  We decided to eat in the vestibule of our tent which is terrible bear awareness, but it sure seemed better than eating out in the elements.  We did store all the food and garbage well away from our tent afterwards.  The thunderstorms hung around all evening and into the night, which I figured would keep the Bears hunkered down instead of bothering us in the tent.

We both slept long and hard, awaking to crystal blue skies in the morning.  Originally, we planed to be up and out of camp early, as we had a 13 mile hike out over a mountain pass.  However, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast while our tent dried.  The hike up to the Paintbrush divide was quite beautiful, but crisp and windy.  From the divide, it was about 10 miles out, but it was all downhill through Cascade Canyon.  On the way out we stopped at lake solitude for a snack.  The highlights of the hike out were seeing 2 moose and the stunning views!  After a long day, we finally made it back to the car.  Since Laura is training for a marathon, she thought it was a good idea to cap off our day with a run, as she "needs mileage."  I was crazy enough to join her in a jog around String lake, turning our 13 mile day into nearly 18 miles. 

Saturday evening, we poked around Jackson.  It's a quaint little town, but it is also very touristy.  We grabbed dinner and beers at the local brewery which was great, especially after a long day.  That evening we camped at a campground and the next morning we went to my favorite little bagel shop in Wilson.  After breakfast, we hit the road for Yellowstone.  Laura had never been and it seemed like a great place to go since we didn't feel like hiking much, however, it added quite a bit of driving to our day.  We hit all the hotspots, the mud pots, Old Faithful, the colorful pools, The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and the buffalo herds.  After we had our fill of Yellowstone we headed home to Boulder.  Overall it was a great trip.

Backpacking in the Elks

I did a decent amount of backpacking this summer (at least for me).  In the last month, I went on 2 trips, both were fantastic.  So much of the time I am hellbent on climbing something, and as a result I often have a hard time getting excited to go "just backpacking."  This summer I found a lot of freedom and relaxation in backpacking and I had a blast getting out there.  It felt really good to shed the weight of the rack, rope, and harness; to go light and fast through the mountains; to stay in my sleeping bag a little longer; and to enjoy more "quality time" with my wife and friends.    

The first trip was to the Elk Mountains with my 2 high school buddies James and Phil.  I had loosely planned an extremely ambitious 30 mile loop, hoping to bag the 14ers Capitol Peak and Snowmass Mountain.  The first day was an adventure through some open range cattle country.  We also had some minor route-finding issues (our planned loop was not very popular nor well traveled).  After humbly asking some real-life cowboys for directions we made some great progress and eventually found a spectacular campsite near treeline, atop a bluff overlooking the East Snowmass Creek valley. 

The next morning we were on the trail reasonably early with a Capitol Peak summit bid.  We cashed our packs just below 13,000ft to get ready for the knife-edge ridge leading to Capitol's incredible summit.  The legendary knife-edge ridge did not disappoint.  The exposure was breathtaking and the 4th class climbing was enjoyable, on solid rock.  After our summit bid, we descended to our next campsite at Capitol Lake for a relaxing afternoon of fishing and swimming.  At the lake James ran into his U of O college buddy, Jackson and his friend Forrest (they planned on summiting Capitol the next day).  We decided to share our campsite with them and had a great evening sharing food and whiskey with old friends and new friends. 

Capitol had proven to be a pretty tiring and technical peak, so James, Phil, and I decided to nix Snowmass and head out a bit early.  We had a gorgeous hike through the White River National Forest that put us back to the car by early afternoon.  We finished off our trip with a swing through a place where the "beer flows like wine and where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano."  We also stopped in Leadville for a beer before finally car camping at Echo Lake in preparation to summit the more mellow 14er Mt. Evans the next morning.   

Route-finding in Cattle Country

Phil on part of the knife-edge ridge

Summit of Capitol

James throwing some casts

Phil below Capitol Peak

 

Mountain Goats on Evans

Sailing in Desolation Sound

Desolation Sound is one of the most spectacular places I have ever been.  Earlier this month I had the opportunity to explore this incredible place with my family.  We chartered a sailboat out of Comox for a week of exploration in this sound, located Northwest of Vancouver in British Columbia.  Desolation Sound is so stunning because of the deep fjords and channels that wind their way through glaciated peaks with mountainsides covered in majestic, deep forests.  Most months of the year can be quite gloomy, however the summer months generally see sunshine.  Due to a tidal phenomenon the water in the sound, which looks like it should be 40-50 degrees heats well in to the 70s, making swimming, sailing and other water activities very enjoyable. 

Our week-long voyage aboard our mono-hull, Hart Beat, was fantastic.  Each day we would sail to a new bay or cove and anchor for the night.  We would explore the surrounding areas by hiking through the forests for fun, or more often with the destination of a freshwater lake, which were crystal clear and wonderful for swimming.   We would also kayak around the shoreline looking for tide pools, seals, or Native American pictographs.  Fishing was a lot of fun too.  We caught enough Ling Cod to feed the family two nights (disappointingly, we didn't catch any salmon).  One of the real highlights was the deep-water soloing.  Many of the impeccable granite cliffs continued directly into the water for several hundred feet.  The rock was excellent granite and the falls were clean into warm water.  I think there is a lot of potential for the development of deep-water soloing in the area. 

Overall it was an unforgettable trip filled with great family time and the enjoyment of God's beautiful creation.

Hammock on the bow of Hart Beat

Fresh Ling Cod

Deep-Water Soloing

Cycling

It's been a while since my last post.  I've been super busy with family and friends in town, which is great.  One of the best reasons for living in Colorado is that people come visit.  Most of the recent visitors were out here for the Triple Bypass Ride.  The ride covers 122 miles from Evergreen to Avon and summits 3 mountain passes (hence the name Triple Bypass).  So, for the past few months, I've been riding quite a bit to train. 

One of the best training rides I did was riding up Mt. Evans, with my father-in-law Dave, who also rode in the Triple.  Mt. Evans is unlike many other 14ers, as it has a road going nearly to it's summit.  As a result it is written off by many 14er enthusiasts; however, it is a great alpine playground for other activities, like rock climbing, skiing, and cycling (It's also a great place to propose to your girlfriend).  The ride up the USA's highest auto road was very scenic and great altitude training for the triple. 

Dave on the Mt. Evan's Road

The Triple was a lot of fun.  There were about 15 people in our group, all friends and family.  Unfortunately, I had some mechanical problems: breaking my chain twice and messing up my rear derailleur.  But, thanks to my team members, our sag team, and a some mechanics at a rest stop, I was able to finish the ride.  The weather also turned pretty nasty at Loveland Pass, the 2nd of the mountain passes.  As we started climbing it began drizzling and there were rumblings of thunder.  As we ascended, the rain intensified and eventually turned to hail as the temperature dropped.  The thunder and lightning also grew closer until there was no delay between the flash and bang, quite terrifying when above treeline.  The decent was harrowing as well.  Riding 40mph in 40 degree rain was bone-chillingly cold.  By the bottom a few of our riders were on the verge of hypothermia.  Thankfully we were able to warm up at a much needed rest stop.  From there it was pretty smooth sailing up and over Vail Pass, although we continued to battle the rain for the remainder of the ride.  Overall it was pretty epic, and a great adventure with friends and family. 

Team Members cruising through Idaho Springs

Smash and Grab

One of the things I love about living in Boulder, is the ability to be out in the mountains very quickly.  On Friday afternoon my wife, Laura, texted me, asking if I wanted to go for a trail run that afternoon.  I was ecstatic and by 5pm we hit the trail from the 4th of July Trailhead with the objective of South Arapaho Peak (13,397).  I love trail running because it is so light and fast.  It's like hiking but so much faster.  We made quick work of the peak and summited within two hours.  We enjoyed a snack and some water on the summit and then we were on our way.  Running downhill is truly the joy of trail running.  In no time we both had a great runner's high and we were enjoying the scenery and conversation as we jogged down to the car.  In 3.5 hours we had logged nearly 9 miles of trail and over 3200ft of elevation gain.  It was a great evening in the mountains with my beautiful wife.

At Tree Line

Laura standing on the USGS marker

Backpacking Indian Peaks

This last weekend I had the pleasure of backpacking in the Indian Peaks with my friend Austin.  We headed out from Boulder on Friday afternoon to hit the trail.  We were planning on hiking the Devil's Thumb Loop.  The loop starts from the Hessie Trail head and climbs past the Devil's Thumb to gain the Continental Divide.  The loop continues South along the Divide and then drops down to King Lake where it descends the King Lake Valley, back to the Hessie Trail head.

We stopped in the Nederland Ace Hardware to pick up our backpacking permit.   The clerk selling us our permit, proceeded to give us a lecture about how we clearly were in over our heads and should be careful out there, especially with all the snow.  This is an occurrence that happens all the time: I constantly get lectured on my inadequacies as a mountaineer by people who don't even know me or my experience level.  Maybe I look more clueless than I am, but I generally find my judgement to be better than most people who feel it necessary to "spray" about ability and safety. 

We hit the trail light and fast at about 4:30pm and we covered the 7 miles up to Devil's Thumb Lake in roughly 3 hours, including a "shiny time" stop at Jasper Lake.  Our campsite was very scenic with the Devil's Thumb pinnacle towering over the lake.  We ate dinner and I slept like a rock that night.

Then next morning we awoke to a crisp mountain frost, and enjoyed a leisurely morning with coffee and a good breakfast.  It was great to sit around and enjoy the beautiful mountain morning.  After breaking camp we set out to gain the Continental Divide, the steepest part of our journey.  The steep section was short but sweet and it seemed we were on the Divide in no time, looking down at Winter Park on one side and the Great Plains on the other.  The High Lonesome Trail which runs along the Continental Divide provides easy access to Skyscraper Peak.  So, we stashed our packs and scrambled to the summit.  I was shocked to find a summit log on the top what seemed to be a seldom climbed peak.  According to the log, we were the first to summit since the Fall.

After picking up our packs, we headed down passed Bob Lake to Betty Lake where we made camp by noon. Big, white, puffy clouds were building already, so we were thankful to have our camp made in case of an afternoon thunderstorm.  The sky threatened storms for the early afternoon, but we braved the weather and went on an afternoon hike over to King Lake.  Upon our return the skies cleared.  To enjoy the remaining afternoon we waded out to a large boulder in Betty Lake.  We drank bourbon and talked about life in the afternoon sun.  It was great.  After watching the sunset with some pine needle tea, it was bedtime.

The morning hike out was beautiful and it went by quickly.  We only stopped once for more "shiny time" at a great waterfall.

Thanks, Austin, for a great trip.

The wildflowers were really popping already

Devil's Thumb on the left side of the ridge

The High Lonesome Trail

Summit of Skyscraper Peak

Austin Relaxing at King Lake

Shiny Time at the waterfall

Monsoon Season

I've been getting rained on recently.  After a great spring with good afternoon weather, I must have been spoiled.  I found myself wondering, "what's with this weather?" when I finally realized it is now June, and officially that time of year when the thunderstorms roll through about every afternoon.  Since I work mornings it now means I have to do what I can with the afternoon weather.

Cragging is still a viable option, however, I have been exploring some other, less weather-dependent, activities.  I  went fly fishing for the first time in years which was great.  Since I bought an annual license I'll probably be going a lot more.   I also found a new love in trail running.  I ran up in the Indian Peaks Wilderness yesterday to Dorothy Lake.  While trail running above tree-line is certainly weather dependent, its easier to bail due to weather than when multi-pitch climbing above tree-line. And running in the rain is easier than climbing in the rain.  I'm trying to keep my cycling mileage up too, as I'm getting ready for the Triple-Bypass ride in July.

I'll be saving those weather-dependent outings like multi-pitch climbing for early mornings on the weekends.

Here are some pictures from my trail run yesterday.  There was a whole lot less snow that I was anticipating.

Lumpy Ridge and the Petite Grepon

I had a great weekend of climbing earlier in May.  My brother, and phenomenal climbing partner, Matthew, was out in the Boulder area, along with our mutual friend Jimmy Costakis.  We headed up to the Estes Park area, with the goal of a casual outing on Lumpy Ridge on Friday afternoon and the Petite Grepon on Saturday.


The 3 of us elected to climb Osiris (5.7) on Lumpy Ridge, but upon arriving at the base of the climb we couldn't resist the adjacent and strikingly aesthetic line, George's Tree (5.9).  It is a gorgeous splitter that beckons the trad climber's name.  The plan was to do the first 2 pitches of George's Tree and then finish with the last 3 pitches of Osiris.  The first pitch was as good as it looked from the ground.  Somehow we made the mistake of continuing straight up for the second pitch instead of traversing left from the belay.  The crack widened substantially after the 1st pitch but it looked like it went at a manageable grade.  Matt led out from the hanging belay, and I knew we were in trouble when the wide crack spit him out; although he managed to catch himself on a good foot.  Eventually he wriggled up the crack and put Jimmy and me on belay.  We were climbing as a party of 3 with just one rope, so I was short-roped to Jimmy about 20ft below him.  Jimmy struggled for quite some time in the obvious crux and eventually had to pull on gear.  Then it was my turn to flail in the crux section.  I fell onto Jimmy's harness a couple of times before pulling through the heinous off-width crux.  At the next belay we consulted the guide book to find we had just climbed the 5.10c off-width variation of George's Tree!  We all had a good laugh about it, especially because Jimmy had never been on a 10c before.  The rest of the climbing was cruiser and enjoyable and we made it back to the car by dark.  That night we met Anthony Riske in town for dinner before heading  into RMNP to camp.

Matt leading the first pitch of George's Tree 5.9

Jimmy Just above the climb's namesake tree

The heinous 5.10c off-width section is just over Matt's right shoulder

The next morning, our group of now 4 awoke predawn to get started on the 5 mile approach to the Petite Grepon.  The 2nd half of the approach still had a lot of snow on it so there was a lot of post-holing involved, making the going quite arduous.  The climbing on the South Face (5.8) was amazing.  It was on good clean rock with interesting movement and incredible views.  It also had massive belay ledges, which always makes the experience more comfortable.  We would have cruised right along, but we got stuck behind a slow party.  I don't consider myself an elite climber or a particularly fast climber, but somehow I always seem to get stuck behind slow parties.  It baffles me how some people are just so dangerously slow in the mountains at times.  Thankfully we were blessed with bluebird weather all day.  We would have been in trouble if some afternoon storms had blow through.  The rap route was a little difficult to follow, but Matthew and Anthony did a great job of finding the stations.  Hiking out was long, but I felt pretty good as I ate well all day and managed to stay hydrated.  Once back at the car, we celebrated with some Deviant Dale's on our tailgates with the "super moon" rising in the east.

Jimmy and Anthony on route (a little hard to see 'em)

Matthew and Anthony with the Summit of the Petite in the Background