Paths Of Glory Photos

I went out and got some photos taken on the new roof problem in Clear Creek Canyon called Paths Of Glory V12. Again I want to emphasize the quality of the climbing and I would be psyched to see more people getting on it.

Photos Courtesy of Greg Mionske:

Clear Creek Canyon

I awoke yesterday with plans to head back up to Mt. Evans, but quickly realized it just wasn't in the cards for me. I was still recovering from a serious campus session at The Spot the previous afternoon. However, at around 4:00 p.m. my good friend Chris Meacham arrived in Boulder and convinced me to head out to Clear Creek to check out this roof project next to Stanley Kubrick. I remember looking at the problem last year, but for some reason it looked completely impossible. Not so this year. I even discovered a direct (straight out) finish to it so that you can remain completely in the roof for almost the complete extent of the problem. Lots of quality roof climbing. Something you generally don't see out here in Colorado. I put together the end of the problem pretty quickly. I consists of some pretty amazing moves to quality edges. However, the beginning of the problem was alluding us due to the very warm temps and lack of wind. So we decided to sit around and wait. Wade David showed up as the sun was starting to set with a crane and HD quality video. Inspired by the amazing footage we were able to put together, I managed to link the full roof and topout the boulder. Best roof climbing I've done in Colorado. I've decided to call it Paths Of Glory after Stanley Kubricks classic anti-war film. I posted the grade of V12 because I thought it was quite hard. Similar to Dark Waters for me. Maybe a bit easier. However, it was very hot and greasy out and I look forward to hearing more opinions.

I would post photos but my camera fell out of the back of the car on the drive out and it got run over. Shitty! Wade will be posting the footage somewhere soon. More updates on that.

Peace.

New Video In The MomentumVM Premium Section

Wade has put together a nice video of our Spring Break trip to Joe's Valley featuring Alex on Smokin' Joe V9, and my brother Giovanni Traversi on the first ascent of Weed, Whiskey, and Women With Wieners V12. It is available in the Premium section of Momentum Video Magazine. It also features G's own musical creation to back the climbing footage. Quality!

Mt. Evans

I decided to open up (for myself) the alpine bouldering season by heading up to Mt. Evans today. I have heard that the snow levels in the mountains were high this year and I was a bit concerned about whether or not I would get to climb on anything. But I headed out anyways this morning with die-hards Greg Mionske and Connor Griffith. We got a hold of some snow shoes and made the drive into the mountains. Due to the gate being permanently shut, we were forced to hike in from Echo Lake. Surprisingly the upper part of the switchbacks are almost completely free of snow and the rest of the hike to Area A is on hard-packed ice and snow. We finally put our snow shoes on just as we entered the trees just short of the Bierstadt boulder. We made it to the Dali boulder a few minutes later to find it completely free of snow both on the ground and on the boulder. Perfectly dry.

I intended to try No More Greener Grasses V12 and Super Gui V11. I have tried both on previous occasions with no success despite getting extremely close. Especially Super Gui. I have fallen on the last hard move at least 30 times. I began the day by nabbing a 3rd try ascent of No More Greener Grasses V12. It is definitely one of the most inspiring and pure boulder problems I have ever seen and I was very psyched to complete it without epic. It felt extremely easy for me today, but after factoring in my previous experiences on it, I have decided that it is probably the hardest V12 I have ever done. With my skin still fresh I decided to give some attempts on Super Gui V11. It is basically a linkup of The Dali Sit V9 and the top section of Ode To The Modern Man V14 via an amazing slopey rail. It consists of a very hard-for-me crux move that relies on a right-foot heel hook and a left hand stab to an incut crimp. I managed to finish the problem on my 3rd effort from the bottom. Definitely a quality boulder problem.

The hike out was epic due to lack of prior conditioning. Altitude 1, Boulderers O. Now I will sleep for the next 2 days just trying to recover.

Here are some pics from the day courtesy of Greg Mionske:

Peace.

Hollow's Way

I spent about 15 minutes in the BRC tonight before I decided that I am completely over gym climbing. I'm going to try and spend as much time as I can outside starting now, even if that means climbing on Flagstaff because it's late and the weather is shit. So that is where I went today. I brought along my friend Greg so he could nab some photos of me on Hollow's Way V8. I tried this problem for about 20 minutes last year around this time, but got rained off before I could complete it. I believe it might be the best boulder problem within a 5 minute radius of town (which pretty much only includes Flagstaff, but whatever). Anyways, I was anxious to finish it off. When we arrived, I was surprised to find the boulder completely dry (the weather has been shit lately in Boulder). I got to the last move on my first attempt, but took about 15 more to finish it up. The last hold is not very good. However, once you accept this and decide to stop fighting that small fact, moving off of it to the "finish jug" is not too bad. I also got the chance to try out Five Ten's newest take on the Anasazi Lace-Up and I must say they performed impeccably well on the slightly overhung terrain. They will be my new trustworthy friends on any vert highballs I might attempt over the summer. As well as on the Diamond.

So...We escaped Flagstaff without epic and now I sit at home dreaming about my weekend plans to snowshoe into Mt. Evans. Psyched!

Here are a few pics from the day courtesy of Greg Mionske:


Peace.