Posted by
asc_climb on 2/19/2007
So i get four days off classes for "snow daze" but three of those days would be filled with a wilderness first aid course. So I got one climbing day in, and it was quite the day. The day started around 9:00am when we hit the road for buena vista for a day of bouldering. It took about 2 hours to get to the first area, the sun had not yet warmed the rock so we did the infamous dorthy traverse to get warm. My buddy jake who went to high school in BV had it wired so i went exploring and found a beautiful hand crack that went for 35-40ft. So i decided i needed the jam practive so i soloed up it(at the most 5.4 so dont freak out) and found a beautiful landscape overlooking the arkansas river and a huge boulder beside a massive tree directly across from where i was. So i book it back down, meet up with jake and did a little more moderate boulders then hop in the car. I had seen the boulder before last time i was there and heard about a v6 called chained heat put up by the legendary john sherman, it was an area classic featureing an interesting crux, a big lunge off two shallow side by side monos. So we pounded some lunch and headed across the river to give it a go. The boulder it's self was massive, toppin out around 12 feet maintaing a steep35 degree overhang. The rock was sharp, it was the same tuft we have in the valley, so i was used to pulling on the nasty sharp pockets. We give it a couple weak attempts to figure out beta then get serious. It starts on a sloping rail with a high foot, you roll onto that foot and make a desperate lunge to a sidepull/pinch, move your foot then quickly pop out to a decent two finger pocket, you then heel hook that side pull and move your other foot to a ok foothold, you then pull tight to the wall and staticly reach up and place your two fingers in that shallow double mono, move your foot and lunge for the jug and top out. It took me just under an hour to send it, i must have fallen five times on the last move but when i finally hit the jug it gave me such a feeling of accomplishment. I really dont know why i like this problem so much, it was not the hardest thing i have climbed. Maybe it was the perfect weather, maybe the aestetics of the boulder, or maybe it was the feeling of sticking that last hold. All i know is it is my favorite problem of all time(well atleast for now).
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