4 score and a few brazillion years ago ...

... granite boulders rained down upon every valley and chasm in this great wilderness.

July 4, 2006: Me on Strikezone Roof, Mount Evans Wilderness Area, CO. The Strikezone is the first area you will come to during the approach and it has a number of nice moderates, this being one of them. I spent last Independence Day up there and may do it again this year.

after multiple days in the willows

I finally sent and JJ was "allowed" to get a quick repeat.

July 16, 2006: Justin Jaeger on Prehistoric Bird, Mount Evans Wilderness Area, CO. On the second boulder in the willows as you walk into Area A are 3 lines. The other two went down fairly quickly 2 years earlier ... but this one did not. On four prior occasions spread out over 2 years, I looked at or got on this line at the very end of a long day, sometimes with people eagerly waiting to head home - sorry Ashley, Ted and anyone else I'm forgetting. Tired and rushed on those days, I failed to get anywhere. Hell, I never even got it cleaned sufficiently for sending. On this day, I started my day in the willows, cleaned it up proper style and finally put it away via a couple of clutch snags, hence the name. JJ then got the OK and swooped in for a quick repeat. Maybe I can get one of you foolfaces to repeat it for the camera, without all the totally superfluous FA-session chalk this time, eh?

BONUS BETA

The Second Willow Boulder sports 3 obvious problems on it's east side. The thin and tricky SE arete on the left is Sacred Stones and the NE arete on the right with the somewhat despo "army-crawl" (JJ's words) topout is The Last Drag. Prehistoric Bird ascends the vertical face between them just left of a thin seam. After you negotiate your way through the willows, all 3 problems are fun for a change of pace, to warm up or to try something else up at Big E in the V2 to V7 range. No hard and fast grades are given. We're all grownups and can decide for ourselves, right?

a step away from obscurity

I am hoping to coax Tendon into finally name this gem.

June 24, 2006: Mike Greenfield on another currently-unnamed Tendon FA, Mount Evans Wilderness Area, CO. This line has everything you want in a warm-up ... obviousness, independence, small but reasonable holds to a topout that will have your attention with lots of air under your feet. But, to date it remains unnamed. Hopefully, some of the early developers will agree to name some of the the really good unnamed lines (most of them beings moderates) this year. Are you with me on this???!!1111!??

POSTSCRIPT

July 6, 2007: Tendon has relented. In exchange for a few photos, Bennett has agreed to name this problem ... Dark Crystal. It's a great tall warm-up, so check it out if you haven't already. The alternative name he proposed was Demands From Chuffer - ha!

your first time ...

You want the really good stuff.

July 1, 2006: Ted Lanzano on The Ladder, Mount Evans Wilderness Area, CO. Everybody loves this problem ... as a warm-up or just for fun as an intro to the area. It's obvious why, whether you are a beginner or strongmo. This along with Right el Skyland are strong candidates for the best easy moderates in CO. Next weekend, I will be getting back up there for the first visit of the season. Way psyched ... and hope to see you out there.

whacked-out bizarro beta

If it exists, I will find it.

April 14, 2007: Me on Born Defeated, the low sds into The Zoller Bulge, Bulge Boulder, East Skunk Canyon, Flatirons, CO. Because I win no battles based solely on strength or talent, I typically have to find most efficient and least-taxing sequence. For this one, the key is in the start. Begin sitting down, facing right, matched on a terrible crimp and a sidepull that don't seem good enough to do much of anything. Putting your right heel in the obvious heel-lock-of-doom out right seemed helpful but wasn't quite what I needed. On a whim, I tried the left heel ... EUREKA!!! The second move is a real doozy as well, with a wild campus crossover to the obvious jug in the photo, but no photo-beta is required to describe that madness. The rest of the problem is obvious, sliding slightly back to the right to matching sloper crimps, then straight out the high bulge directly above me.

getting out with a good crew

Priceless.

April 1, 2007: John Peske, Dave Wahl, TJ and The Delo sorting out what would (minutes later) become Ankylosaurus, Dinosaur Mountain, Flatirons, CO. The energy was insane after Andy took us up to this boulder and we proceeded to establish I Heart Jugs, Littlefoot, and Pebbles Flintstone on the right side of the boulder. Good friends, positive energy, glorious temps, the winter-from-hell was finally over, everyone was psyched ... and it was a GLORIOUS day in the Flatirons. Unfortunately, I got no photos of The Delo's send, so you'll have to live without the beta for the last 2-3 moves.

POSTSCRIPT

Oh yeah, a week later, The Delo came back and climbed the line to the left ... a line Andy had cleaned and tried last fall. He dubbed it Supersaurus, presumably because it was sooooooooooo freakin' super. Supersaurus begins from a sit start on obvious holds 5 or 6 feet left of Ankylosaurus and moves straight up past obvious sidepulls to some subtleties at 10-12 feet before getting into the high seam and the thin topout. Supersaurus climbs really well and with a little traffic should become a Flatirons classic.

obvious. enticing. brilliant.

All are common themes at Big E.

June 24, 2006: Ashley Overton on Pink Fink, Mount Evans Wilderness Area, CO. More Evans photos to come all summer long.

over 7 years ago ...

This was among the 1st problems I did when I moved to CO.

April 10, 2007: Mike Banuelos on Major Tom, Satellite Boulders, Flatirons, CO. The Satellites, along with Flagstaff and Carter Lake were among the first zones of blocks that permanently sold me on bouldering and thankfully got me to put the ropes, gear, drill away after 11 years. The Satellites possess some of the best stone in the Flatirons and a perfect 25-30 minute warm-up hike that keeps the lazy-ass roadside boulderers away. These blocks, along with those on Flagstaff Mountain and at Carter Lake were the blocks that transformed me from a full-time chuffer into the enlightened chuffer that I profess to be today. Although I prefer bouldering on granite, I will always have a soft spot for Fountain sandstone.

more from the Feather

As always, there's more where this came from.

March 4, 2007: Grant Ortman on In the Meantime, Ceremonies, Red Feather Lakes, CO. This problem is in the Ceremonies, but reminiscent of the Black Hills, hike far enough in any direction off any road in the area and you will find climbable rock. Folks will be putting new lines in there for years to come.

moderate newness & funness

Can you dig it?

June 10, 2007: Matt Karasik on Back Door Out of Life, Eldorado Mountain, CO. Good crimps, pinches and pockets - on rock that was meant to be climbed - that allow for interesting yet mellow moves up to a monster jug finish at 16-17 feet. Good for warming or warming down, moving fluidly over rock is almost always underrated AND often forgotten in our numbers-obsessed minds and climbing culture. Oh, and on the other side of this block is one of top 25 lines I've ever seen anywhere. I'll leave to the film makers for Rocky Mountain Highball to blow your mind with that one.

getting down ...

... is sometimes the sketchiest part.

June 10, 2007: Me contemplating the descent off of a new boulder problem Matty and I dubbed Sticks and Stones, Eldorado Mountain, CO. If I don't look happy up there, I'm not.

it's getting to be that time of year ...

The snow's melting, the temps are righteous, the scenery is beautiful, the boulders are unreal in a Swiss Alps sort-of-way and the majority of the problems are straight-up brilliant.

June 24, 2006: Ashley Overton on The Minds of Goldfish, Mount Evans Wilderness Area, CO. Thanks for doing this line again and again for the camera Ashley. Words do not do the place justice, so just look at the pics again, put your tick-list together and have some big days out with friends.

good boulders

... are hard to find.

September 25, 2005: Ken Gibson on the FA of The Ebbing Tide, Streambed Boulder, Young's Gulch, Poudre Canyon, CO. Among the best problems in Young's Gulch and one of the best for the grade in the entire canyon. After putting up Salsa Brava (Photo 1 below) during a prior visit, this was the second line to go in on this boulder. Doing The Ebbing Tide opened our eyes to putting up two lines just to the left, Crimson Tide (Photo 2 below) and Hasta en Fuego (Photo 3 below) as well as the obvious blunt arete to the right Mardi Gras (not pictured) on subsequent visits. One of the best single boulders in the entire canyon for problems in the V2-V7 range.

SUPPLEMENTAL PHOTOS

Photo 1: Adam Maers on Salsa Brava

Photo 2: Scott Neel on Crimson Tide

Photo 3: Ken Gibson on Hasta en Fuego

Mardi Gras (not yet pictured - but stay tuned)