Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Epic Fall Session at Snowy Mountain

Banta and I left Johnstown at 6:30am on Sunday morning to ensure that we would be getting in a full day of climbing at the Snowy Mountain Boulders.  As we transferred his gear into my jeep for the 1.5 hr carpool, it was still pouring rain but we opted to stick to our gam plan and give Snowy Mtn. a shot.

As we got further and further north, the rain was letting up and the sun was trying its' best to break through the clouds...were we going to finally catch a break and get some decent climbing conditions this fall? 

We got to the trailhead at 8:00am, the rain had stopped but everything was still soaked.  Our optimism was high because we have personally seen the boulders at Snowy dry up in a matter of hours with the right combination of sun and wind.  As we approached the boulders, they were still a bit saturated but it was evident that it was going to be climable really soon...Sully was en route as well and not far behind us.

When we finally get some decent fall conditions, this is what happens.

Media Update:



10 comments:

  1. Sunday really was beautiful, Zac, Heather and I were in GB all day and it was perfect there too. I'm loving these November conditions! Great sends by all you guys in this vid. I loved seeing Salamander, I was never really sure how that went. And where is that problem Sticky Pads? The boulder looked vaguely familiar but I couldn't quite place it.

    -Andrew C.

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    1. Andrew- glad you guys were out as well, anything exciting to report from GB? In the video, I send the stand start to Salamander. Earlier this spring I did it from one move in because I was concinved that the first move was improbable. After I established "Sticky Pads" on the "Nothing Boulder" (left traverse into the "SMAC" arete, felt V7ish) which involved a massive span to reach the right arete, I thought i'd give the Salamander Stand another attempt. The move is at my maximum wingspan and Matt Bosley did a sit start into the climb that goes around V11/12.

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    2. Ahhh -- so that's what I'm looking at! Okay, now I see where Sticky Pads is. You must have spent some time cleaning that rail, I don't recall ever seeing it. Excellent addition, it looks fun! Why does the vid say V4+ if you thought it felt V7ish?

      And what's the deal with Con2? Haha, that thing just keeps getting downgraded.

      GB was excellent, mostly explored new problems over near the Rubik's Cube area. Lots of good sending, hoping to go back this weekend to work some harder stuff (Filter, SFN, Fatwa... ya know).

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    3. Sticky Pad was a unique boulder problem. I cleaned it thinking that it was going to be a nice easy addition to the established climbs at Snowy.

      After about a dozen falls on the traverse before even lunging for the arete, I unlocked some crazy reverse palm/foot match on the slab face. Banta couldn't make the new beta work for him and said he'd hate me if I graded the climb V4, so tentatively I gave it a V4+. You know how climbs go, always need some additional consensus before you can accurately grade a climb. The line is obvious and fun.

      As for Con2, I don't really know what to say. The first ascentionist called the stand start a V10. The stand was later flashed and V8 was tossed around for a proposed grade. The climb is difficult with big moves on small crimps. If you crimp well, it doesn't feel as difficult and the first move is the crux with easy climbing after that point. I could see it being called hard V8/easy V9 in the near future. Obviously the climbing conditions play a pivital role on this climb as well.

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  2. Nice vid, Jut.
    Thought I'd weigh in on the Con 2 debate, since I was just talking about this the other day. As much as I'd love to claim the 10 points for it, I did that thing this spring in around 5 tries, having never climbed anything at the grade. Given, the first move is the hard one and it might be exactly in my style, I'm inclined to compare the line to Fatwa, which, at V9, gives me considerably more trouble. V8 might be a little sandbag but it seems like consensus is growing that it can't be a 10. But, hey, maybe we're all just getting mutant strong!

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    1. Potter- Great comparison with Fotowa. I agree, for me as well, Fotowa is much more difficult than Con2. That being said, I have tried Con2 on numerous occasions and have also failed on it in poor conditions, so it definately is a tough, crimpy boulder problem. But this past weekend, the temps were right and I was able to repeat the stand start 3 times. I feel that V8/9 is an accurate grade for this line. The sit start is next level...I don't know how anyone can weight those crimps from the awkward position! Something to project for sure.

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  3. I would agree that Con2 is easier v9, being shorter you really feel the difficulty on the deadpoint. The sit feels more like a solid 10/easy end 11

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  4. Good point about the reach for the deadpoint. That's enough to keep the grade from dipping into the pure V8 realm for me. I'll agree to soft V9.

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  5. Back to Con2. I've done both the sit and the stand. I've never really thought the stand was too hard. It was my 2nd "10" after Photo Finish which is a soft 10. I did con2 SUPER quick and i'd propose V8. The sit i'd feel comfortable saying is hard 9 easy 10. I did it in 2 sessions. Maybe I just had the right beta or maybe josh is right and we're all just becoming mutants.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nyYtur4X34

    Cheers

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    1. Evan, thanks for weighing in...it always helps to have insight from someone who has done both the stand start and the sit and who is well versed harder boulder problems. In my opinion, based on other boulder problems around the same grade, the stand feels like hard V8 or easy V9. I have tried the sit start numerous times now over the past year and am still unsure as to whether or not I will ever be able to do it. The reach out of the sit start pockets to the crimps of the stand start are maximum extension for me which makes weighting them and moving off of them very painful and difficult. If this variation is a V9, then non of the the V9's I have done to date compare equally. I would like to think that the sit start is a V10 boulder problem but like I already stated, you are way more versed in this level of climbing. Keep in touch buddy and keep crushing!

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