New Stuff

I guess you could say that 2010 has been very productive as far as new stuff, new boulder problems that is, are concerned.

There has been a guy named Joe in town that has put up a couple of new problems one of which we climbed a month or so ago. It is on the Tads Prow Boulder and climbs the beginning of the V0, and busts left along the faint lip on cool slopers to an awkward ending. A V5 or 6 on its own, we added a lower start and a handful of hard moves on slopers to create Full Retard V7.

A week or so later we came across another steep lip traverse on the other side of the Tiger Style Boulder (or Solo Roof). Unable to determine whether this line was climbed in full, we re landscaped the beginning to allow a proper non-dab start, and came up with two endings. The left is called The Marshmallow Door V6 and the straight up is called Coke Twitch V7.

This weekend we wandered out to the Tuned Boulder to warm up and put up several new eliminates using a variety of holds that hadn't been climbed on before which was cool. I maneuvered the troops out to look at a boulder I've been calling the Caboose for years but still hadn't the vision to establish anything on. Lo and behold the lip traverse fairy had struck again leaving another V7ish gem for us to try. This one had the name and grade written in chalk "The Mongolian V5+". The grade had me chuckling. The 5+ was the calling card for sandbag back in the day. A way of saying "its harder than the established V5's in town but how much harder was yet to be determined." Of course this was before anything really hard had been completed in Cody. Here is a video of Marc riding the Caboose (pun intended) of the send train, Clint and I had started.

The Mongolian V5+ from Mike Snyder on Vimeo.

Speaking of hard things and new things in Cody, Kerrek Stinson has been on a tear in 2010. He has established multiple V10's and V11's, and Codys first V12 and V13. The list is too long to list them all but here are a few highlights. The Dragon Force project which is now called Living in Infamy V10 and its sister to the left Fossilized Dragon Poo V10. On the Spear Point Boulder, The Pookster V11 which is the SDS and direct start to Spear Point Crack V9, a repeat of the enormous linkup Spear Chuckin Baby Throwin Hoedown V12 established by Canadian Terry Pahallick, and BJ Tildens epic Tribal Vibrations V11. He also managed to put Down The Grim Ripper Project in the summer heat, calling it Dope As Chrome V13. Also in there, a quick repeat of Pistol Whipper V9. On the burgeoning backside, several V9's, an unnamed V10 on the Mothership that Marc repeated and downrated to V8, and a V12 which I don't know the name of on the back of the Roof Boulder. All of this sandwiched around about five weekends where he travelled to Tensleep or Lander and climbed his first 5.13, a 13b/c, flash. He also ticked 13d and 14a before retiring back to bouldering. Not bad for his 16th year... of life, not climbing.

To reinforce this posts topic, I would be remiss to leave out Drews commitment to the South side of Cedar. Despite sensitive access issues, Drew has established possibly over 100 problems to add to the 20 or so that Clint and I had put up back there. The surface just barely scratched, we are psyched!!

Visitors

Drew was in town last weekend, and with him five Bozeman climbers, all hungry for some sandstone. Clint, Jason and myself offered up some direction in the form of a tour. I just love spending a day on the Mountain wandering from boulder to boulder trying to sew together the best combination of problems.

The folks from Bozeman varied widely in ability and direction from only motivated to try super hard stuff or projects to up-for-anything. So the day went, from the stacked with easy problems Fort Boulder, to the strange but brilliant Ra Boulder, down to Tiger Style, Ahona and Preclean and finishing off with some well deserved sends on the Pugilist Boulder. The highlight of the day for probably all of us was watching Clint somehow fire off the rarely repeated Prizefighter V10 at the end of the session. Normally I know when he is about to do something cool and I'll turn the camera on, but not this time, it just happened.

I managed a send of the new V6, Marshmallow Door on the back side of the boulder Tiger Style is on. We have been trying to find out who found and chalked up this steep little beast but no one seems to know. We lowered the start by relandscaping the base and envisioned two different endings a few weeks ago, Marc then sent the left line and Clint did the straight up one. Unsure as to the origin of or previous success with, we decided to name and claim FAs until we discover otherwise. Both are very good steep problems with the straight up having some dangerously sharp crimps at the end. It has yet to earn a name and goes at around V7.

The Bozeman toughies Kevin and Fletcher were enamored with my stout project on the Ahona Boulder. They worked out the moves to Ahona Verdugo V8 and Kevin sent with the quickness. They set to work on the arete project and made great progress and almost sent but not quite. This problem is super cool, a king line you might even say, that will go at around V8 or 9. There is a lower link over into the start of Ahona that should go as well at V10 or harder.

Great sessions at the Fort, Pre Clean and The Pugilist was enough to torch the entire group by the end of the day. We limped off the Mountain each of us wild eyed and crazy for food, beer or whatever else might slake our depleted bodies. Fantastic!!! Love it.

Shot some stuff, made a vid, check it.

The Bozeman Visit from Mike Snyder on Vimeo.

Back side!!

We have been going up to the South side of Cedar now for several years to boulder. Trips prior to that were exploratory in nature and generally involved wandering around and being lost in the vastness. A few years back, Clint and I started driving to the top of the Mountain (across private property - with permission) and building a trail system down to the biggest boulders, which passed by several other piles of smaller boulders. Drew started going in from the bottom last Fall (which also includes crossing private property - again with permission, of course). He has put in many cairns and a trail through the talus, and spent many overnights camping and developing.

South Side of Cedar from the parking at the bottom

Four of us ventured up there on Sunday and I realized just how much has been done already, there are now well over a hundred problems. While the cluster of large free standing boulders has been picked over, there are still so many other sectors waiting for discovery and development.

The Red Streaky Boulder

We started at the Red Streaky Boulder as it is a good warm up with nearly perfect red sandstone. We climbed most of the main problems and Clint tried the Bird of Prey proj at the far left side of the picture above, which seems really hard. He manged to get through the crimpy powerful bottom part several times but kept failing on the short jump to the sloper. We originally placed this project at V7, but that seems a bit naive. No one else was even close.

The HP40 Boulder

The Mothership Boulder

The Mothership Boulder is probably the gem of this area. A free standing giant flattened egg, it curls under at the bottom and rounds out at the top. There are numerous18 to 25 foot straight up problems on it ranging from V0 on up. I shot some footage of Clint flashing the V5, which I think is called In Peace We Come. It has a cool lower crux, then an easier but high top out. Our group managed sends of the sandbagged V6 to the right, and also the incorrectly graded V10 and V8 right of that (they were more like V8/9 and V4).

A quick stop at a lower boulder with a crimpy V9ish thing and we were toast. The sun (nearly 90 in late September) had fried us, the rock had sapped us and the walk back down the hillside would require all the energy we had left.

All in all a great day, inspiring us to make plans to return and develop stuff closer to the car.

Clint Cook on In Peace We Come V4/5 from Mike Snyder on Vimeo.

She Wanted A Wall

My wife has been very nice about bugging me to build a wall, and I have been putting it off. Then she got the girls on board, and I knew I could put it off no longer. So after two days of cutting, drilling and screwing... we now have our very own wall. Now I have to round up my old holds from the wall I had back in the 90's and order some new ones as well. We have 16' up and 9' wide with many t-nut holes to fill. Here are is a quick video, real quick.

Our Home Gym from Mike Snyder on Vimeo.

The Sleep

Another weekend, another blast over to Tensleep and back. Jason went with us this weekend and it was nice to have another adult around for kid wranglin'. We all climbed strong on Saturday with Jason flashing his first ever 12a. I ran a lap on EKV to remember what long steep and pumpy feels like, and also because someone had left draws hanging on it. I one hung it and got a great deep pump for my sixth pitch of the day.

Today a crew of us went up to the new bouldering area to check out boulders we had seen in pictures Aaron had taken a few days before. I was impressed but ultimately these are just shorter versions of what we are already finding and bolting in the canyon. In a very dense cluster of steep streaked blocs, many of which looked climbable, Charlie chose a steep bulge and began cleaning. I hopped in and cleaned a line to the right on a blue streak. Both problems came out great, climbing pockets out the steep roof with fun top outs. My buddy Drew was along and cleaned up a few lines along with Dave and Lenore who also scrubbed and climbed several lines also. It will be cool to have good bouldering in the canyon and this crew seemed psyched to ferret out the good and hard stuff.

I hustled Jason out of there but couldn't wrestle Drew away, for this was a two crag day and I had work to do. We shifted gears and marched up to Downtown for some bolt clippin'. I have now bolted and cleaned 7 routes up there, and until today had only been able to climb one. After two previous tries I did Have a Sneegar 12c first try today and flashed Floyd Direct 12a. Now I have the middle and hardest one to do and the back of the Cigar is done. I think they are all 12's and super quality pockety routes. I am eager to finish up here so I can work on the 13's I bolted on the other wall.

Ah... Tensleep

PS. The new photo I used for my title background is me on The Gravy Train .12b. This was my first route on the back of The Cigar. Thanks to Aaron Huey for the photo. BTW - this route is amazing (pat, pat), I highly recommend it and all the other routes back there.

A List

Summer is here and things are chugging along at full speed. Work and family keeps me busy, though I have been juggling climbing and bolting in the mix whenever I can. Motivation has been high but focus has been blurry lately, probably due to a late spring sinus bug brought on by raininess and temp fluctuations. The recent heat seems to have dried everything up and my head is nearly clear now.

Many people over the years have talked about lists they have prepared to help them zero in on and complete climbing goals. I have always been interested but alas too lazy to actually compile a list. I always feel like there IS a list for me, its just not written down. Yeah right! Last summer it worked pretty well because each time I completed something, I knew right where I wanted to go next, and things moved along. This year I was having trouble knowing where to begin. So... I compiled a list. It is only for Tensleep right now, and only for the upper canyon stuff. It includes routes from Metropolis all the way up to the Whiny Baby wall. The routes are only ones I have not done and range from 5.11b to 5.13b. My list has 35 routes. I do not expect to do them all this season, but now I have something to shoot for. It feels different to have actually written down what I want to accomplish.

My fitness level is still lacking and my endurance is coming back, however slowly. I am a bit scattered in that I have been on HB&S a long 5.13 at the slavery wall twice now and my new granite route in Cody which is 5.13-. These routes both feel doable but I have also failed narrowly on two 5.12b's in Tensleep, but done everything else I have tried in one go. My power level is about as good as it is gonna get, I just need to wrap my head around fighting through the pump. Hopefully things will start to fall into place soon.

My new bolted routes in Tensleep are fantastic. I have bolted, cleaned and prepped four lines but am still trying the first and easiest(?) one. I thought it would be 11+, but 5.12b or c seems closer. I fell on the flash attempt at the last bolt and then again going for the hold to clip the anchor. Next go for sure. The one to the left, in the center of the pillar got cleaned and prepped last night and is even better than the arete line. It seems harder and more sustained. I installed two more anchors, one for CK and one for me, both just left of the other two routes. This should almost fill the backside of this formation, and there is still plenty of room on the side and front.

Charlie and JB are in full swing at the new area as well. CK has bolted and sent two lines, a 10+ and 11-. JB has bolted four lines on a different formation, one of which could turn into two pitches. I am psyched that there are over ten routes there already. I may be able to do ten myself this season. New routes are cool and fun to find and establish but they take a toll on me, cutting into climb time and wearing me down physically. It's definitely worth it though!

I have some more media and info on the local bouldering but I'll save it for a later post. Ciao!

Summer is finally here

I spent a day a few weeks back climbing with my friend BJ, we tried the undone lines bolted on the granite in the lower canyon. He had his sights set on an old project called The Labor of Hate. A cool 12+ line of crimps up a steep wall to a stopper move to reach the anchors. He worked out and chalked up the line and found a plausible sequence for the final burly move. He practiced it but never actually stuck it, damn close though. I worked on the line around the corner from last fall as well hanging the draws and reworking some sequences. Unfortunately there was a key jug that had a puddle of water in it, and though it may not have mattered I didn't have the strength to power through it and just wipe my hand afterwards. Oh well, draws are hanging.

My new job has me over on the other side of the Big Horn Basin in Worland a couple days a week, developing new referral sources. This puts me frighteningly close to Tensleep Canyon which holds many lines I have yet to climb and a massive amount of virgin pocketed rock to bolt. My good friend Alli gave me permission to plant my pop up trailer in her side yard to use as a home away from home. It has become my office for work and a staging area for bolting missions. I finished equipping two routes on a steep bulging formation at a new area. One is a managable but sustained rig that will go at 12+ or 13-. The other is similar with several brutal cruxes, so probably harder. I began aiding my way up a free-standing pillar, my intent to leave a sport route in my wake and reach the top to access the other gems waiting to be bolted. These routes will be superb with unbeatable position - very psyched!!

Now that Alli is back at home, the climbing and training has begun with much vigor. She has folks staying with her already and more showing up in the coming weeks. She has draws hanging on Heart Balls and Swagger, a 19 clip long 5.13 that her beau Kevin bolted and sent toward the end of last season with James. They graded it 13c due to its length and one bouldery move. I took one run on it and climbed to the crux move only to sag and fall before even trying it. I rested and did the move. I also found an unchalked pocket that provided a workable sequence after that leads to the only jug on the upper section. It is sustained 5.12 climbing to the chains from there. I have no endurance whatsoever, so I was psyched to do all the moves, but daunted by the idea of sewing it together.

Bouldering continues to excite and amaze all who venture onto Cedar Mountain. I always try to shrug it off as the heat rises in the summer and concentrate on rope climbing, since the season is short. I am inevitably drawn back though, because the momentum doesn't fade with the locals but rather accelerates due to the longer days and cool evenings. Speaking of locals, they are all stronger than ever pushing individual limits and completing long standing personal goals and projects. I wish I had some footage of Clint mowing down all the V8's on the mountain or Kerrek completing new lines like the V11 direct start to Spear Point Crack or the left sit start to the Wilfords Wretch, but alas none was shot. Instead here is a video of Dan demonstrating that you really can climb on sandy choss, Dylan in mid circuit doing More is Better V4 and Clint sewing multiple old problems together to create something a little different.

Any Given Thursday evening on Cedar Mountain from Mike Snyder on Vimeo.

My camera is busted so now I have an excuse to not post pics. I'll keep shooting with the little HD though so I'll try to post up some more media.