Sunseeker 8B
Sunseeker 8B
Photo: Chuck Fryberger
The summer in Estes Park has begun…
The majestic Hallet’s Peak towers over Tyndall Gorge
Emerald Lake is a small area, but there are some classic testpieces. The south side of the drainage is home to Whispers of Wisdom, The Kind Traverse and The Kind. The north side has one boulder with several problems. Large and Real Large are the best, but there is also Tommy’s Arete, which climbs a nice overhanging prow, Hi Fi V10, which climbs the obvious seam to the right of Real Large, and Conquest V12, which starts to the right of the Larges as well, but climbs high from some crimpy underclings to a hard match.
This was my first trip to the Park this year, and I have conservatively estimated that I have bouldered in RMNP over 400 days. I was exhausted from all the climbing on Saturday. I climbed only one boulder, the classic V9 Real Large. Here is Ryan Olson making a quick send.
Ryan Olson, Real Large V9
I had a great session at Mt. Evans on Saturday. A huge crew was there and the conditions were good. A group of Southerners including Jon Glassberg, Jimmy Webb, Nate Draughn and Brion Voges climbed several classics, but local boy Paul Robinson earned the employee of the day with his send of The Big Worm V14. I added a nice variation to Bierstadt which starts about 5 ft to the left on a right hand pinch and a left hand edge. I named it after one of my favorite artists, Banksy, in keeping with a theme Ben Scott started so many years ago. Here are some pics from the day.
Ground Control V11/12
Banksy V9 FA
I also tried a very nice project, which is in the V12 or V13 range, and scoped out an old project from the early days. When completed, this will be the best problem at Mt. Evans.
The best project in Colorado…?
]]>Mt. of The Holy Cross
Four years ago I hiked into the basin underneath The Cross Couloir. Its about 3 miles, but up and over Half Moon Pass. The entire valley is filled with good rock, and in places it’s not unlike the gneiss in RMNP. Where as the bands in the Park are grey, white, black and blue, we saw some rock here that was streaked with red. Boulders lie below the cliff band near Lake Patricia, across the far side of Lake Patricia and increasing towards the 14er. This is one of the best places I have seen in Colorado, and it is simply waiting for someone to go start putting up new problems. The 3 hour drive and subsequent 1hour hike have kept me away so far.
Lone Eagle Peak, Indian Peaks Wilderness
Three years ago I made a brutal hike with Angela, starting at Brainard Lake and making our way up and over Pawnee Pass, into the Lone Eagle Peak basin and back out. The trudge up Pawnee Pass from the west is one of the most brutal sections of trail I have ever hiked. Coming from Brainard we ticked almost 20 miles of hiking that day, but 13 miles into our hike we stumbled upon a huge talus field of high quality granite. As you are approaching the boulders the pile was on our left, about a half a mile from the Peak itself. The realistic approach is to come in from Monarch Lake, on the west side of the Divide. This cuts the hike to about 6 miles which, for a long weekend, would be fairly reasonable. This is one of the most beautiful mountain places I have ever been.
Lone Eagle Peak
Picketwire Canyonlands, Comanche National Grasslands
Four years ago I had been scouring images on www.terraserver.microsoft.com, which was a precursor to Google Earth. Trying to think of a new way to think about where there might be bouldering in the state, I started looking east. To my amazement I found an enormous canyon about 60 miles east of Trinidad. There were small sections of public land and I made the 4.5 hour drive three weekends in a row. The Picketwire is a really special place. In October the Tarantulas come out and although I didn’t see any several people on the trail registry wrote that they had. There is also a bunch of rock art, and at the far end of the public access, dinosaur tracks. The rock that I saw in the National Grassland varied wildy in quality, from perfectly solid rock to total choss. Angela and put up several problems. There is a ton of rock in the area, unfortunately most of the best stuff is on private land, and I had a friend ran off by a rancher, and I never went back.
The Box
7 miles in
Last year Tommy Caldwell hiked into an obscure area in Wild Basin, RMNP and put up some very nice problems. The hike is 7 miles or three hours, and we made a day trip. This is an absolutely spectular and fragile area to which no established trails lead. It is a small area, but there are a handful of outstanding problems. Several hard projects remain to be climbed for the truly dedicated. Highlights include Spread Eagle V11 and Welcome to the Box V3. The Park is one of the rockiest places in all of Colorado and it is certain to hold more. I have hiked most of the trails on the east side of the Park and have seen boulders near Black Lake, The Gash, Lake Ypsilon, Glacier Gorge, the base of the Diamond, Tourmaline Lake, Sky Pond and several other places
Welcome to the Box V3 RMNP
This is just the tip of the iceberg and this list is by no means comprehensive. Other potential exists near Winter Park and the Devil’s Thumb, the areas surrounding Newlin Creek, an area at the base of Buffalo Mtn. I hiked to in the Gore Range (which is steep and seems to have a ton of good rock), the Mt. Zirkel Wilderness Area, which was heavily glaciated, and many many others. i also saw some potential past Red Cliff up a 10 mile dirt road, a large talus field on the right, and the Indepedance Pass/Ruedi Reservoir seems ripe with good granite. Hopefully more and more people will be exploring and looking for new rock!
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