Misc climbing pics June 30-July 15 July 16, 2007

Nick working the Cat’s Eye Traverse at Horsetooth Reservoir on June 30.

Future Coloradan Brian Williams belaying Nick on The Mad Scientist at Red Rock Canyon Open Space in Colorado Springs on July 8.

Brian leading Storm Surge at Red Rock Canyon.

Again on Storm Surge.

One more.

Lee dragged me along for his long-awaited (20-some years) attempt at the North Face of Mt. Toll in the Indian Peaks Wilderness. Sometimes I like to get up at 3:45 a.m. to suffer with my friends. I had a bunch of photos earlier on in the approach hike, but they’re all of Lee’s back because he was leaving me in the dust. This lake, Blue Lake, is at 11,300 feet, and I was already toast by the time we got here. Here’s Lee checking the map for the details on the rest of the approach.

In about an hour and a half, we’ll be climbing the right side of the mountain in the background and I won’t be smiling anymore. (Photo by Lee Smith)

Lee crossing a snowfield on the way to the saddle between Mt. Toll and Paiute Peak.

I froze in the shade on the north side of the mountain and had to climb the first pitch (after Lee led it) with numb fingers. It was 95 degrees in Denver on Saturday, but about 30 degrees in the shade on Mt. Toll.

Here’s me after the roped climbing was finished and we had a 200-foot scramble to the top. About three minutes after Lee took this photo, I managed to pull a pillow-sized rock off and onto my leg while scrambling, just about giving myself a heart attack in the process. Lee looked back and asked me if I was hurt, and with the rock still sitting on my shinbone, I said I was fine and just happy I didn’t slide off the goddamn mountain. Had it pulled a little harder, I might have rolled backwards a few feet and then fell about 500 feet. I carefully removed it from my foot and moved on. (Photo by Lee Smith)

On the summit. Note incoming storm. (Photo by Lee Smith)

Lee on the summit. We had the place to ourselves, and were in a hurry to get down, so we didn’t get a team summit photo, just the individuals.

Nick and I went to the Highwire Crag in Clear Creek Canyon west of Golden on Sunday morning. We weren’t the only ones with that idea, and instead of climbing the easy routes, which were occupied the whole day, we ended up on some run-out 5.9 and a two-pitch 5.10a route called Deuces Wild or something like that. I scared the crap out of myself leading both, and probably Nick, too. I bet everyone there thought we made it look really hard. But we made it. (Photo by Nicky)

This is the approximate line of Deuces Wild, I think, on a photo I took from the other side of the creek.

Little did we know there were a bunch of other routes on the east side of the creek (the Highwire Crag is on the west side). Here’s a shot of a guy on a route on the River Wall.

Not-so-great climbing pics, June 16-20 June 21, 2007

Lee and I went climbing at Lumpy Ridge in Estes Park on Saturday. Unfortunately, I left my camera in the truck, so this is the only shot I got: The sun rising along Highway 93 between Golden and Eldorado Springs.

I did poach this photo off MountainProject.com, though (courtesty Jason Seaver). We climbed a route called the White Whale on the Left Book, under the red arrow in the photo.

On Sunday, Nick and I drove up to Horsetooth Reservoir to do some toproping on the cliffs there with Aaron and Chris. Here’s Nick on some 5.8 line on Duncan’s Ridge, I believe.

Here’s Aaron near the top of the same climb, with Nick belaying him.

He smiles because he likes the climbing.

Nick and I went out to Golden after work on Wednesday and climbed a couple routes on North Table Mountain. The last one wasn’t in the guidebook, and it was 5.9ish or 5.10ish. After flailing around on it like a scared Cub Scout for a while, I finally finished it in the dark. Which would have given me a great opportunity to get a sweet photo of the moon rising over the cliffs, except I don’t have a monopod, so it came out pretty shitty-looking.

Pics May 19-21 May 22, 2007

Nick and I headed up to Estes Park on Saturday to do some climbing at Jurassic Park, a crag that sits above Lily Lake near Highway 7. We got two routes in before a storm poured a bunch of rain and some sleet on us and soaked everything. This photo is of a lady climbing The Edge of Time, a 5.9 route that was above mine and Nick’s ability when we tried it last October, and I ripped my pants, elbow and one of my ass cheeks crashing through the tree just to the guy’s left in the photo. We didn’t do it this time, as we got stormed off about 20 minutes after I took this photo with Nick’s camera.

The 2007 Colfax Marathon was going on Sunday, and I stopped by the intersection of Broadway and Colfax to snap the cliche runner in front of the capitol building photo. Last year, when I was running the marathon, I was still in good spirits about here, which I think was close to Mile 14. No way in hell I’m doing that again.

We took Josh up to Horsetooth Reservoir and met up with Aaron and Krista to act like we knew how to boulder. Here’s a shot of Aaron nailing the Penny Lunge for the first time ever. Had I waited a fourth of a second, I would have had a really great shot here.

Here’s Nick starting the Penny Lunge, with Krista, Josh and I spotting him. There’s really no way to do it besides jumping completely off the rock and throwing both hands for the top.

He hung on to the top hold for just a second before coming off. Nick’s going to have to get it next time. He was so close …

Here’s another shot from the top. Nick’s trying to one-hand the dyno, which is actually tougher, in my humble amateur opinion.

Pics April 19-29 May 1, 2007

We got Emily up her first full route at Garden of the Gods on April 21. She needed a little coaching, but was quite heroic, and even cocky when she got down. She was very disappointed to find out that this wall was called Kindergarten Rock. Upward and onward.

I took the day off Thursday and got to do some bouldering at Mount Sanitas in Boulder. The route on the far right climbs straight up that wall and tops out at about 20 feet. I was able to scare the shit out of myself, but finish it.

Lee Smith, a guy I met last week, was kind enough to take me up Seal Rock in the Flatirons on Saturday. It was my first trad climb and my first multipitch climb. Seal Rock is the one beneath the red arrow.

Here’s roughly the route we followed.

Here’s the view of the Flatirons at the top of the first pitch.

Me climbing the fourth pitch, following Lee.

Me at the top, with The Goose in the background.

Lee and I at the top. We did not plan the matching helmets thing.

I drove up to Fort Collins after the Salvagetti breakfast ride on Sunday to go bouldering with Aaron. He snapped this pic of me on Tiger Rock. This problem is ridiculous, and I think we actually cheated to finish it.

A visit to the mecca of bouldering December 11, 2006

I’d have no idea where to put my hand next if Chris wasn’t standing there telling me. Here, I’m trying to traverse about 14 feet to the right. I made it about 10 feet.

I took my first trip to Horsetooth Reservoir, above Fort Collins today, for my first time bouldering. After a full three-hour day of it, my take on bouldering is that it’s more intense, lower to the ground, much harder on the fingers and forearms than sport climbing. (And without harnesses, ropes and other hardware to get in the way.) We worked on five problems, of which I completed three, including the Penny Lunge on the Penny Boulder, a leap off the front side of the rock to a two-hand grab of a giant handhold on top. It took me four tries to finally nail it, after repeatedly flopping butt-first onto the crash pads.

Chris, a chemistry teacher at Fort Collins High School, was a great guide. He’s been climbing for 16 years and has done a lot in that time, spending large chunks of his summer vacations at Horsetooth or at Hueco Tanks. Mild-mannered FCHS math teacher Aaron, also new to bouldering, and I found neither of us had the hand strength to take to bouldering like fish to water. Chris, I think, probably rips phone books in half and crushes full soda cans in his spare time.