Well hello from a snowy Colorado.
Spring weather is in full effect here and has been since we’ve arrived. What does that consist of? Lots of bad weather and occasionally a good spell. We’re working with it as best we can.
We both have jobs, which is a very good thing since being in Las Vegas for the winter and not working was taxing on the pocket book. We’ve been exploring the early-season areas around the small town of Estes Park. There are a lot of them. There is a ton of low lying rock in the area… Potentially a lot of new boulders! We’ll get into that at a later time.
So what are the haps you wonder?
Erin has some good projects. She took down the local and tricky classic Gold Diggaz. It’s a sweet overhanging dihedral problem, it climbs really well and checks in around the V10 range. I managed to take a really nice photo of her on it that was featured on the Rock and Ice instagram page.—>https://www.instagram.com/p/BDquzn0JcP6/?taken-by=rockandicemag
We’ve been touring around areas such as Big Elk Meadows, Wild Basin, Elkland, Lumpy Ridge, and of course the one and only RMNP proper, on the easy to access boulders though.
The reality though is our most frequented area is a Moon Board, and we’re both starting to feel pretty snappy on it. Here’s a vid of me doing the V10 on it with the set we are working with—->https://www.instagram.com/p/BDHFu6ulBh_/?taken-by=iancotterb
The Moon Board is really fun and undoubtedly will get you strong, at least on that style of climbing (fingery and 40 degrees or so).
On another note, I have been trying some really hard boulders. Harder than I’ve tried before probably. Due to that I haven’t been sending a ton of things, though I have had some success.
Some classics I’ve managed to tick:
Desperate Houseboys Traverse (V10)—>https://www.instagram.com/p/BCwHGDhlBhX/?taken-by=iancotterb
Get Over It (V10)—->https://www.instagram.com/p/BDrRg6YlBqj/?taken-by=iancotterb
Right Angry Man aka Livid Man (V10) and Gold Diggaz.
I’ve also done a couple memorable first ascents. The first was at Wild Basin. It climbs out a steep roof and the crux move is a funky dyno out of a delicate knee bar. Holding the swing is quite difficult. I thought it was V11 or so and dubbed it Ludacris to stick with the “thug” theme of the roof.——->https://www.instagram.com/p/BC0NqiNlBh5/?taken-by=iancotterb
The other is a sweet, airy and somewhat technical V6 on the roadside Donut Thief Boulder on Bear Lake Road in RMNP. I hung a rope off it and made sure to clean it well. With the quality and easy access I think this thing should get some action.—–>https://www.instagram.com/p/BDg-YClFBm9/?taken-by=iancotterb
We’ve been climbing and hanging out with Paul Robinson and his lovely fiance Alex Kahn. It has been a good time. Paul is an impressive climber to say the least. The same day I did Ludacris, Paul established a new classic V12 (thanks to the folks that prepped the line!) next to Ludacris now dubbed No Heaven for a Thug. I have tried it a lot to no avail.. It’s hard! A friend of ours Sam Weir did it. Here’s the crux—–>https://www.instagram.com/p/BD3PvMGl2kH/?taken-by=sam__weir
Paul went back a week later and hooked up what we were calling “The Wheel of the Basin Proj” and linked Ludacris into No Heaven for a Thug. He dubbed it The Third Wheel and reckons it checks in around V13. I fortunately had my camera out that day and captured footage of the ascent!—->http://www.rockandice.com/video-gallery/paul-robinson-sends-the-third-wheel-v13-first-ascent
Also. Paul is really close to pulling Hynotized Minds. Any try now. We are rooting for him and hopefully the weather gives him a fair shot!
Erin and I put together a video of a few problems… Check it out! We creatively called Estes Park Early Season —>http://www.dpmclimbing.com/climbing-videos/watch/estes-park-early-season
A couple more random thoughts..
Here’s a photo I took of Erin climbing a fun V8 at Elkland, Smile for the Blade—>https://www.instagram.com/p/BCl5-IjlBmv/?taken-by=iancotterb
Also Sam Weir is damn close to climbing the mega line, Memory is Parallax (V14). Here’s a shot of him on that—–>https://www.instagram.com/p/BCl6ltTlBn4/?taken-by=iancotterb
Hopefully the spring finds you all well. Until next time!