diminutive problems ...

... can still be pretty damn brilliant.

May 27, 2007: Scott Neel on Left Angry Man, Lumpy Ridge, CO. In less than optimal conditions requiring some patience including fashioning a "sloper-shade" out a shirt and 2 stick brushes, waiting for the sun to go over the other side of the boulder and then getting a cool breeze and a little cloud cover, Scott got down to business ... and quick and stylish business is what it was. This send was sponsored by Skoal Pouches and Planters mixed nuts.

the top of my ticklist ...

... and for good reason.

August 3, 2006: Me on The Dali (low sds), Mount Evans Wilderness Area, CO. Grades aside, this is one of the best lines in CO. I was happy to do the matched stand start and the matched crimper sds in prior years as I tried to see and get up every moderate line at Evans the past 3 years, but this year the full line from the low sds will receive special attention. I rarely force myself to spend exhorbitant amounts of time just to send one line, but for this one, I'm going to make an exception. In 2006, I felt like I was close to doing the low sds, but my days up there kept coinciding with rain and humidity. Fortunately, if you hike up to Evans enough, your body has no choice but to get fit and light. See you clowns up there early and often. Thanks for taking the photo SNeel!

pissing on home area classics

Figuratively ... not literally.

May 13, 2007: Ken Gibson on Hank's Lunge, Hank's Boulder, 420s, Poudre Canyon, CO. The best problem on indisputably one of the best boulders in Colorado. The problem is pure, the rock quality doesn't get any better anywhere and the setting is perfect, etc., etc., etc. The old man has this rig sooooooo wired, but I suppose I'm easily impressed. Anyway, effortless sends are always inspiring to watch and I had a birds eye view for this one.

going to the Poudre this weekend

This is one problem we won't be getting on.

April 2, 2005: Me on "The Lake Problem", The Bog, Poudre Canyon, CO. Sitting above the water, this moderate is about as condition-dependent as it gets. While condition-dependent problems usually require cold temperatures to send, this one requires a lengthy period of cold-temperatures so the ice will reach a sufficient depth so we can even access the problems safely. So there I was ... climbing in shorts above a frozen lake. Actually, not sure it's fair to call it a lake, but whatever ... it's a really nice problem. There are 3 more really fun and somewhat harder problems further around to the right. Thanks for taking the photo SHahn!

not this time ... OR ... aayyyhhhhhhh!!!!111!!

Which is good, because there wasn't enough room for both of us up there anyway.

April 29, 2007: Matt Miller on Aretial Dysfunction, Dinosaur Mountain, Flatirons, CO. If we floated to the top every time we got on a new boulder problem, climbing wouldn't be a challenge. Fear of twisting falls above suspect landings keeps us on our toes and trying hard. Of course, we had enough pads for twisting falls above suspect landings. That's how we roll. Everyone in our crew sorted this good-times-fun problem out in short order. Thanks go out to Andy Mann and John Peske, who spotted and cleaned this tall funky tension-rich arete near The Land Before Time Boulder a couple weeks earlier. Good eyes doodz!

'nuther wicked classic put up by U-NO-WHO

... and if you don't know who ... you SHOULD.

October 11, 2003: Justin Jaeger on The Scab, Needles Area, Custer State Park, Black Hills, SD. Just a short jaunt downhill from John Gill's 1961 masterpiece The Thimble is The Scab, another Gill classic established in 1963 that inspired a generation of boulderers ... as the photo of him clinging to the overhnaging portion of The Scab appeared in numerous climbing publications over the years as well as Master of Rock. One of the world's first V7's, it is hard to imagine Mr. Gill holding onto those razor-sharp crystals with HEAVY boots on his feet. Anyway, too bad I ran out of film on this sequence, because JJ's problems on this problem were not quite over. Wicked indeed.