we've all been there ...

High up and nowhere to go but UP.

April 21, 2007: Marcelo Montalva on Therapy Traverse, Lower Fern Canyon, Flatirons, CO. Ok, I'll admit I took these pics from too far away. That said, I was still close enough to sense the tension as Marcelo finished the first 30 feet of the "traverse" and began to slide across the sloping lip towards the perceived topout based on our best guess from Horan's Best of Boulder Bouldering guidebook. From the safety of my perch on a distant boulder, I felt bad for Ashley who was spotting the Meat Missile on a 45 degree slope. He was having enough trouble just standing on the hillside, much less spot the Delo effectively. What may surprise you though is that the sports action at the lip encounter scared even the Delo, if only for a moment. In that moment, he had to fully commit, trust his instincts, his balance, his kinesthetic awareness and to make smart movements that minimized his risk. He uncomfortably had nothing to actually crimp or pull on, just slopers to push down on, miles of air underneath him, a bad landing with a few pads that would have done very little IF he even hit them. The whole thing was a bad idea, but MM worked it out. Like I said, we've all been there ...