Saunders Climbing

A Farewell To Joe's Valley & Hello Hueco

2011-12-05T08:52:00.000-08:00

Brad, Ben Conner & myself have now been in Joe's Valley for over a month. We have had some of the most ideal weather possible on our trip up until this last week. With the snow and cold temps pushing us out we are all psyched to head to Hueco. Its been an amazing stay in Joe's with great times spent climbing and hanging out with good friends! Everyone had a great trip and put down some projects. Mr. Ben Conner had a great trip sending Death Scream V10, The Worm Turns V10, Dunkin Donuts V10,
Playmate Of The Year V9 and impressive flashes of Dance With The Devil V8 and Godsend V9 great work sir. Brad crushed his main objective sending Ghost King V11 as well as Dunkin Donuts V10, The Worm Turns V10, Eye Of The Beholder V10 and Playmate Of The Year V9 solid work! I had a great trip sending Ghost Of War V11/12, Big Joe Left V11/12, Kill List V11, Beyond Life Sit Start V12 and a handful of other classics. I'm always impressed by the amount of classic climbs at Joe's and will no doubt be back in the spring! Tomorrow we are heading south towards Hueco couldn't be more excited can not wait! We got some great footage of our Joe's stay and I will post it here soon when I'm done editing it. Can not wait for Hueco gonna continue to be a great winter!
-Dustin

A Summer In The Park

2011-12-02T09:52:00.001-08:00

Joe's Update

2011-11-17T11:30:00.000-08:00

Brad & I have been in Joe's Valley now for a little over three weeks. The conditions continue to be nothing but amazing with only one day of snow and a day of rain so far! I've been so psyched on the amount and quality of the climbing here. The rock is so diverse and each area holds some many styles of climbing there is no shortage of good problems. Brad & I both sent a new compression problem called Eye Of The Beholder V10 a cool new line involving a hard kneebar. Mr. Ben Conner pulled off a great flash of Godsend V9 a sloppy line high above the left fork and crushed Death Scream V10 a serious crimp fest in the Right Fork. I was super psyched to finish two of my main goals at Joe's Ghost Of War V11 & Big Joe Left V11! Brad & Ben are both looking close on Ghost King and Fingerhut. I've been trying a great newer line called Kill List a super powerful line on perfect black rock. Hoping the weather holds and we get as much climb time here as possible! Super psyched for Hueco! Gonna post the RMNP video next week and also some photos/video's from Joe's. Psyched!
Dustin

The End Of Estes & Start Of Joe's

2011-10-31T09:57:00.001-07:00

A few days ago Brad & I headed to Joe's after resting a few days in Steamboat after the park season. It was a great season and I was very happy to be living in Estes spending my time climbing in the canyon. After spending nearly three months living in Estes Brad & I decided to head for better weather. We climb tons of days in the canyon this summer and everyone we climb with had a great breakthrough. After only three season's of climbing Brad sent his first V12 Blood Money amazing work! Aaron took down handfuls of V11's and sent Blood Money, Low Left Veritas, Wildcat & Phallus the guy is crushing it! Mr. Ben Conner made the trip up from Pingree Park to put down Triple Threat Arete and Veritas just in time before the snow hit. I got to cross a few problems off the lifetime list sending Wildcat, Riddles In The Park and Bush Pilot! Had tons of close calls on problems that will just have to wait for next season! Had an amazing time climbing with friends in the mountains can't wait until next spring! We got a great deal of footage but sadly due to weather weren't able to get all of it, but in a few weeks I will post a video of a bunch of park action!
Brad & I arrived in Joe's on Wednesday night psyched to find the conditions perfect. We have only climbed a few days and already done a few problems. Brad, Ben, Kenyon & I all sent an awesome new sloper problem called Dunkin Donuts. After Brad & Ben took down the classic Worm Turns! I had some great goes on Ghost Of War & Big Joe Left yesterday and hope to finish them off soon. There are so many incredible climbs here its almost overwhelming I'm glad we have quite a bit of time. We set up our trailer and its amazing how nice it is to wake up indoors! The weather looks good and we are psyched to be in Joe's!
-Dustin

A Great Tuesday

2011-09-21T16:06:00.000-07:00

Happy to wake up to clear skies Brad, Mr. Ben Conner, Mr. Aaron Hager and myself headed up to Chaos. Brad came incredibly close to sending Riddles In The Park V12 and is psyched to hopefully put it down Saturday. I sent the Riddles stand start Riddles In The Dark V10 having never done the stand while working the sit. Still psyched on how good that boulder is! After we headed to Reternia where myself and Mr. Aaron Hager sent Reternia V11. Reternia is an incredibly strange roof climb that has taken me a great deal of work to finish I'm super psyched to have sent it. After we headed to Lower Chaos where Mr. Ben Conner made short work of Future Development V10 and after looked good on the moves of BushPilot. Mr. Aaron Hager and myself both also sent Valis V11 with Brad coming oh so close to sending.. Afterward we worked out the moves and climbed into the stand on Phallus the sit start to Valis. An awesome day in the mountains with friends had a ton of fun and did some projects. Conditions are unbelievable see you in the mountains.
-Dustin

Riddles

2011-09-18T17:54:00.000-07:00

After spending an entire day getting rained/snowed on Saturday, Brad & I returned to great conditions and clear skies this afternoon. We warmed up and headed to Riddles. I've been having a very hard time with the crux cross move and decided to switch my beta from a heel toe cam to a traditional heel. After doing the cross with the new beta I sent the problem. I'm so very psyched to have done this problem its amazing and has been on my life time list since the first moment I saw it. I'm psyched to have done a harder problem that isn't my style and took lots of work and fine tuning. Temps are incredible up there right now its time to put things down! Psyched!
Dustin

Recently

2011-09-16T08:59:00.000-07:00

Recently the weather has finally started to play along. With the colder temps things are feeling better and its been awesome to get back on some hard fiction dependent projects. Brad & I have both been very psyched on Riddles In The Park. Riddles is the best crimpy roof i've ever climbed on. Both Brad & I are getting really close falling at the final crux cross. Hoping the weather stays good and we can finish it off soon! Mr. Aaron Hager has made an impressive couple of ticks in the Canyon. First he slapped his way through Dead Raccoon V11 keeping it cool on the tall top out, and Tuesday he made a very impressive one day send of I Comb My Hair Like God AKA Mirkwood Low V11. Great work the guy is killing it! Lets all hope the temps stay and the snow doesn't! Here's to the fall!
Dustin

Update & Photo's

2011-08-24T09:29:00.000-07:00

Brad & I have been climbing a ton. Right now Brad & Aaron are super psyched on Dead Raccoon. They both have been having really good goes and have figured out a lower heel that works much better then the traditional for the crux right hand move. Mr. Aaron Hager and myself have also been very psyched and putting some work into Secret Splendor. After trying projects we have been doing some "training" on the Marble boulder climbing on variations and link ups hoping to keep good endurance until the temps arrive. Our friend Mr. Ben Conner came up for a day and broke off the Triple Threat Arete, he was psyched on climbing a new line! Last Saturday we were psyched to have our friend Matt Oscadal come up for some climbing and to take some more awesome pictures. Thanks for taking another round of really great shots Matt! Conditions seem to slowly be getting better its gonna be good up there soon!
-Dustin

All photo's taken by Matt Oscadal

Dustin The Alley

Dustin Autobot

Aaron Dead Raccoon

Brad Dead Raccoon

Brad Dead Raccoon

Blood Money

2011-08-15T08:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Aaron and myself headed up to a cloudy upper chaos to try again on Blood Money. We warmed up in lower and headed up the hill trying to beat the rain and catch the great conditions while they were dry. We both got a couple goes before having to rest for twenty minutes while it rained. We then again got a go or two a piece before another twenty minute rain storm. On our third weather window Aaron found his way to the top , wet top out and all. Way to go Aaron killing it man. After Aaron sent I tried again and also found myself at the top of this amazing roof climb. I put in a lot of work on this climb and am super excited to have done this amazing climb and also have climbed my first 8a+. I couldn't be more psyched right now!
Brad

Update

2011-08-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

Brad & I have been living in Estes for a little over three weeks now. I could not be more psyched on living out of a tent/the truck. The routine of getting up making coffee driving to the park climbing coming home eating dinner going to sleep is one i'm very happy to be getting in the groove of. Its been quite hot but there hasn't been lots of rain so although the conditions are less then ideal we have been doing a ton of climbing. Brad is super close on Blood Money falling after the crux on the last move. He also made quick work of Skipper G V9, Skipper Roof Right V10 and a near flash of Triple Threat Arete V10. Mr. Aaron Hager has been psyched as always killing Triple Threat and getting incredibly close to sending Blood Money. We have been checking out a bunch of newly established problems around and above Eternia. We tried The Seeping a cool roof climb by Memoirs, Scoots Roof a suspended arete cave in Super Chaos and Full Chaos an amazing line high on the left side at the top of the snowfield. It is really cool to get up above the meadow and see new things in a place you've been a hundred times before. I've been really psyched on Riddles In The Park and Secret Splendour and feeling close on both. A key feature of the first right handhold the "spock" tooth has broken on Riddles. The hold now resembles a slightly worse version of the left hand crimp. I'm not sure what effect the brake has had on difficulty but the climbing involving this hold is now more pleasant and less tweaky. I also sent an amazing problem called Triple Threat Arete. This was one of the only problems I hadn't seen or heard much about. My Friend Ivo had been shown where it was so him and I went to try it out. It is located across from Dead Raccoon in Middle
Chaos. After trying a variety of beta's and having no luck I finally figured out a sequence that worked very well involving a really neat double toe hook section. Ivo and I sent with the new beta both psyched on this awesome new problem. Our friend Matt Oscadal came up and took some great photo's of Brad, Aaron and I in Upper Chaos. I was super psyched on how they turned out! Conditions seem to be improving and there is plenty of time for hard projects its a great time to be in Colorado! Gonna post more photo's soon and we have been getting tons of video we are gonna turn into a season long short film. See you in the Mountains
-Dustin
Mr. Aaron Hager
Photo By Matt Oscadal

Brad Blood Money
Photo By Matt Oscadal

Brad Blood Money
Photo By Matt Oscadal

Brad & Aaron
Photo By Matt Oscadal

Brad
Photo By Matt Oscadal

Aaron Skipper Roof Right
Photo By Matt Oscadal

Aaron Blood Money
Photo By Matt Oscadal

Road Trip

2011-07-18T19:45:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow morning Brad & I will begin a nine month road trip. We have been planning to do this for years and somewhere along the way it turned from a pipe dream into a reality. Its been a long wait and a lot of saving and planning but its finally here. We are first heading to Estes Park to set up camp and spend the summer climbing at RMNP & Evans. I absolutely love The Park and am so psyched to be staying close and not have to drive back and forth to Fort Collins. Sometime around October or snowfall we will pack up and head to Joe's Valley Utah. I've been to Joe's a number of times in the last year and really enjoy the endless concentration of amazing problems. It will be nice to spend a long period of time there and get to work on some hard projects. We don't have a set amount of time we will be staying in Joe's but for at least a month. After Joe's we will head to Moe's Valley Utah. I've haven't climbed at Moe's before but have heard/seen only great things. There are a number of problems at Moe's that i'm very excited to try. We will then head to Red Rocks NV, where Brad & I have a couple problems in mind. Due to the camping restrictions and towing our trailer we will be spending as little time at Red Rocks as possible to hopefully send and head to Hueco. Our final destination will be Hueco Tanks TX. We spend a week at Hueco in Jan with Mr. Aaron Hager. Its a place i've heard about my whole life and after visiting it was clear it meets or exceeds the hype. The other thing that was clear was six days wasn't enough to even scratch the surface and we would need to return for a lengthy amount of time. We will be spending part of Dec. all of Jan. and all of Feb in Hueco. I'm so excited to get to stay there this winter and beat the snow while climbing on some of the best problems in the world! Its gonna be amazing and I couldn't be any more psyched! See you at the boulders!
-Dustin

Upper Chaos

2011-06-15T17:38:00.000-07:00

The last few days Brad, Aaron, Kurt and myself have been hiking up to the Green 45 in Upper Chaos. To our pleasant surprise all the climbs were completely dry. Having tried Wildcat a couple days last year I was psyched to get back on it. On Saturday Mr. Aaron Hager sent super clean while I took back flops from the final moves, great work Aaron you killed it. Brad and I returned with our friend Andy on Tuesday for a final day before departing to Steamboat for a month. With conditions perfect I sent it first try, i've never felt better conditions in Upper in my life. Super psyched this climb has always been on my life time list. After we headed to Blood Money and since the Sit was snowed in we climbed on the stand start. Brad and I sent in a few goes and head down psyched on Chaos. I can't say how psyched I am for this season at the park. After Steamboat Brad & I will start a nine month road trip starting in Estes Park. I can not wait. Today on the way to Steamboat Brad and I stopped at Redcliff outside Minturn. We first went to the Aircraft Carrier and could not believe how good the rock is. After warming up and climbing an awesome line called Romeo we headed to the backside to try Rhythm Of The Saints. ROTS is an amazing roof climb on perfect granite edges, underclings and slopers. I'm surprised this line hasn't seen more traffic due to the amazing quality. Heading back on Saturday to try this line some more so psyched it is so close to Steamboat! Gonna be a great summer in Colorado!
-Dustin

The Front Side Of The Aircraft Carrier, Redcliff

Grey Matter

2011-06-08T16:55:00.000-07:00

A week or two ago I did Grey Matter at the 420's in the Poudre Canyon. Grey matter is a cool lip traverse on good rock with neat holds. The conditions were super greasy and it felt hard on the send but I was super psyched to get to the top. We were able to get a sweet video of the send, with the new camera. The Snow has been melting fast and Dustin , Aaron, and I have been up at RMNP working on the projects that are climbable. Everyone is super psyched and climbing well! Looks like it's going to be a great summer.
Brad

Grey Matter from SaundersClimbing on Vimeo.

Deep Snow and Fast Water

2011-05-23T09:21:00.000-07:00

Last Week we made it out to The Gandalf area up the Poudre Canyon. Temps were great , but the river crossing was more than questionable. Everyone had a great day, tried new problems, and I was able to send Dump Truck. Dump Truck is a great problem on very high quality stone. After getting a couple of dry days at this area this year , it easily has become my favorite area in the Pourde. yesterday we headed up to Lower Chaos with intent to dig out the Centaur. When we arrived we found the Centaur completely buried and Sky scraper no taller than ten to twelve feet. Last year at this same time we dug out The Marble with some serious effort , and more than five feet of rock were exposed when we started. Seems Like it could be a second before its time for lower and upper.
Lets all just hope the weather gets better, and all the snow melts fast !
Brad

Red Feather, Poudre & The Park

2011-05-14T10:41:00.000-07:00

Brad, Ben, Aaron & I have been doing a bunch of climbing. Due to the weather we have had to jump around to get climbable conditions. We have had good days at The Park, The Poudre and Redfeather. At the Park we have been climbing on Veritas, Emerald and made our first trip to Both Sides Of The Spectrum at Moraine Park. Ben crushed the Veritas Stand and fell from the lip of the sit but is super psyched to return for the send. We spent two days at the Gandalf area in the Poudre. This has become one of my favorite area's in the Poudre with lots of hard lines and perfect rock. Brad fell on the final slab moves on his flash attempt of Second Lives and quickly sent next try. I sent Second Lives and Dumptruck. We had hoped to try the climbs on the backside of Gandalf but didn't have the time and upon our return we found the river had risen and it was impossible to cros without wading. I'd never been to Red Feather before and after hearing about a new roof climb was psyched to check it out. The area has tons and tons of rock and is fairly close to Fort Collins. Aaron Ben and I headed out to check out this new area and try King Tut the roof problem. I was blown away by how good the climbing was. The main area has lots of climbs with great warmups and the roof is amazing. The rock is super super sharp and its not the type of place you want to climb sloppy, you almost certainly always bleed when climbing here. The roof is almost horizontal with burly compression moves between decent holds. After thugging out the roof you enter a tricky sharp top out. On our third day trying it we finally got good conditions and the crystals felt great. I sent first with a dab on the tree on the topout and was frustrated. After a break I climbed into the top out section again and was super careful not to dab and got away clean with the second ascent of this amazing line. Its hard to say what the grade is on it but it is certainly very hard and falls into that V11+ area. Psyched to have done this one! Brad Ben and I also climbed a non contrived version of mammen that goes straight to the lip and traverse's on slopers I'm sure this has been done before but without any info we are calling it Low Left Beach Whale and it seems to be in the hard V8 area. Lots of photos and Video's of King Tut, Veritas Stand coming soon. Psyched Park season is finally here can't wait to get back up there

DumpTruck V10

Dump Truck from ben conner on Vimeo.

Low Left Beached Whale V8 plus others

Tooth Tug'n from ben conner on Vimeo.

Park Video's Mendax & Low Left Veritas

2011-04-10T11:33:00.001-07:00

Brad Mendax & Mr. Aaron Hager Low Left Veritas

Low Left Veritas V12

Low Left Veritas from ben conner on Vimeo.

Mendax V9

Mendax from ben conner on Vimeo.

Park Action

2011-04-10T10:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Brad, Mr. Ben Conner, Mr. Aaron Hager and myself headed to the Park. We have been heading to Emerald and Veritas a lot lately with early season conditions being perfect. We hit up Veritas first where Brad quickly did Mendax V9 and Mr. Hager crushed Low Left Veritas V12! Ben came oh so close to the Veritas Stand and has linked all the move's from the sit and will no doubt put it together soon. After we headed up to Emerald Lake. I've been trying the Storm Shadow Sit Start and having good goes. I figured out some new beta that makes the crux feel quite a bit better and had my best goes to date. I'm very psyched on this problem and hope to put it down soon. With the park in full swing the idea of climbing anywhere else fading from all of our minds dig days in Lower Chaos are planned soon we are super psyched on the Park! Can't wait its gonna be a great season! Videos of Low Left and Mendax will be up soon.
Dustin

The Park

2011-03-30T14:54:00.001-07:00

Brad and I spent Tuesday and Saturday bouldering at Emerald Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. Despite a great deal of snow we were pleasantly surprised to find it very climbable. Temps are very cold and the weather is hit or miss but it appears as if we are going to get a good head start on Park season this year. Veritas is completely dry and on Tuesday even the top out was clean but after snow fall this week the top out is covered and needs to be cleaned on a rope but otherwise is dug out and completely ready to go. The trail to Emerald is packed down and the boulders are dry. The slab of Whispers has snow and needs some sun before its ready to be topped out. The Kind & Kind Traverse are similar dry but need the tops cleaned. Storm Shadow is dry and as of Saturday the top is clean and ready to be climbed. It seems that Lower Chaos isn't far off either with some motivation and a couple dig days things should be climbable there soon! I'm incredibly psyched for the beginning of a new park season there is no where I'd rather climb and the cool temps have made the friction perfect. Lets hope the snow holds off!
-Dustin

Horsetooth and The Poudre

2011-03-22T21:01:00.001-07:00

Brad and I have been climbing a bunch at Horsetooth he's been trying the Moon Arete Sit Start and having good goes getting really close. I repeated the Eliminator Sit Start and we got a good video of it. Also a couple video's from today at the Poudre Aaron & I sending Blok Two and Me Repeating The Black Problem.
-Dustin

Elimanator sit start V11, Blok Two V9 and The Black Problem V9

Eliminator SDS and two from the Poudre from Lostall on Vimeo.

Eliminator Sit

2011-03-20T07:23:00.000-07:00

After returning home from Steamboat on Thursday with five days of rest, we were very ready to go climbing. So on friday Dustin , mr. Ben Conner and I , Headed to The Tooth. It turned out to be a great day of climbing with everyone climbing well. Ben figured out the moves on THC and had some good links , Dustin climbed well all day and had no problem with his finger, and I had my best links on Eliminator sit, falling coming into the right hand crimp of moon arete two times. I was super psyched to get back on it in better conditions and decided to wake up early the next morning and head back up. After falling three times at the same move at the end, I finally sent in time to head back and join Dustin Ben and Aaron for a great day in the Poudre.

Brad

The Poudre

2011-03-06T22:48:00.001-08:00

Saturday Brad, Aaron and climbed at the Twilight cave. I was a bit nervous about how my finger would hold up on its first outdoor test run. I was super psyched that there was no pain and it felt fine. It was so very nice to climb outside again after almost a month off of real rock. I managed to send the Twilight Stand and the SDS. Both of problems are very good and may be some of my new favorite climbs in the Poudre. Brad also sent the Twilight SDS and Aaron sent Gypsies Tramps and Thieves. Its always nice when the whole crew sends! After we headed to Critical Mass where Aaron came super close to sending! Glad to be back can't wait to get out again soon hopefully the weather plays ball.

Twilight SDS V10

Twilight Sit from Lostall on Vimeo.

Twilight

2011-02-21T16:31:00.000-08:00

On Saturday Brad, Mr. Aaron Hager, and myself finally made it to the twilight cave in the Poudre Canyon. The cave is home to three good lines all steep with a RMNP feel to them. Brad and Aaron both crushed the Twilight Stand Start V9 super quick and Aaron hooked up the Twilight Sit V10 in a couple goes as well. Mr. Hager almost finished the third line Gypsies Tramps & Thieves V11 but on his last go split his tip. I did some very high class spotting and shit talking as well as some high tech rope work to clean dirt off the slab. Brad and Aaron are psyched to come back and finish up the cave. Heading to the Poudre on Saturday psyched for my first day of outdoor pulling in weeks!
-Dustin

Aaron crushing Twilight Stand Start V9

Twilight from Lostall on Vimeo.

Welcome To The Team (Our New Home!)

2011-02-20T15:40:00.001-08:00

So psyched today Brad and I got our new home for the road trip we will be taking this coming summer/winter can not wait. Wish it was July already!

Back On Track

2011-02-16T11:20:00.000-08:00

After three weeks of anxious rest after double finger tweaks my fingers are starting to feel better. I went to the gym yesterday and the day before and mainly used the big holds on the system board, but at the end of each session did a bit of climbing. My fingers felt good and I was psyched to finally get back to climbing. Hoping to climb outside again on Saturday with the idea of finding a project that doesn't have hard crimping or tweaky moves on the right hand. Meanwhile Brad has been climbing a ton and is in killer shape getting close on the Eliminator Sit Start and Ice Nine. Hopefully the weather stays nice there are still a lot of places / projects I would like to get to before the winter is over. Already starting to lust for some Park action can't wait!
-Dustin

Hueco Video and Photos

2011-01-21T16:46:00.001-08:00

Hueco from Lostall on Vimeo.

Alma Blanca V13

Power Of Silence V10

Diaphanous Sea V12

Full Service V10

Fern Roof V9/10

Hueco

2011-01-19T08:49:00.000-08:00

Brad, Aaron and I returned from Hueco last night with shredded tips and sore shoulders. I was as expected blown away by Hueco it truly is amazing. We only got to climb for six days and it wasn't even close to enough time. Its funny to visit a place that is so good that your already planning next years extended trip on your first day there. We had a lot of fun and climbed some really great stuff. We shot a couple videos and I took a bunch of photos, once both are uploaded and edited I'll post them. Psyched to be back in Fort Collins time for some local projects!
-Dustin

Moon Arete Sit Start & Eliminator SDS

2011-01-03T18:30:00.000-08:00

After figuring out the moves to the low start yesterday today I returned to the Moon Arete sit start. With the top being covered in snow preventing a top out I came early and rappelled off the top and shoveled the top out. After I went over and checked out the "Bud" boulder at Duncans Ridge, a cool new boulder with a couple good new problems on it ( props to James on finding this new addition!). I came back to Rotary and warmed up feeling good and managed to send The Eliminator SDS recently put up by Brian Camp, Brian suggested a grade of V11 and it seems to be dead on. Super psyched on the the send of this great new problem I started to try the Moon Arete sit start recently put up by Ian Dory. After a few goes of getting close I grabbed the pinch and climb to the top, Ian didn't suggest a grade but this feels about as hard as anything else i've done and V12 seems to be fitting time and more ascents will tell on the grade. One of the best days of climbing i've had recently, super psyched on both of these awesome new problems props to both Ian and Brian on the first ascent of these great additions! Heading to Texas for a short vacation and then Hueco can't wait!
-Dustin

Sending Action In Clear Creek

2010-12-29T19:28:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday we got lucky and had perfect conditions at Clear Creek Canyon! Brad had a great day of climbing sending Formula 50 and coming heartbreakingly close to sending Muddy Waters! Mr. Aaron Hager had some great goes on Dark Waters! I sent the link up Formula 500 and have now ticked the whole cave! Still can't get over how good the climbing is in that cave! Its looking like the weather is gonna change and its gonna get colder and perhaps snow. Hoping to get a few more days of outside climbing before heading to Hueco. I can not wait for Hueco and its almost here!
-Dustin

Formula 50 V11, Formula 500 V12

Formula 50, Brad. Formula 500, Dustin from Lostall on Vimeo.

Canopener

2010-12-19T09:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday at t
he 420's Mr. Aaron Hager took down his project Canopener in terrific style check it out! good work sir!

Canopener from Lostall on Vimeo.

Formula 50 & Muddy Waters

2010-12-16T08:49:00.001-08:00

On Tuesday Brad, Mr. Aaron Hager and I headed to Clear Creek. Quickly and Efficiently Mr. Hager took down the Muddy Waters! Good work sir! After a few days of frustrating head games and absurd tactics I finished off Formula 50 thanks mostly to a special shoe and tape combination. Brad is hot on the Muddy Waters trail making good links. Going to the Poudre this weekend super psyched hoping it isn't terribly cold! Hueco T-minus 25 days!

Formula 50 V11 & Muddy Waters V11

Formula 50 and Muddy Waters from Lostall on Vimeo.

The Poudre

2010-12-12T09:19:00.000-08:00

Lately Brad & I have been climbing a bunch in the Poudre Canyon. A lot has been going up lately and there is more and more to do there everyday. I haven't been able to even try half the things i'm psyched on yet. Its been a very dry winter with little to no snow as of yet! I'm hoping it holds out and stays dry its been nice to climb without any cleaning in December! Gearing up to head to Hueco for the first time in Jan. and can't wait! This winter season has been awesome so far! Psyched
-Dustin

Muddy Waters Video

2010-11-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

Muddy Waters V11

Muddy Waters. Dustin Saunders from Lostall on Vimeo.

Dark Waters Video

2010-11-18T09:11:00.000-08:00

Video of Muddy Waters send soon

Dark Waters V12/13

Dark Waters. Dustin Saunders from Lostall on Vimeo.

Success In Dark Water

2010-11-18T08:32:00.001-08:00

Tuesday mr. Aaron Hager, Brad and I headed back out to the Dark Waters Cave in Clear Creek Canyon. Temps were ideal with it being cold and windy. I'd come close to doing Muddy Waters last Saturday and was psyched to get back on it fresh. After warming up and falling from the last hard move a big throw to the lip I stuck the crux move and sent Muddy Waters. Super psyched I decided to try Dark Waters next. I managed to stick the big move to the lip again and headed out left and found myself much to my surprise at the end of Dark Waters. I'm incredibly psyched on this send it being a long term goal to send this amazing problem. Anyone who hasn't bouldered at this cave should check it out it is awesome. Pumped for some Poudre Canyon this weekend! Gonna be a great season!
-Dustin

Video of both sends coming soon!

Clear Creek

2010-11-16T07:42:00.000-08:00

Right now the Dark Waters Cave is the occupying most of my time, thoughts and energy. I'm oh so psyched on the this place and can't wait to get back. Winter bouldering is here and I am pumped i've been waiting a while for perfect temps all the time and to bust out the long johns under your jeans, its gonna be a good winter season!
-Dustin

Mr. Aaron Hager, Dark Waters

Mr. Aaron Hager Crushes Super Chief

2010-11-10T07:33:00.001-08:00

During our time away Mr. Aaron Hager made quick work of the prize of Carter Lake Super Chief! Check it out

Super Chief, Carter Lake from Lostall on Vimeo.

Good Work Sir!!

Joe's Valley

2010-11-10T07:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we returned from around two weeks at Joe's Valley. We had planned on around five or six more days but due to forecast changes in the weather we headed back to Colorado. I absolutely love Joe's its among my favorite places to climb. Straight from a summer at the park we arrived psyched for good landings and easy approaches. Brad and I climbed on tons of great problems and found and looked at everything we hadn't seen. Joe's is great because of the amount of problems ranging from the well traveled classics to obscure new lines. I very much enjoyed staying in the canyon and am sure its a place I will return to year after year. We had a great crew and had tons of fun climbing and drinking beers around the camp fire! Thanks to everyone in the crew for being psyched! Excited for some Poudre Canyon and Clear Creek action!
-Dustin

Here's a video of some highlights of our trip:

Joe's Valley Fall 2010 from SaundersClimbing on Vimeo.

End Of Our Season A Final Note On Chaos

2010-10-23T07:35:00.000-07:00

With great sadness I found myself hiking up to Chaos Canyon for the last time this season on Wednesday. I'd been counting my days in the Park this season with the last day falling on the 84th day in Chaos with Brad a few days behind! I had hoped to make trip up today but the weather has turned bad. It will take some getting used to the idea of climbing at other area's and indoors but I'm sure everyone will adjust. This was my first season at the park and completely exceeded my expectations. There have been many adventures and victories up in the mountains this summer. Psyched to finally get a piece we started going to the park early in extremely snowy conditions, In late Feb. I hiked up to Lower Chaos with Mr. Ben Conner. We forged a path through the snow with snowshoe's and shovels in a blizzard to see just what was happening up in Lower. We we almost deterred multiple times but pushed ahead despite conditions and possible danger. We headed towards Deep Puddle Dynamics and made a premeditated dig effort. A few weeks later in March we headed to Veritas with Ben and Mr. Aaron Hager. That same day we decided to hike to Emerald Lake and found that almost everything was climbable including Whispers Of Wisdom. From then on we spent the next couple weeks raging on Emerald with Everyone sending Whispers and the stand start to Storm Shadow. These were some of the best times in the park we didn't encounter so much as another hiker and had our choice of parking. In May after the weather had turned shitty we finally returned to the park after weeks away and headed straight to lower. The trail was still a mess with everyone suited up in snowshoe's and packing avalanche shovels we still questioned if we would make it to Lower. Brad and I took a solo trip first and found that Deep Puddle was completely unburied thanks to the Feb. dig we did and needed only the slightest bit of leveling on the landing. We started to dig out The Centaur boulder as well as Tommy's Arete. I had heard of the digging but never truly experienced it and after digging from the last crimps of The Centaur to the start of The Marble I realized it was more of a bitch than I had expected. We returned with Aaron and finished digging The Marble with Aaron snagging what can almost surely be the first send of the Chaos season. Brad and I returned two days later and sent The Marble before you could even see Gang Bang. A few weeks later we tried to find the Green 45 on a tip it was a ways above the meadow and ended up near the top of the Canyon well into Super Chaos territory. As summer came we learned where the problems were and our way around. Getting in a good groove of the hiking and the climbing Brad, Aaron and I started feeling much more at home in the Canyon. Climbing non stop at Chaos was a key factor for all of us to get much stronger and progress to new levels in our climbing. Brad having sent a few 7C+'s before crushed a bunch of 7C+ and two 8a's including Eternia a magic roof climb above the meadow in Upper! Aaron sent almost everything he touched including his first 8A+ Riddles In The Park! Ben crushed his way from 7C to 8a in a summer sending Two Ton Tongue! I managed to send my first 8a The Marble Sit Start and first 8A+ Blood Money. Everyone was psyched on pushing themselves on the hard and beautiful problems that were everywhere. It was the best summer of climbing I have had and I'd like to thank everyone that gave us Beta, Spots and Encouragement! A big shout out to Ben and Aaron for coming up there with us every chance they had and always being psyched! I will truly miss climbing at the park and will be up as soon as possible digging things out next seasons! Until then I will stew on the close calls and near sends of this season. Brad and I are heading to Joe's Valley for two weeks or so on Monday i'm psyched for some roadside bouldering with great sand landings we should have some video's and photo's up throughout the trip. Here is some choice photo's and Video's from Park season 2010!
-Dustin

Whispers Of Wisdom V10 from SaundersClimbing on Vimeo.

The Marble Sit Start from SaundersClimbing on Vimeo.

Deep Puddle Dynamics from SaundersClimbing on Vimeo.

Eternia from SaundersClimbing on Vimeo.

Two Ton Tongue from SaundersClimbing on Vimeo.

Riddles in the Park from Lostall on Vimeo.

Skipper Roof Right from Lostall on Vimeo.

Snow In Chaos

2010-10-11T09:36:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I hiked up to Lower Chaos with Mr. Aaron Hager. Encountering snow on the climbers trail we figured that it was going to be a bit wet. We arrived in Lower to find around an inch to an inch and a half of snow on the ground. We cleaned the snow off the Centaur boulder and dried the holds before warming up on the Autobot. I had forgotten how difficult it is to navigate the wet talus. Despite it being muddy and wet the boulders dried and the conditions were perfect. We tried the Centaur and Marble Sit Start. We both had some good goes with Aaron coming super super close before putting a good sized hole in his finger. After we tried "the move" on the Automater for a bit before heading down. It's very sad but I believe we have don't have a ton of days left in Chaos, I'm planning on heading up tuesday, wednesday, and saturday as possibly the last day in Chaos of this season. I'm looking forward to some roadside bouldering and a two week trip to Joe's Valley around the 23rd!
-Dustin

Alpine Start

2010-10-01T11:50:00.001-07:00

Today Brad & I left Fort Collins at 4:00am to try and beat the heat in Lower Chaos. We walked up in nice cool temps in the dark. Quite bizarre to be walking towards Chaos in the pitch black. We warmed up just as the sun arose. I'd forgotten how pretty the sunrise is a bit more vivid then the sunset but quite a bit more effort involved. I headed over to try The Centaur and my first go the conditions were as good as they have been in weeks. I blew off going for the pinch but felt strong. I put a few more goes on as the sun hit the boulder. Soon it was fairly greasy and I was spent so I decided to rehearse the scary top section. I missed the second intermediate and landed half on the rock half off in an interesting fashion I am hoping to never repeat. Thank god for pads! I'm psyched on the early morning and will return soon possibly Monday morning a bit earlier. Psyched to finish this thing off.
-Dustin

Watch This! Good Work Aaron!

2010-09-23T11:49:00.000-07:00

Riddles in the Park from Lostall on Vimeo.

A Big Relief

2010-09-22T09:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I climbed again for the first time in around two weeks heading up to Upper Chaos with Mr. Aaron Hager & Mr. Ben Conner. On the drive to Estes I was extremely nervous but also excited feeling increasingly anxious to climb these last few days. I haven't had to deal with a finger injury before and the fact that this one hasn't played by the standard rules was hard. Although it didn't pop or swell it was tweaked and only when pulled on in certain ways leaving me wondering if I should climb and how hard and if I was infact causing more damaged by doing so. We warmed up in Lower Chaos and right away my fingers all felt strong. No tweaking or pain on any moves that had tweaked it a week ago. It was a big relief. After we headed to the Green 45 and climbed on Two Ton Tongue. I repeated it with both beta's feeling strong and my fingers didn't have any problem, offically healed and so glad. Ben made some great progress on this steep roof getting it in two solid pieces. After we headed down to Riddles In The Park. After a few trys Aaron crushed clean and solid. Super psyched for him and I will put up a link to the video soon. Nice work sir! Glad to be back its getting great up there in the mountains and I'm psyched! Going up today with Ben to Lower gonna be good.
-Dustin

Minor Set Back & Super Chaos

2010-09-16T11:10:00.000-07:00

After having some really great days in Upper recently and a few exceptional temps in Lower, I'm feeling stronger than ever but alas on Saturday I found myself feeling a tweak in my middle finger when warming up on the meadow boulder. After warming up and heading up to Reternia it was confirmed there was something wrong with my finger. With no swelling and no instance of popping or pain I was confused but also hopeful. I've decided to rest until next week and allow it heal up. I climbed on some jugs yesterday when we went to lower and it feels fine but I'm still airing on the side of safety. I headed up to Upper on Tuesday with Brad, Aaron and our pal Ben. Once again Aaron came so close to sending Riddles. He is looking stronger on it every time. I hung out for a while and watched them try Riddles and then decided to Hike up to Supper Chaos. I had hiked up to some of the newly established problems after realizing my finger was tweaked on Saturday. I was very impressed by the quality and the amount of work Silven & Glassberg had put into developing this new section of Chaos. I was most impressed by Full Chaos an older striking line that is tall, scary and very obvious. I also found The Outcast a very impressive compression line towards the middle of the talus above Eternia. Both of these lines are certainly on the list for next year. On Tuesday I decided to continue past what I'd seen and look for new lines and possibly hike to the top of the canyon. The amount of rock is simply mind blowing, with motivation for hiking there are quite a few lines waiting high in the canyon. I headed up the right side past Mirkwood and slowly headed towards the middle of the talus. After around an hour or more I arrived below the walls of the top of the canyon. It felt great to just take a good long tiring hike to the top of something its been quite a while since I have hiked somewhere to not climb. I headed down the left side towards Eternia and Full Chaos and once again was blown away by the possibilities of new problems. I'm excited to head up next week with hopefully a healed finger and super motivated to put down The Centaur! Here are a couple photos from the top of Chaos Canyon and things I encountered along my hike.
-Dustin

Surprise Send

2010-09-09T08:33:00.000-07:00

Tuesday we headed up to Upper Chaos with Mr. Aaron Hager. Conditions were great and it showed when Aaron came as close as possible to crushing Riddles In The Park four or fives times. Without a doubt he will crush that thing soon. Afterward we headed over to climb on The Skipper Roof's. We had put quite a bit of time into the Left Variation and a bit into the right but hadn't been able to figure out one key throw move. With a bit of quite beta refinement the secret foot showed itself and the move came together. Dustin and Aaron both crushed it quickly after. This is a great climb and although it doesn't get as much traffic as its brother to the left it is well worth climbing on. Here's a video of Dustin and Aaron's sends! Turning twenty three on friday then heading to the park on saturday very excited hopefully finish off Reternia.

SKipper Roof Right V10

Skipper Roof Right from Lostall on Vimeo.

Falls & Failure Video

2010-09-05T11:15:00.000-07:00

Its finally getting good up in the mountains with temps around the 60's all day! We spend another day climbing on Reternia getting super close but again being spit off by the crux roll out move. The fingerlock on this problem has created wounds in my hands the likes i've never experienced before. If anyone is planning on trying this problem I apologize in advance I tried to clean the blood off but couldn't get it all and this thing is covered in it. We have also been climbing on The Skipper Roofs which feel much better with good temps and we've figured out some beta that works better for the Left. Dustin went up yesterday with Mr. Aaron Hager and climbed on Wildcat and Riddles In The Park. Mr. Hager almost did Riddles and there is no doubt he will crush it soon very cool to see! Heading up for a Lower Chaos day for the first time in quite a while on Monday super psyched.

Here's a video of how 90% of our time bouldering is spent!

Failure & Falls from SaundersClimbing on Vimeo.

Back To The Park

2010-08-30T12:09:00.000-07:00

After taking a much need week off climbing while in Steamboat we have returned to Fort Collins and Chaos Canyon. Our time in Steamboat helped heal up some very sore knees and tweaked shoulders that had been needing to be addressed. We didn't climb while there but, did quite a bit more exploring looking for new bouldering area's. We hiked to a big talus pile hoping it would yield a new climbable area. Although the rock quality was great and there being tons of rock the boulders were sadly featureless and low angle. Perhaps a great spot for endless super moderates. On one last outing hoping for quality problems we headed to the opposite end of town and found two problems of very high quality. Both are located on the bank of the river and submerged two thirds of the year leaving the rock perfectly polished and solid. The rock resembled RMNP gneiss but much much smoother. The first problem seems to be quite hard and is a very obvious compression line with small crimps and big slopers. The second line a short roof resembles Angry Man at Lumpy Ridge with perfect smooth sloping features. We didn't climb on either but cleaned them up and are happy to finally know where quality projects are in Steamboat. Anyone that wants info on these problems let us know and we will be happy to share the wealth.
We returned to the Fort Friday night and went up to RMNP Saturday. After the time off it took a second to get back in the swing of bouldering, but felling strong and rested. We climbed on Reternia Sat and Sun and came super close to finishing it off. Reternia is complete madness with a low percentage crux consisting of a throw to a decent edge of a insecure fingerlock. We are going back up on Tuesday and hoping to put this one to rest. Extremely psyched to be back and feeling good and can't wait for the prime season in the mountains!

Recent Happenings

2010-08-19T19:07:00.000-07:00

Conditions continue to stay good and it seems fall is here. Lately we have been climbing on some new problems we are pretty psyched on. We have been trying the more than horizontal tension fest of Reternia and trying to wrap our heads around this strange climb. We've never encountered a climb quite like this but have been having a great time climbing on it. We've also started to put some work into WildCat. A truly great problem with tricky beta and great amounts tension. Its an interesting climb in the sense that the footwork is as hard and demanding as the hands. After almost sixty days at the park this year we are feeling quite beat down from the climbing and hiking. With the best part of the season finally here and temps good for sending we are climbing two more days and then taking six days off to rest up and heal up for September and try to finish off our outstanding projects. We are sure the rest will do us well. We are leaving for Steamboat on Sunday and will return on the 27th to the park fresh and ready for action. Excited for tomorrow and Saturday in chaos! Here are a couple photos from the past couple days we really like.

Mr. Ben Conner at The Green 45

Improving Conditions

2010-08-13T08:49:00.000-07:00

After taking some days off and going to Steamboat we returned to the park. Yesterday we met up with our friend Damon and headed to Chaos. We warmed up in Lower, we did some easy warm ups then climb Revenge. Brad had climbed this line before and Dustin got the flash of this great compression line. After we went to climb on Handicapps. Dustin made a quick repeat and Damon worked out the moves looking solid on this burly line. After we headed to Upper as it cooled down and the wind picked up. We stopped at Blood Money and Dustin came super close to sending but fell multiple times after the crux shoulder move. Damon and Brad both had good goes on the stand of this amazing line. After our shoulder couldn't take anymore we headed to try Barbed Wire Beard. This is an incredibly crimpy line just above The Jorge's. We did not fair so well on the Beard. We got the shutdown from the small painful crimps and decided to conserve skin and head to try The Skipper Roofs. We continued working on these tricky roof climbs with some progress on both. We stopped on the way down so Dustin could put a finale try on Blood Money. Conditions were perfect and his first go looked solid but a heel hook blew off, feeling good he put one more try and with great surprise he sent in good clean style. This is a huge send and he couldn't be more psyched to have done this amazing line. Not only is this his favorite climb in Chaos its probably all time number one. Super psyched we headed down to consume victory beer. We are headed up again with our pal Mr. Aaron Hager on Saturday and are super psyched!

Long Awaited Conditions

2010-08-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

After taking a rest day and two rain days we headed up to Upper Chaos yesterday around noon psyched to be back. As we arrived to warm up in Lower the clouds turned dark. We warmed up quick and headed to Dead Raccoon. Dustin continued to figure out a sequence that works for him and has now done all the moves. Unfortunetly he missed a big throw out right and landed on his spine on a sharp rock missing the pad by an inch or so. Everything turned out alright but probably the most pain felt all year in Chaos. After we headed up to try Skipper Roof's some more. As we worked these problems it started to rain. It rained good and hard for around half an hour and then dryed up and got really windy. With the cool temps and the wind the conditions were the best they have been in a month and you could really feel a difference in the friction. To take advantage of great temps we decided to stop at Blood Money on the way out. Dustin linked from the start into the crux shoulder section twice in a row and is feeling hopefully on this awesome problem. Hopefully this is the start of changing season's up at the park. We had forgot how nice cool dry temps make the climbing and are so psyched for the coming fall season. Heading up again today hopefully we catch a lucky break and get a repeat in conditions! Psyched!

Heavy Rain

2010-08-02T17:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we headed up to Chaos with Mr. Aaron Hager. With heavy rain in the forecast we left Fort Collins early to get some climbing in. We headed to Upper and warmed up in the meadow. We headed over to Barbed Wire Beard where Aaron had some really good goes and came oh so close on his first go. After we headed to Skipper Roofs and continued working through the moves of both the right and the left. As the skies darkened we headed down the hill to Blood Money. Dustin put a few goes from the start and then continued to work out the moves getting the top shoulder crux more refined. At about this time it began to rain. We had planned on heading over to Dead Raccoon but as we hid under Blood Money hoping the rain would past it became more and more clear that it was here to stay. We waited for around two hours and then decided it was time to throw in the ole white flag. We walked out in the pouring rain giving our rain gear a solid test. Despite the rain we all got in some good climbing and were glad to have made it up. We passed on heading up today hoping to miss the rain and let our pads dry but we are heading up tomorrow and are super psyched.

Dustin Blood Money

Mr. Aaron Hager Crimping the Barbed Wire Beard

Aaron Barbed Wire Beard

Progress In The Rain

2010-07-30T18:50:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we met up with our good pal Mr. Aaron Hager and headed to Upper. It rained on us as we hit the talus and for the second time this week we took shelter under Blood Money. When the rain cleared we headed up to the meadow to warmup. After we headed to Skipper Roof's. We fine tuned the beta for the first move and continued trying to figure out the crux second move. A good session on a great problem. We than headed down the hill to do some more wrestling with Blood Money. Dustin made some really good progress linking big sections and getting the hard second move locked down. We are super psyched on this problem and can't wait to get back up there to work on it. For a last stop we headed over to Dead Raccoon. With a good group effort we figured out the some beta that makes this problem finally feel in reach, we will be heading to this gem soon. A good day despite the rain. Heading up tomorrow and Sunday we will be there even if the rain is as well.

Mr. Ryan Young Blood Money

Mr. Aaron Hager Blood Money

Dustin Blood Money

Brad Blood Money

Mr. Aaron Hager Dead Raccoon

Two Ton Tongue Video

2010-07-28T11:41:00.000-07:00

Brad Crushing Two Ton Tongue

Two Ton Tongue from SaundersClimbing on Vimeo.

Another Send In Chaos

2010-07-28T10:06:00.000-07:00

On Monday hot off two rest days we headed up to Chaos. Brad had come close to Two Ton last week and headed up hoping to finish it off. We warmed up and then headed to the Green 45. Conditions were less than ideal and holds on Two Ton felt greasy. We waited it out and Brad fine tuned the beta and eventually things cooled down and He started to put some burns on it. After three or four tries he pulled the lip and sent in good clean style. He is super psyched to have finished this one off! After we headed down to Blood Money and continued working out the moves. Using some ninja flag beta we worked through the difficult second fall in move. Blood Money is amazing the lower moves being incredibly violent and committing and the second half being powerful and technical with both sections resulting in some very interesting back flops. We are very excited to continue working on this climb!
On Tuesday Dustin headed up on his own in the evening only to get hit by some terribly hard rain as soon as he reached the talus headed to Upper. Having to take shelter under Blood Money for close to an hour until the rain let up enough to head to the meadow and warm up. After warming up he met up with some other climber and worked on Skipper Roof Left. Fine tuning the beta for the first move and doing all except the crux second this problem feels a bit more approachable then before. Complete with tiny slippery feet lots of drop knee's and powerful moves this problem is amazing and will certainly be something we put work into in the coming weeks. Can't wait tell condition cool down in the fall! Headed up tomorrow to climb with our pal Mr. Aaron Hager can't wait. We will have a video of Brad Sending Two Ton Tongue up soon until then check it out at http://vimeo.com/13710865

Blood Money

2010-07-24T07:53:00.000-07:00

Finally got things fixed with pictures and videos!

Dustin Sends Eternia

Mr. Ben Conner Sends Right El Jorge

A Late Night Session

2010-07-23T10:13:00.001-07:00

Yesterday after taking a rest day we headed up to Upper Chaos in the afternoon. We warmed up and headed up to Mirkwood. Mirkwood still has a nice snow landing still and the temps in the cave are ideal. Brad worked out the moves and fine tuned the beta for this technical climb. Unfortunately the rain moved in and came down on us hard. We hid under Mirkwood and then made a break for a bigger dryer place to hide and ran over to the Eternia cave. After the showers passed and things dried we headed up to The Green 45. Brad worked out all the beta to Two Ton Tongue using a really cool compression method that makes it less painful and more fun to climb on. After we got the beta for Wildcat from our friend Ryan. Wildcat is amazing complete with heel toe cams double heel hooks and obscene amounts of tension. Its a really hard climb but something we both are interested in putting some more time in. As we finished at Wildcat and the sun went down we headed to our final destination Blood Money. Under the cover of night we got some beta for this incredible compression climb. This is a burly problem every move requires a great deal of violence. Slapping sidepulls by headlamp may be some of the most fun we have had at the park in a while. We figured out most of the moves and headed down around 11:00 for a long drive back to Fort Collins. Quite long but very fun day in the park. Taking a few rest days and heading back soon. We are able to upload photos again now but no video still working on it, but here is some good shots from the past week or so.
Brad Staring Down Eternia

Brad Eternia

Brad Mirkwood

Mr. Ben Conner

Brad Skipper Roof Right

Wildlife

And The Rain Did Not Let Up

2010-07-21T13:51:00.000-07:00

We headed up Tuesday again feeling very sore from the previous day but still psyched to get to Chaos. As we headed up it started to rain, nothing out of the ordinary in Chaos so we forged ahead. We warmed up and headed up to Mirkwood with the rain still coming. Mirkwood is a fairly new very cool climb above the meadow in Upper Chaos. Its a nice mix of crimps, techy toehooks and gaston's. We figured out all the beta and then headed over to try Returnia. Returnia is absolute madness with compeletly upside down feet above your head climbing the entire way. We worked out the beta and with the rain still coming decided that it was time to head out. We had a oh so fun wet walk out of the talus and headed home. We took a rest day today and will return to hopefully cool temps and dry rocks tomorrow and friday. The blog is having some problems with posting videos but hopefully it will be fixed soon and we can put up the new ones! Psyched to get back to Chaos!

Double Take Down

2010-07-19T19:49:00.000-07:00

After a rest day we headed up to Upper Chaos with a few problems in mind. We warmed up and headed straight for Eternia so Brad could try and put the finishing touches on this awesome problem. He crushed to the lip and slipped off the jugs on his first go. After a breather he jumped back on and crushed straight to the top in good style. This is a big progression for him and his first V11, super psyched! After we waited out the pouring rain in the Skipper Cave. A quick break in the rain gave us just enough time to get to the Green 45 without getting totally soaked. After the rain passed the friction improved and Dustin tried Two Ton Tongue. The first couple goes ended with the same frustrating result. After the third burn it seemed like this may one may have to be left for another time, but after a split second beta change the send came out of nowhere! Dustin is super psyched to be finished with this one and have this two tongue epic over! We walked out very happy to have both sent and headed home! Heading up again tomorrow to try Mirkwood and Reternia, can't wait!

A Saturday With Mr. Aaron Hager

2010-07-18T18:50:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we met up with our friend Mr. Aaron Hager and headed up Upper Chaos. The heat was upon us as we arrived and we headed to the meadow to further warm up. We warmed up and headed up to Eternia so Brad could put some burns on this great problem. Brad had a really good first go and came really close to getting this awesome problem. After he fined tuned his beta and Mr. Hager worked through the moves. We then headed to Riddles where Brad & Aaron worked out the moves of sit start. Things went well and it seems like with some work they both can link this one up. We packed up and headed up the hill to The Green 45. Dustin put some more really close goes on Two Ton Tongue but is still having trouble holding the swing at the lip. He found some more new beta to help perhaps help with the force of the swing only time will tell. We headed down to Dead Raccoon and Dustin continued to figure out the moves of this great compression climb. The beta is coming together on this one! We walked out psyched in the dark! Heading back up tomorrow to try and catch some beta temps and hopefully finish some things off, can't wait!

A Good Three Days

2010-07-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

We returned to the park from three days of rest in Steamboat and were joined by our good friend Ben Conner for three days of great climbing at Upper Chaos!
Tuesday,
We headed up to Upper in the morning and were greeted by a good bout of rain. After the rain subsided and the sun came out we warmed up in the meadow. We headed to Right El Jorge first and on go number two Ben crushed straight to the top! There is a problem with the blog right now but there will be a video of his send up soon. After we headed to Eternia so Dustin could try and finish it off. Dustin was able to fire it off on his first go and was absolutely thrilled to send this amazing problem. The send footage will be up soon and is up now on Vimeo at http://vimeo.com/13397019. After we headed to The Skippers where brad worked out the moves of Skipper right. This problem is short powerful and somewhat confusing, but with a bit of work Brad figured out the sequence and is excited to return and continue working on it. We then pulled the pads over to Skipper D to give this classic some tries. Dustin sent this long pumpy problem and Ben came oh so close.
Wednesday,
We headed back up and once again managed to find the rain as we arrived. The storm pass with extreme quickness and we warmed up. Our first stop was Eternia. Brad worked through all the moves and started to link the sections together making great progress on this classic route. After we headed back to Skipper D so Ben could try and finish it off. Again Ben came heartbreakingly close to sending this long powerful problem. After we packed up and headed up the hill to The Green 45 area to try some different problems. First Dustin tried Two Ton Tongue again for the first time in a couple weeks and once again became excited on this interesting problem. He had some really close goes and realized that the pads were playing a crucial part in the dabs that continued to occur on this problem and switched to padding only the starting crux move. He came really close after realizing this but couldn't finish it off. Then Ben tried Thousand Shades Of Green. This is a stunning short powerful problem to the left of Jade. Ben worked out the moves and came very close to sticking the crux first move throw. We headed down the hill happy and tired.
Thursday,
We were joined by our friend Damon in Loveland and headed up to Upper to find hot sunny weather without a cloud in the sky. We warmed up and headed to Riddles and Damon worked through the moves having some really good links. After we went to Skipper D and Ben crushed it first try and was stoked to finish this super classic off. Brad also found his way to the top on his first go on the ole send train. We packed up and head back up the hill to the Green 45. Dustin again had some really close goes on Two Ton Tongue but has been falling holding the swing on the very last move. He has worked through some new beta and pad placements that should help solve this problem when we return on Saturday. After Ben and Damon tried Thousand Shades Of Green and had some good goes but couldn't put the send on in the heat. We headed down and parted ways with Ben and Damon returning to Pingree Park. A great three days of climbing with friends and we are excited for the much need rest day! Returning to Upper on Saturday to climb with our good pal Mr. Aaron Hager can't wait!
Coming soon Videos and Pics of the sends & climbing from the last three days!

Sunshine In Upper Chaos

2010-07-09T22:07:00.000-07:00

Today we hiked up to Upper to find sunny conditions. It was a bit hot but after the rain a good change of pace. We warmed up in the meadow and then went back for our second day trying Eternia. We worked through all the moves again and refined the beta and then gave some goes. Dustin came oh so close and fell from the last move twice. This is probably the most interesting boulder problem we have ever seen the movements are unlike anything else. Can not wait to return to finish this on off one Tuesday. After we headed down to try the Skipper Roof Right. Brad worked out all the moves and is pumped to start linking them together. A very good day in Chaos and excited for the much needed two days of rest.

Rain and Success In Upper Chaos

2010-07-08T21:46:00.001-07:00

We were rained out of Chaos yesterday and after driving to Estes today to find it raining again in the Bear Lake parking lot we decided to head up despite the wet conditions. As we arrived at Lower the rained let up and the fog lifted leaving Upper visible and inspiring us to make the push. As we hiked up to Upper the sun came out and things began to dry. We warmed up in the meadow and as we headed over to Riddles the conditions shifted and once again the rain came down. Brad had some close goes early on and Dustin finally worked out all the moves. Once the rain finally stopped and conditions got better Brad crushed his way to the top of a slightly wet Riddles In The Dark. He was super psyched to send this classic line! After we walked up to Eternia and tried it for the first time. We worked out all the moves and are very excited to begin trying to link things up on this interesting problem. Complete with upside down double toe hooks, drop knee's and underclings this is quite the problem. Heading up again tomorrow to climb on it some more and catch some good weather. Can't wait.

Upper Chaos

2010-07-06T09:05:00.000-07:00

We returned to Upper Chaos yesterday with Mr. Aaron Hager. We warmed up and tried Riddles. Brad had some close goes and Aaron sent in good style. Dustin is still working through the moves of this awesome boulder.It was fun to work this problem with a big group of people. Dustin hiked up and checked out Eternia it looks amazing and is very psyched to try it soon. After we tried Friday The 13th a crimpy dyno. Very condensed and very hard but a great leap. After we headed further down the hill and tried Dead Raccoon. This problem is very very compression oriented climb with very cool hard movements. We are excited to continue working on it. We walked down to lower and eyed Sunspot on the way , it is melted out and a bit of leveling with a shovel and it will be good to go. After we headed to lower to get a bit more climbing in. Dustin sent Autobot Low and tried Pistol Grip. We walked out extra tired in the dark happy to have had another good day in Chaos! We are going back tonight to continue working on Riddles and try Eternia.

Saturday & Upper Chaos

2010-07-05T08:05:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went to upper chaos with our friend Mr. Aaron Hager. We climbed on the Skippers & Jorges first. Mr. Hager crushed Skipper D and Far Left El Jorge! Next we went back to Riddles so brad could try and put the send on it. Brad had four very solid goes and will crush it soon forsure. We headed down to lower and Dustin put some more effort into The Centaur and then attempted to repeat The Marble and Handicapps via headlamp. It was really great weather and really fun glad to climb with Mr. Hager! We are planning on going back up Today and Tomorrow can't wait to get some more Upper action.

Upper Chaos

2010-07-02T19:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we headed to upper chaos with some friends from Pingree park for their first day in chaos this year. We were super excited to get to climb with Mr. Connor who we hadn't seen in a while. Our first stop after warming up in the meadow was the Jorges , Ben put some really close goes on Right El Jorge and Damon sent Far Left El Jorge. Both problems have some very cool foot work. We then headed to the Riddles Cave to try Riddles in the dark. After working out the moves Brad is super excited about this problem. We then walked down in a little rain and made a stop at Lower , Ben and Damon worked on the marble and Handicapps. Brad sent Handicapps and Dustin repeated handicapps. We walked down and got to the car at 9 after leaving for estes at the same time that morning. We were tired but had a great time climbing with our friends from pingree.

Another Night In Chaos

2010-06-30T09:50:00.000-07:00

Last night we returned to Chaos two hours later to let the boulders cool down. We warmed up and went to the The Centaur. Conditions once again were less than ideal even in the late evening. Dustin put some more solid burns on The Centaur but again after three or four burns trashed his skin. Trying this problem and having the holds dig into the same places day after day has begun to take its toll on his skin and patience. We are gonna rest and go back up Thursday and try some new things to take a short break from the problems on this boulder and returned re-psyched and with solid skin. Looking for a more skin friendly problem Dustin fired Handicapps in a few goes as it started to get dark and then we headed home. A good day at the canyon and super psyched to return and climb with Mr. Ben Connor tomorrow as well as the long awaited return of Mr. Aaron Hager this weekend pumped to climb with these guys!

First Day Back In Chaos

2010-06-29T09:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we returned to Chaos Canyon after taking four days off to rest. The conditions were not ideal as we walked up in the heat. Even as the evening came it didn't cool down as we expected it would, despite conditions we were very excited to be back. We warmed up and headed straight for the Centaur boulder. Dustin once again had some really good burns, but is still yet to reach his previous highpoint. This boulder will be a huge progression and will also be the longest he has worked any problem making quite a mental challenge as well. The snow is now completely gone and the landing quite a bit more intimidating. Brad crushed his way to the last move of the Marble Direct and flew off catching the rock a bit on his way down. He is fine but we both are sad to see the snow go. We walked down in the dark happy to be back at the park! We are going back up this evening hoping it will be a bit cooler and the holds less greasy, can't wait to do some more climbing.

Cool Temps and Cool Problems

2010-06-24T11:21:00.000-07:00

Today we left Fort Collins an hour later than yesterday to let things cool down up at chaos. We headed up with finishing the problems we both fell off the top of yesterday in mind. Things were still very hot when we arrived at four o'clock at lower chaos, so we ate food and warmed up very slow. We then headed over to Deep Puddle Dynamics , and Brad tried to finish it off. Once again he got through the crux and still manage to fall. We then headed over to the Centaur boulder , so Dustin could do battle with the Centaur. Having little skin left on both hands this was a very painful thing to try. Dustin still manage to get through the roll move of The Marble many times but just couldn't put the send on it. With the three days of upcoming rest he is sure to come back hungry and rested to put this one down. After, Brad was rested and was ready to go and finish off Deep Puddle. The temps were great and the holds felt very sticky and in a few goes, Brad got it done. He was super stoked on this problem and thinks its one of the best he has done in RMNP. We are headed to Steamboat today to finish off some work and get some rest. We will return to Estes on Monday rested and hungry!

Deep Puddle Dynamics

To Close For Comfort

2010-06-23T09:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening we hiked up to Chaos to find the conditions almost perfect. Dustin built a landing pad under The Centaur since the snow is slowly melting away making the fall worse and worse. We warmed up and the heat died down and the wind picked up. We headed over to The Centaur first. On his first go Dustin swung off with his hand on the finishing jug of the problem. Very heartbreaking and way way to close but also very cool to now know that this problem will go! This will be another huge progression and is a very nice surprise. Dustin put a few more burns on it but accomplished only continuing worse skin and no send. Next we headed over to Deep Puddle Dynamics. Brad re-worked some of the lower beta and found a sequence that works much better. He then crushed it to the lip past the crux and slipped off from the jug. This also way very very heartbreaking. With the sends so close and then hitting the pads instead of the jugs we are hungry for round two with these climbs. Tonight we are heading back up in the evening to try and make some thin skin sends of these problems. This has been one of the best weeks we have had in Chaos and we have been having a great time up there! Can't wait to get back up there tonight.

Evening Sends In Chaos

2010-06-20T23:07:00.000-07:00

Today we waited until the evening to hike back up to Chaos and get some good temps. We warmed up and then headed over to the Marble Block. The conditions were as good as we have seen yet and the holds felt great. Dustin sent The Marble Sit Start first try of the day and could not be more psyched. This is the hardest thing he has done and a true breakthrough. After we tried Valis on the backside of the boulder. This is a really cool compression problem that we are psyched to get back on. After we went to try the Autobot Low Start. Dustin ripped the blister off his hand on the first try and called it a day, Brad quickly worked through the moves and sent after a few tries. This is a pumpy climb that adds great moves to a cool climb. This evening was one of the best sessions we have had in weeks! We walked down as the sun went down and headed home tired and happy.

Dustin, The Marble Sit Start V11

Sunburns, Blisters and Progression

2010-06-19T21:13:00.001-07:00

Today we hiked up to Chaos in the morning hoping to catch the cool temps the forecast called for. It was windy but very sunny and the friction was decent for such a sunny day. We warmed up and than went to the Marble Block. Brad put some good burns and dialed in the beta for The Marble Direct, shedding a bit of skin in the process. Dustin worked on The Marble Sit and linked the sit start into the roll move of the stand for the first time. After we headed up to Upper Chaos to finish digging out Riddles In The Park. After another hour or so of digging we had the stand Riddles In The Dark completely climbable with the sit still a bit off due to a deep pool of water that has formed at the base of the boulder. We finished digging it out and put a few tries on the stand start and started to work out the beta. After we headed back down the hill to Lower Chaos as the temps got good in the evening we stopped at the Marble Block and Dustin decided to put a few more tries on The Marble Sit. Surprisingly after falling off the lock move on the first try Dustin came oh so close to sending and fell on the last move of the problem gunning for the lip. This problem is certainly the hardest thing to date and will be a huge progression. Anxiously awaiting tomorrow evening when we return to try and both seal the deal on these Marbles. On the downside Dustin has obtained one of the worst blisters either one of us has ever seen due to the digging on Riddles & Sunspot. Also he thought a really good sunburn would compliment the blister and may have over done it. Blisters and sunburns be damned tomorrow we are headed back up for revenge on those boulders!

Terrible Blister Compliments Of Chaos

The Marble Sit Start

Digging At Dusk

2010-06-18T11:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we hiked back up to Chaos Canyon with digging out Riddles in mind. We arrived in the afternoon to avoid the heat and get good temps on the Marble Boulder. Brad put some really good goes on The Marble Direct. Dustin put his best burn on The Marble Sit Start yet and has now done all the moves, and is excited to continue linking them up. After we hiked up to Upper Chaos and began digging around 7:00 O'clock. We dug for around two hours and got Riddles 2/3 of the way dug out. With a little help from the sun and another hour or so on Saturday we hope to climb on it by Saturday evening. We are excited to return to a forecast of good temps on Saturday and have our first night of camping in national forest Saturday night. Hoping to spend less on gas we are going to begin to camp at least once a week near Estes. On the way back down Dustin almost got seriously hurt when he hit a thin spot and fell through the snow into a cave up to his waist tweaking his right knee fairly bad. It seems to be ok but was a very unpleasant experience. Conditions are changing be careful up there. Glad to have a rest day and can't wait to get back!

Almost Completely Dug Out Riddles In The Park

A Warm Day In The Park

2010-06-17T09:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we returned to the park to find it very very hot. Conditions where a bit greasy but midway through the day the rain came and cooled things down. We went back up to Two Ton Tongue and kept working through the moves. Holding the swing at the very end seems to be the crux, the route itself is very good complete tension with toe hooks on almost every move. We hid under the cave as the rain & hail came down for half an hour. After we walked down to The Riddles cave and started to dig it out. We dug for around an hour and opened up the cave hoping the sun will dry it out and melt more snow, we are returning today to hopefully finish digging it out this evening. After we went down to Sunspot and met up with a fellow climb to start trying to dig this one out. We broke a bunch of ice off the top out and dug as much as possible but this problem seems to still need a couple weeks of sun and some more digging before it will be climbable, we are gonna keep putting in digging sessions on it to see what we can do. After we headed home nice and tired, we are going back up today in the evening for some better temps can not wait!

Dustin on Two Ton Tongue

Digging Out Riddles In The Park

Evening View From Middle Chaos

An Evening Session

2010-06-15T09:15:00.000-07:00

Monday the sun was shining drying out the rain that had kept us away from the park for the last two day. Brad had to drive to Denver to pick up our mom from the airport and had to miss the day at the park, but Gerald and I drove to the park for an evening session. It hailed on us as we walked up to chaos and than cleared and was perfect chilly conditions. We warmed up and went to the Marble block. I tried the Marble Direct and fell gunning for the lip two times and my skin began to wear very very thin. We went over to Deep Puddle and Gerald quickly worked through the moves and began to piece it together. The temps drop around Eight O'clock as we walked back over to the Marble and I sent The Marble Direct on the first go getting each hold good and doing the beta correct it felt very good. Being very elated with the send we walked down to the car in the dark. After the days of rain it felt so good to get back to the park and do some climbing, I'm very excited for this upcoming week and some good conditions! When brad arrives back tomorrow we are gonna head straight up to Chaos my favorite place on earth.

Learning New Things In RMNP

2010-06-13T08:15:00.000-07:00

Thursday we headed back up to RMNP with our pals from Austin Texas for their second day in Chaos Canyon. It was a bit rainy but the rest of the week called for rain so we pushed on knowing it would only be worse in the days to come. The Austin boys took down some of the problems they had been close on the day before in lower chaos and we warmed up to go climb in upper. Getting some beta from a knowledgeable Park local we where shown where a great deal of the climbs we were hoping to find in Upper Chaos are located. We arrived at the Green 45 Stand in the rain but were oh so psyched to finally find this area. The Stand Start is amazing with truly terribly sharp holds. Pulling on and throwing at the sidepull even four or five times in a short period cut into both our tips in ways I hadn't experienced in quite sometime. Hoping to avoid split tips we decided to save this beautiful problem for another day. We went around the corner to try a very different but also amazing line called Two Ton Tongue. This climb is an almost horizontal roof that consists of big moves on underclings and massive amounts of tension. Dustin got to the lip and the crux swing after three or four goes and is absolutely obsessed with this problem now. As Eight O'clock fell we quickly headed back down to Lower Chaos to meet up with the rest of the Austin crew and head home. This was one of the best and most inspiring days yet in the park this season, seeing all these lines and the diversity of the problems here left us both very very impressed with a place that already has captivated us entirely. We took a rest day after and now have been fighting the rain but will return hopefully early this coming week to our favorite place in Colorado, see you soon Estes.

Return To The Park

2010-06-09T21:09:00.000-07:00

After Twelve days away we returned to Fort Collins and Rocky Mountain, and couldn't be happier to be back. Arriving back at Chaos we were blown away by the amount of snow that has melted in our time away. Yesterday we climbed Tommy's Arete and agree it was awesome. After we hiked to Upper Chaos and tried to find The Green 45 Stand to no avail. In our usual style we hiked over the hill to Upper Upper Chaos no where near The Green 45 Stand. After an hour of hiking from the meadow we gave up and headed back to try the Marble sit and Marble Direct. Today we went back to the park and showed our friend from Texas around and they where super psyched on the climbing and crushed the first day in the park. We worked on the Marble sit and The Marble Direct some more, Dustin fell off the Marble Direct last move and left a decent amount of skin on the holds. We are going back tomorrow with new beta to find The Green 45 Stand and are super psyched to give it some goes. Can't be more excited to be climbing at the park right now!

Spring In Steamboat

2010-05-30T21:36:00.000-07:00

We have been in Steamboat for a couple days now. We have spent two days hiking looking for new boulders in two different area's that we have had a hunch would posses a bouldering gem. Our efforts were to no avail as we found nothing tall enough or featured enough to do any real bouldering on. Today we returned to the area we established over the last couple summers and added a low start to the best problem there. The sit start adds a grade and now it probably goes around solid V8. This problem is in what we have called the Moose Cave and is an almost horizontal compression problem coming out of a stack of boulders. This problem is very atypical for Steamboat as most things here are low angle and featureless. This problem truly is a classic not only for Steamboat but would be anywhere, we where happy to add the sit start as it is the obvious place to start the problem. After we started to work through another line to the left that will be very hard and very cool, glad to have something to work on while visiting. Seems like the Park is rapidly melting and we are growing more and more anxious to finish painting and return to Fort Collins and Rocky Mountain! Can not wait for some more park action!

Really Digging Rocky Mountain

2010-05-26T20:20:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday we returned to lower chaos after finishing digging out the marble. Fully rested with some what healed skin both we both were able to finish off the marble, and both agreed that it was a great problem. We were both super psyched to get the send after putting so much work into shoveling the hole boulder out. After we both worked the moves of The Marble Direct and think it will go with some fresher skin. After we were done climbing we hiked up to upper chaos and took a look at the El Jorges and The Skippers , both still need some digging but aren't to far off. We headed down back to Fort Collins to meet up with Mr. Aaron Hager to head to the 420's for the evening session in the Poudre Canyon. We were pretty beat from a full day at the park and did little climbing , but Aaron had some really good goes on Canopener. With totally shredded skin and empty wallets we are head to Steamboat for the next ten days to work and rest. We hope to get a few days of climbing on various steamboat problems and projects, and will be hitting up the campus board as well. Looking forward to showing some Texas friends the hopefully more melted out park on our return.

The Marble

Totally Shredded Skin Complements Of RMNP

Also fully edited video of Mr. Aaron Hager crushing Deep Puddle Dynamics From Sunday the 23rd, Nice work as always sir!

Deep Puddle Dynamics

Second Day In Chaos Canyon

2010-05-23T21:28:00.000-07:00

Today we returned to Chaos Canyon. The hike had improved as the trail gets more and more packed down. We worked on Deep Puddle first and our pal Aaron crushed it. We are currently editing the video and it will be up soon. Afterwards we went to the marble. Having never tried it we were unaware of some of the feet that where still buried in snow. With beta from Aaron on the sequence we continued to dig the problem out for another hour or so. After getting it completely unburied and dried off we began to try this awesome problem. Dustin fell while attempting to top it out without the usual foot holds using an alternative sequence due to ice and snow blocking the feet, heartbreaking. We headed back down around 6:30 for one of our fullest days at the park yet. We are returning tomorrow for some redemption on The Marble and perhaps Deep Puddle. Super psyched for chaos season and can't wait to get back up there! Way to crush Mr. Hager.

First Day In Lower Chaos

2010-05-21T21:22:00.000-07:00

Today we set out for lower chaos, after hearing rumors of dry boulders. The switch backs were almost non-existent except for old ski tracks. After a very brutal hike we reached lower chaos(our advice would be not to attempt this hike without snow shoes, gators , good boots , and a can do attitude), we were very stoked to find all the boulders to have totally dry top outs. We made our way to Deep Puddle and with 30 minutes of shoveling it was ready for climbing. Dustin had some heart breaking goes and we both are super excited to go back and finish off this great problem. We then headed to Tommy's Arete , We dug every thing but the starting feet out , but running low on time and light we headed to our main stop The Marble. When we first got to The Marble we could see only the lip of the boulder. After two hours of extremely serious digging we reached the start hold. The Marble itself needs thirty more minutes or so of digging to be totally climb able. The rest of the problems on the boulder probably an hour plus. After a brutal hike and moving literal tons of snow we headed for the parking lot as the sun went down. We need a rest day for sure from just the digging. We are super psyched to return on Sunday to reap the benefits of our hard work!

Deep Puddle Dynamics

Tommy's Arete

Digging Out The Marble

Working Down The Projects

2010-05-21T21:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went back up to RMNP to continue working our projects. We first headed to Emerald Lake to once again wage battle on Storm Shadow Sit. Dustin managed to link the sit from the second move to the lip of the stand, all the moves have gone now with only one left to link. Headed back to The Shadow soon for some more work. After Emerald Lake we headed down the hill to Veritas. We continued to work the sit and had a bit more progress, still missing one link move. At the end of the day we were worked and headed home happy and tired. Good work to Mr. T Holly on his first day at the park!

Happy Return To Rocky Mountain

2010-05-17T18:51:00.000-07:00

Today we were overjoyed to return to RMNP. It was sunny with all blues skies overhead. We warmed up on the Suzuki Boulder and headed straight to Veritas. Veritas was completely dry and ready to go. We worked on the sit start and made some really good progress. We both can't be more psyched on this line hard and beautiful. During the heat of the day we took a break from working it to once again seek out the Stink Bug. We had some new beta on where it was located and were psyched to walk right to it. Stink Bug is really cool looking but was wet and stilled had snow on the top out. We shoveled it off and returned to work Veritas some more in cooler conditions. Today was great and we are again oh so psyched on the park. Tomorrow we are resting and letting our skin heal up and returning to Emerald Lake and perhaps hiking to the rumored dry Upper Chaos on Wednesday, Can not wait!

Stink Bug

Sunny Sunday In The Poudre

2010-05-16T19:52:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the Poudre and were happy to find it completely dry. We worked the moves of Canopener and our pal Aaron came oh so close to crushing it. After we went and worked through the majority of the moves on Critical Mass. Having never tried Critical Mass before we were blow away by the problems steepness and quality. Afterward we crossed the river which was terribly cold to hike and find The Pearl Area. We first checked out Eye Of Samara, a cool arete with a terrible landing. Next we hiked further up the hill to Small Axe. Small Axe is a great big piece of rock that also looks great but scary. All in all it was a good sunday. Tomorrow we are headed to RMNP for the first time in a little bit and are more than pumped to return!

Critical Mass

Moon Arete Direct Start FA?

2010-05-14T14:06:00.000-07:00

Today we went back to Horsetooth and found it to be a bit less muddy. After days of work Brad sent the direct start to the Moon Arete while Dustin came painfully close. Starting matched seems like an obvious place to start and adds a difficult move to the arete and some strenuous foot work to get established on the traditional Moon Arete. We are uncertain if this problem has been done from this start before and of the grade which seems to be at least solid V10, but it certainly adds to the line and makes it not only quite a bit harder but also more direct and fun to climb. If anyone has done the route from this start or has information please let us know.

The Moon Arete Direct Start F.A.?

Pay To Play

2010-05-13T18:39:00.000-07:00

Soaked Poudre Canyon

One Wet Veritas

We returned from a brief stint of necessary work to find the front range covered once again in a blanket of snow. We gambled on the Veritas boulder being dry to work on the sit start guessing the top out would be wet. We gambled wrong and arrived to a completely soaked boulder. Intent on outdoor climbing we back tracked and headed to the Poudre Canyon. Upon arriving it was clear that 90% of the routes at the 420 were also soaked. We worked the lower dry moves of Canopener and then topped out the single completely dry route Scar Face. Needing more climbing than we had been able to squeeze out of the Poudre we headed to Horsetooth. Horsetooth is dry, but also very very muddy. Dustin repeated the moon arete and we did a circuit of classics trying to avoid the mud. All in all we got our fill of climbing as well as 200+ miles of driving and a half a tank of gas. Tomorrow we plan to head back up to Horsetooth to continue working the Moon Arete Sit and do another circuit, looking forward to the return of Rocky Mountain next week!

Another Day in Emerald City

2010-05-04T18:52:00.000-07:00

Today we made the hike back up the hill to emerald lake yet again. It was quite windy however Aaron still Crushed Storm Shadow stand. We continued to work through the moves of the sit with a bit of progress. We headed down and made a stop at veritas, Brad and Dustin both sent veritas stand finding it to be super good and equally as scary. Aaron had solid goes on low left. All in all a great day at the park! Weather permitting we will head back up tomorrow morning for some more fun.

Brad And Dustin Send Veritas Stand

Aaron Sends Storm Shadow Stand

A Day At The Tooth

2010-05-03T11:53:00.000-07:00

On sunday we went to Rotary with Mr. Aaron Hager. We did a big circuit of classics and also worked on the Moon Arete Match Start and Super Sit. One problem we hadn't done that was fantastic was Hand Full Of Green V6. Its above Tiger Rock and to the right of Pinch Overhang on a sloping arete with a bit of a harry landing. This problem needs more traffic its really good. It began to rain as skin ran thin so we called it a day. Nice work on the repeat of the Moon Mr. Hager! Estes is in mind for this coming tuesday and we can't be more stoked!

Lumpy Ridge

2010-05-01T18:47:00.000-07:00

Today we headed back to estes in hopes of making it back to Emerald Lake. The conditions were once again less then ideal so the gang headed to Lumpy Ridge. We tried a bunch of the classics and Aaron gunned down Pop A Loose Nut! We are eagerly awaiting good conditions to hike back to Emerald Lake. Hopefully things dry out fast with good weather on the way!

Aaron Crushes Pop A Loose Nut V9

Snowed out of Estes

2010-04-30T13:39:00.000-07:00

Today we headed to Estes with the hopes of working the moves on storm shadow sit. When we rolled into the park things looked not very promising. We warmed up on the Hollowell boulder in hopes that the snow would blow over. Things seemed to only be getting worse toward Emerald as time went on , so we set out to try and find our way to The Stinkbug boulder. After about forty five minutes of post holing up to our knees in the blowing snow , we retreated to try and work on Veritas which was totally wet and covered in ice. We have high hopes that things will dry out at least enough to work lower moves on the boulders next week if nothing else. Estes we will see you soon.