Black Canyon

Sorry I have been slow to post recently.  On Saturday, Rich and I drove out to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison to climbing Astrodog (5.11+, 14 pitches).  Having had two good friends get seriously injured in the Black I was pretty nervous rapping into the 2000 foot canyon with no way back out but to climb up.  However, everything went smoothly and Rich and I topped out just before it got dark.  The Black is one of the more stunning climbing areas I have been too in terms of the shear size and beauty of the area, not to mention how wild and untouched if feels.  I am very excited to have done this and am looking forward to future climbs in the Black.

Turkey Rocks

Nearly a year has passed since I became interested in traditional climbing and I have been harassed the entire time by my friends that I HAVE to go to Turkey Rocks.  I finally got out there this weekend with Rich, Jess, Noah, Hale, Tim and Ted.  It was a great day.  My first climb there turned into an epic when Noah forgot to mention the two fixed nuts 40 feet up were the anchors and I ended almost a whole rope length up, out of gear, with no anchors in sight.  I backed up a good #2 with a chockstone and lowered the rope to the ground to get some gear then Noah climbed up and we topped the Turkey Tail out.  I also did an awesome 5.12- second try and flashed In Search of Unicorns 5.11c.   Unicorns was the best trad climb I have done on granite and I am excited to spend some more time up at Turkey throughout the summer.  If Hale gets around to sending me some photos, I will post them up.

Autre Salvo video on MVM

I just got another video up on MVM.  This time it is my friend Ben Schmitt doing the FA of Autre Salvo (5.14a) at Elevenmile Canyon.  Ben tried this route on an off for over a year and he finally convinced me to try it and I figured some good beta out for the dyno and Ben was able to send shortly after.  Enjoy.

Updates

In May, Noah Kaufman and Siemay Lee were visiting Jeff Sutton and looking to see what Southern Colorado offered. I had a day off from class and was able to give them a pretty thorough tour of a nice spot down south. Noah and Siemay both had a good day and I captured some nice footage of some of their sends. HD footage here.

Evans: Hume Problem

I went up to Evans on Sunday with Noah and Sam and we moved straight up to area B after warming up. I got some great burns in on Gorillas in the Mist but did not finish it. After trying a new line with Carlo and Ben for a while, we all moved over into the sun at the Hume Boulder. I sent Hume Problem (V9) in a couple of tries after figuring the moves out a week ago with Ander.

Ander going big the the lip the week before.

Evans: The Mirrormask and Big Worm

Before Ander headed west to Rifle for the summer, we met up for one last bouldering session. Ander, Chris, Jackie and I had the boulders to ourselves and we all converged at the Mirrormask/Big Worm. Chris was fresh off being snipped by DG for the first of this nice line and was looking to clean it up. Despite some very good burns (check out that try-hard in the photos), he had to wait two more days to send. Ander worked Mirrormask for a while, but could not put all the moves together after figuring them out.

Boulder Canyon

About a week ago, I spent an afternoon hanging out with friends and shooting some photos in Boulder Canyon. I had split my tip on the Hume Problem at Evans so I was trying my best not to climb. The first photo is Tim on a great looking 5.11 and the following four are him on a bouldery 5.12.

Photo Dump Part IV: No Troublems

I met Dave on an East Mountain tour that I squeezed onto in Febuary down in Hueco and then ran into him again in Squamish last weekend. His six month North American bouldering trip is coming to an end and next week he will be returning to New Zealand. For a self-proclaimed "old guy" he is very good at pebble wrestling. Show below is a nearly full sequence for No Troublems (V9/10) in the forest of Squamish.

Photo Dump Part III: Fun Factory Low

Simon narrowly sticking the crux move of Fun Factory Low (V9) in the Apron Boulders of Squamish. This is an inspiring line that would be very, very difficult for anyone with less than a six foot arm span.

Photo Dump Part II: Loose Change

This is one of the great V7 classics of Squamish, located in the Grand Wall forest. A bunch of big moves on positive holds lead to a difficult and scary mantle up high. Elise had to figure some unique beta out to make the moves go for her. Here are some shots of her working it out.

Photo Dump Part I: Chutzpah

Here are some photos of me sending Chutzpah (V11) at the Index River Boulders. All photos are credited to Bryan Boyko.

Conviction video up on MVM!

I am pleased to announce that my first MVM contribution is up for viewing. It is a video of my good friend Tim Gibson on the super classic John Sherman. Tim and I had tried this line on and off for a while and Tim was able to put it together in good style dispite a stomach sickness that had barely allowed him to get out of bed that morning. Enjoy!