Climbing Stoke

[Bronco]

Looks pretty sweet Jeb!

[Jeb McHardman]

doope. what route is it?


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It's a route called the Ancient Ones (5.9+, 4 p) on Questa Dome north of Taos. Definitely one of the gems of northern NM climbing

[ex-powderbroker]

5.9+?! RIP JEB!

[Jeb McHardman]

5.9+?! RIP JEB!

And it was put up in the 80s! The grade's actually pretty fair--the only sketchy part is a 20ish foot runout with your last piece being small and pretty far right of you.

[climberevan]

That looks like a beautiful line and day! I might have to check out Taos next time I'm in the region.

We call those kinds of routes five-NINE! Like Reed's Direct--woe betide the "5.9 leader" who sidles up to that one.

[Jeb McHardman]

That looks like a beautiful line and day! I might have to check out Taos next time I'm in the region.

We call those kinds of routes five-NINE! Like Reed's Direct--woe betide the "5.9 leader" who sidles up to that one.

There's an alternate pitch on the regular route on Higher Cathedral Spire that gets a 5.9++ rating in the guidebook. Felt like solid 10+/11-

[Jeb McHardman]

Enjoyed some pre-turkey slab yesterday. Hoping this storm pans out as forecasted, and I can stop climbing and start skiing

[tellybele]

Nice pics! Reed's was considered the standard 9 in the Valley it's one of the easier ones..see Steck/Salathe

[andy m]

Boulder has been unseasonably warm the last few days, and the snow conditions in the mountains aren't very good, so why not go climbing?

I did some bouldering on Flagstaff this afternoon. Sunny and close to 60 degrees. I was hoping to post a photo or two of climbers on the rock, but I didn't see any, even though the parking area was full. I once ran into Lynn Hill while bouldering here, and there are lots of other famous climbers in the Boulder area, but none to be found today.

There's a ton of stuff on Flagstaff -- these photos show just a couple of spots. The photo below is looking SSE (the craggy high point in the background is the backside of the First Flatiron).




Tree Slab: Although it may not look like much in the pic, this is a popular spot, with a delicate traverse and several up problems, including some that can be done with no hands if you're bold (and good).




Monkey Traverse: This is very popular, and difficult to do in one go from R to L (V4, I think?) No single move is that hard, but lots of hard moves in a row with not much rest (but there is a great knee-bar before the committing finish).

[ex-powderbroker]

i had a great day at flagstaff on my first trip to boulder. what a park. i brought my shoes and remember touching all of those formations. i sent that slab which felt a bit high ball with no pad and not much of a clue about bouldering, something i’d only done in central park beforehand on the nice wood chips of rat rock.

really nice photos of some tasty lemonade. it warmed up here too but came with 2.5” of rain. so i had that going for me (no skiing or climbing).

thanks.

[schuss]

Had a great trip to red rock and did my first multipitch. Got the full adventure experience on Olive Oil as we got off route and I had to traverse ~40-50 feet with no pro on a crumbly blankish face (was fairly positive, but still nerve-wracking). Beautiful terrain out there that's just a joy.

Day 1 - suburban crag (sandstone was still wet)


Day 2 - olive oil
Start

A tight belay station

The summit

[andy m]

What a great route for your first multi-pitch -- congrats!

[schuss]

Thanks, was super fun. Would love another shot without the off route excursion and waiting on the party in front of us

[ex-powderbroker]

summit view looked worth it!

[tgapp]

Schuss, so psyched for you. Love those classic moderates at Red Rocks

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[schuss]

summit view looked worth it!

100% - we had a quick retro on what we would've done differently (traversed back onto the route from the place we traversed off it, carry a route sheet), but even got complimented on the way up on our efficiency/climbing/communication for it being the first time. Great time, but I didn't know how exhaust 700 feet of easy climbing could be! Really happy overall on the route as well as our calm problem solving and general work. It's still a struggle sometimes getting into the leader headspace (I'm quite a bit stronger and more experienced than my partner, so I always lead), but it was great to see I can actually do it with higher exposure.
Had to actually remember to place gear a bunch of times as there was a ton of jug hauling/easy climbing that made it way too easy to get into a rhythm.

[hutash]

A bit late, but we did Tenya Peak in the fall. It is a super easy, but really fun, clean climb. I am too old for any serious routes these days, but moving over 1,000+ feet of Yosemite granite is still quite pleasant...and there is some old pro left from back in the day to add some nostalgia to the route.

[andy m]

Gotta love Tuolumne :-)

[ex-powderbroker]

schuss - i find if you’re not leading trad often it’s mentally tiring even on easy terrain. one lead feels like maybe two leads of sport climbing. not really sure what the ratio is but i can relate to feeling smoked after doing a big day of multi pitch. nice job.

[andy m]

That reminds me of the old joke: A sketched-out trad leader yells down to his belayer: "Help, help, I don't have any Friends, and my nuts are too small!"

But, seriously, I agree with ex-powderbroker that trad leading takes more of a mental toll than sport leading, for a given grade. Most climbers lead a grade or two lower for trad vs sport climbing.

[schuss]

Oh yeah, but that's why I'm trying to get the reps in. Also now that I've successfully done one, I feel a bit of the unknown has been pushed back

[2Pole]

Very cool photos! Looks like a wonderful trip...

[ex-powderbroker]

hautes gorges is going to be the new el chalten

https://gripped.com/news/beskin-solo...utes-in-a-day/

[climberevan]

I've had a fun time in AZ over the last week. Unfortunately I sprained my ankle today on a random leader fall while rope soloing Peacemaker (.10a, 7p) so I'm out for a bit.

[Trackhead]

I've had a fun time in AZ over the last week. Unfortunately I sprained my ankle today on a random leader fall while rope soloing Peacemaker (.10a, 7p) so I'm out for a bit.

Scenic Cruise?

I used to live in Flag, put up a handful of soft sandstone routes in Sedona in early 2000s. Fun place.