<3 slab!!!11!!!!!

... at least when they are pure lines.

August 12, 2006: Andy Mann on Slabs Kick Ass & Justin Jaeger on Slab Master of the Universe, The Slab, Skyland Boulders, CO. These side-by-side slab lines grabbed some of our crew's attention for a few minutes until we could chuck a fun lap. Like virtually every problem at Skyland, both lines scream at you to climb them. We complied ... zw3rd.

project mode 3

Progress is sometimes slow, but half of the battle is just believing.

March 2007: Ted Lanzano and Marcelo Montalva on a new project, Dinosaur Mountain, Flatirons, CO. Extensive cleaning of the lower part of the wall transformed a forgettable and somewhat chossy lowball seam into a hard, clean and worthy project. It's not all that long, but it's WAAAAAAY OBVIOUS. One of you tards that frequent this blog get psyched and send this rig from the lowest holds. It will go!!!!!111!!

once you start, you can't stop ...

... or at least I can't.

April 23, 2006: Ken Gibson on The Maine Line, XXXs, Poudre Canyon, CO. A recent addition to the ultraclassics in Poudre Canyon, this technical problem zooms up sloping "just good enough" crimps on a 10 degree overhanging shallow dihedral to an interesting crux attaining the lip. JJ and Ken dug deep for 2nd and 3rd ascents of the line on this day. Nice work guys!

speaking of the Poudre ...

Minus the first couple moves, here's another problem we put up in YG last season.

June 17, 2006: Scott Neel on The First Thing, Young's Gulch, Poudre Canyon, CO. For whatever reason, all the other Poudre regulars have passed on developing problems in Young's Gulch. As of now, we've put in some 40-50 problems in Young's Gulch, a few of which are definitely worth the approach, especially if you are looking to get some mileage on Poudre granite in the moderate range or if the weather's crappy up canyon. As far as we've hiked in, we've found climbable boulders lurking in the bottom of the gulch and up on its slopes, so keep on hiking and poking around. Who knows what you'll find?!!!11!??111?

back in the poudre AT LAST

After a long, depressing and Poudreless winter, I finally got up there again.

March 4, 2007: Me on Shooting Gallery Overhang Right, The Shooting Gallery, Poudre Canyon, CO. We visited the Ceremonies up at Red Feather in the morning and followed that up with an afternoon in full sun at The Shooting Gallery. Brilliant movement over impeccable stone in a breathtaking setting ... as you all know, that is what you get when you venture up the Cache la Poudre. The only thing the two problems on this boulder lack are 5 to 10 more feet of height and better names. Oh well. Thanks for taking the photo Ken!

Big E

Where almost every problem deserves three stars.

June 26, 2004: Mike Hickey on Ben's Arete, Mount Evans Wilderness Area, CO. This problem gets *** in my book, no doubt about it. Anyway, what else can I possibly say about a day at Big E. Get up early. Drive an hour plus to Echo Lake Parking Lot. Hike 1 hour plus through spectacular scenery to some of the most inspiring boulders in America. Climb all day, hike out in the dark, drive home satisfied and worn out. Even when you have a project you are working on (and there are lots of lines worth seriously projecting), it's hard not to stop and try other things JUST BECAUSE. Words are getting in the way of what I'm trying to say, for real. In any event, here's Hickey and his individual sense of climbing fashion on another classic problem put up by Tendon.

days in the woods alone

As much as I enjoy bouldering with good friends, many of my most memorable climbing moments have been spent bouldering alone.

November 11, 2006: Me on It Ain't No Layup, Dinosaur Mountain, Flatirons, CO. After being shown this problem 3 weeks earlier by the first ascentionist, Will LeMaire, I had to come back for more. I had only a half day to get out, so I skipped out on joining everyone else. After warming up down-trail, tweaking the landing a bit, thoroughly recleaning the candidate holds and scoping the topout, the best sequence of moves (for me) became obvious. I tossed aside Will's beta and began my efforts to dyno for the top from lower holds. It took me awhile to fully commit to the big dyno, jumping harder and harder with each successive try. I took a couple bad/awkward falls along the way, which were mental setbacks. Nobody else would have had the patience to put up with how slow my progress was, but I enjoyed the 2+ hours I spent warming my mind up for the dyno and "palming the basketball." Obviously, these pictures were taken on a return visit, but the real treat was solving this problem all by myself on a very quiet and centering day up in the Flatirons. Thanks for taking the pics Scott!