By Francisco Tharp, on April 16th, 2010 Adam, enjoying the view from the top. Snowy LaSalle's in the back ground, and the Titan presiding.
Last week I got my first taste of desert tower climbing and aid climbing. Let me tell you, they taste sandy and sour. Sandy because the rock – that material in which we put so much trust when we climb – was crumbling before my eyes. And sour, well, because standing in the top rung of my aiders on a rattly cam with 300 feet of exposure below me just put that funny adrenaline taste in my mouth. But you know what they say – sour grapes lemonade does not make (they say that, don’t they?). And sure enough, when the fear subsided, I took in the beauty of our bird’s eye view, I marveled at the smooth technical geekery aiding requires, and I felt pretty damn euphoric.
My friend and climbing partner, Adam, convinced me to have a go at the King Fisher Tower’s Colorado Northeast Ridge route (III, 5.8, C2) in Utah’s Fisher Towers (home of such classics as Ancient Art). After cragging outside Moab on Wall Street, we picked up some groceries, drove out to Castle Valley, drank [Read More]
By Justin Harkins, on April 12th, 2010
My Vanderbilt crew came out during spring break. This is what the cool kids at divinity school look like.
Well, I didn’t get the job on Rainier. It’s disappointing, but that’s the chance you take when you try. There are plenty of compelling reasons to go back to the river, and I’m already looking forward to being closer to home for a few months. I’m sure there will be a time or two when I’ll wonder what it looks like on the Rainier summit at that moment, but there are worse places to daydream than a sun-drenched riverbank. If any of you have whitewater wishes, contact the NOC and come see me this summer – good times guaranteed.
Matt raps off Genesis I. He thought this picture was better than all the rest; I think it looks about the same.
Before I go anywhere, though, I have to pack up and say my goodbyes to Bozeman. There’s a decent chance that I’ll find myself back in Montana come August, but that’d be three hours away in Missoula; weekend trips to Hyalite notwithstanding, my time here has likely come to an end. I’ll miss [Read More]
By Francisco Tharp, on April 7th, 2010 Bundled up and preparing to reap the rewards of ascent.
“A ship is safe in the harbor, but that’s not what ships are built for. And there is more in you than you know.” That’s what I told the group of nine aspiring backcountry snowboarders and skiers last week during their first dinner circle on the 8-day Outward Bound course that I instructed.
With those essentially Outward Bound concepts in mind, we headed out of our comfort zones for a week of backcountry riding and learning. Throughout the week I was reminded of how fast and deep humans connect to each other through shared adversity, struggle, and resilience. We spent the first part of the week preparing for a four-day overnight base-camp expedition: we prepped enough gear and calorie-rich food for 11 people, acclimated to the Rocky Mountain altitude, and got used to western-style snow and riding (most of the students were from somewhere pretty darn close to sea level east of the Mississippi). On the second day we rode in t-shirts and plenty of sunscreen at Ski Cooper to practice tree and powder riding, and on the third day we toured up Mayflower Gulch, between Leadville and [Read More]
By Francisco Tharp, on March 30th, 2010 While freestyle terrain parks are a skittle thug's preferred biome, this photo illustrates the versatility and range of the species. An unknown sender on CSU's new bouldering wall.
Flourescent skittle holds, shallow faux crack systems, dozens of college freshmen in workout clothes, and shouts of “Just grab the big blue one and do a pull up!” Classic ingredients of gym climbing hilarity – and now CSU students and staff alike can enjoy the plastic send fest.
On Sunday, March 21st, CSU Campus Recreation’s Outdoor Program (formerly the Outdoor Adventure Program), dropped the rope on their long-awaited climbing wall in the campus recreation center. When I attended CSU and worked for the OAP the wall was just a dream. So last week I drove to Fort Collins to see what that dream had turned into: A 30 to 40-foot tower with 360 degrees of climbing, a arching cave in the middle, two faux crack features with a mix of finger and hand sizes, ample lead and top-rope opportunities, and dozens of bouldering problems around the perimeter. One crack, Barbarella’s Crack, 5.9, is the first gym 5.9 I’ve ever climbed that feels like a genuine old-school, sphincter-quivering outdoor crack climb. [Read More]
By Justin Harkins, on March 29th, 2010 Clocks are changing, sun is shining, snow is melting, and Francisco is cranking. Spring has officially sprung.
Last week, one of the head guides from the NOC sent out the annual “who’s coming back this year?” e-mail. A righteous landslide that buried road and river has pushed back the start of the season, but Ocoee guides will have been styling the Middle section for a few weekends by the time I leave Montana. That means that the clock is ticking on my summer-plan deliberation. I informed the managers there that I had to check out another option before I could commit, and Michelle and I summarily headed west toward Washington and the alpine big leagues of Mt. Rainier.
Mt. Rainier, as seen from Tacoma.
I’ve been interested in guiding big mountain trips for a while. I love working on the river, but I’m not really a boater (to be honest, kayaking scares me a lot; I’m not sure I can explain why I have such trouble rolling a kayak in class III whitewater and very little running it out forty feet on an ice lead, but, in the immortal words of Joe Dirt, [Read More]
By Francisco Tharp, on March 25th, 2010 Adam, grinning up Grins, 5.8, on the Happy Hour Crag.
Once upon a spring on Colorado’s Front Range, it was warm and sunny, then snowy and cold, then warm and sunny again. And while it was warm and sunny, the climbing bug bit me. Hard. So I put on my T-shirt and shorts, packed a bag, and went climbing in Boulder Canyon for the first time. I had heard plenty about the historically rich climbing area west of The People’s Republic, and I must say it lived up to its reputation: fast, easy access; quality rock; a lifetime of short-but-sweet trad and sport routes alike; and big time weekend crowds.
On Friday my friend Adam and I climbed on the Happy Hour Wall. We warmed up on a couple 5.7s on the climber’s left side of the wall: Are We Not Men and Are We Not Robots. Both were exceptional for their grade, and featured an exposed, juggy mini-roof to pull over. Gear was thin but possible on top, but would feel pretty darn run out for a beginning leader. A fall on the roof would be bad news as your last pro is at our feet above [Read More]
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