A sporting climb...

For about 2 years now, two of my coworkers at ESRI and I have discussed rock climbing and the plethora of routes "near" the office.  As I've advanced my mountaineering and rock climbing skills through CMC classes and am now an assistant instructor for Basic Mountaineering School, my rock skills are slowly getting more solid.  And I'm getting more comfortable with exposure as well.

Earlier this week, Kevin Hodson approached me and asked if I was interested in some rock climbing before work on Thursday morning.  Seeing how my week has been chaotic at best with beta testing of updated course materials for ArcGIS 10, I was ready to get something in this week.  My running has been sidelined - mostly due to schedule and summer activities - so I said YES!

The plan - be at the base of High Wire Crag in Clear Creek Canyon by 5:45 AM to have a 2-2.5 hours to climb.  The routes we were looking to do was "Stone Cold Moderate"  (difficulty 5.7) and "Ace in the Hole" (difficulty 5.10a).  As these were sport climbs (bolts placed in the rock every 8-10' for protection), we did not have to worry about bring trad gear (cams, nuts, etc.) to place our protection.  Kevin has done some leading in this canyon before so I belayed him on both routes so he could set the top rope for my climbs up/down.

The first route, Stone Cold Moderate, was an enjoyable climb to warm up on.  The route follows a crack to chains 100' above the belay station.  We both climbed this route twice playing around with different handholds and footholds.  The second route, Ace in the Hole, was much more of a challenge both in rating and smaller handhold/footholds.  Kevin led this route again and it pushed his leading skills.  When I lowered him down to the belay station, he was pumped about doing the route and at the same time, glad to be down.  My turn now...this route was one of the harder routes that I've climbed this year but I was looking forward to it.  The handholds/footholds are a bit smaller and you have to look around for them but they are there.  It took me about 10-15 minutes to climb the 100' to the top but what a climb!  After being lowered, we packed the gear and drove the office to begin the work day.

This weekend was supposed to be our BMS Grad Climb to Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park but heavy rains/snow in the northern and central mountains as well as the Front Range, has put the kibosh on our plans.  Currently, the instructor team is quickly planning a day trip for Sunday morning but nothing solid as of yet.  Regardless, the weekend is here and for that I'm happy!

Next weekend, heading down to ABQ to see my girl and enjoy the warm New Mexico desert!  Climb On my friends!

Da Bear...

Nope, Mike Ditka was not on Little Bear Peak (14,037') on May 22, 2010 but there were at least 8 climbers that were on summit.  My regular climbing partner, Patrick Vall, and I have been studying this mountain for a while now and came to the conclusion that the safest time to climb this mountain was when there was snow on the crux...otherwise known as the "hourglass."  The hourglass is a rock formation that has a lot in common with a traditional hourglass - wide at the top/bottom and pinch point in the middle.  In this case, the pinch point funnels a cascade of rocks onto water slicked cliff bands that climbers are attempting to ascend.  Not wanting to be a clay pigeon in this shooting gallery, we decided to try the "bear" when the snow has consolidated into solid climbing conditions.

I left Denver Friday AM to pick up Patrick in Colorado Springs on way to the town of Blanca, CO.  Not much in Blanca these days but they had big plans once.  If you ever pull up Google Earth, you'll understand my comment.  We drove about 3 miles up Lake Como Road until the 4Runner could no longer go up due to huge rock bands across the path.  From there it was a 2-2.5 mile hike to Lake Como at 11,900'.  As we were the first folks up to Lake Como, we selected a small 10x12 cabin that's been modified over the years for climbers and 4x4'ers alike.  This was a good thing as winter still has a grasp on the high country at around 12,000'.  After a dinner of Top Raman and tuna, we called it a night.

The alarm went off at 4 AM - we started to boil water for oatmeal and hot Starbucks coffee - thank God for Via!  By 5 AM, we were geared and working our way to the first crux - a 600' snow filled 30-35 degree sloped gully.  After some crampon maintenance, we were at the top of the gully and traversing across the west ridge to the base of the hourglass.  At Point 12,980' Patrick called his climb due to not feeling 100% for the hourglass and encouraged me to continue...I did after knowing that Patrick would be watching my ascent for safety.  Seeing 4 climbers ahead of me, I attempted to catch up with them to tag the summit.

The crux of the climb had arrived...the hourglass...something I've read about for a year now and I was nervous.  Seeing good snow positioned at a 45 degree angle to the summit, I ascended.  I caught the first of the 4-person party above the pinch point of the hourglass and took some pics for 14er partner's (Alan Arnette) attempt next weekend.  Above the pinch point, the ascent went climber's left to the summit - a 50-55 degree snow slope.  Since many parties has summited Friday and Saturday AM, there was a great set of "steps" in the snow.  Within minutes, I'm on top of Little Bear Peak - #40 out of 54 summits complete.  I called Patrick on the walkie-talkie - "I'm on summit!"

I spent the next 10-15 minutes talking to fellow climbers, taking pictures, and eating/drinking.  My climb was half over...now I had to descend the hourglass.  It took about 2 hours to get back to the base of the gully but I had made it.  The "bear" is a tough mountain...it is to be respected.  My BMS training this year and last was a major factor in my summiting and the training paid off.

Next on the schedule - Dead Dog Couloir on Torrey's Peak next Monday.

Climb On my friends...

The Iceman Cometh...

Alright I'm not exactly a Colorado mountain yeti but I was up in the high country where there was snow...in May.  Two weekends ago was the Basic Mountaineering School's "Hard Snow" day.  The premise of this field trip was to introduce students to couloir climbing, hone self arrest skills with an ice axe, crampon use, and rope travel in teams.  The route - Cristo Couloir on Quandary Peak.

Quandary Peak (14,265') is located south of Breckenridge, CO and is part of the Tenmile-Mosquito Range.  It is generally climbable year round due to easy access and avy safe routes.  The Cristo Couloir is located on the south side of Quandary Peak and is rated a Class 2 snow climb.  The stats are 2.0 miles/2600' gain/loss.  Typically, Cristo Couloir becomes climbable in early May but this year, conditions were questionable in the weeks leading up to the climb due to late snows that had not had time to consolidate.  The only way to know for sure was to give it a shot.

Our student/instructor group left Denver at 4 AM and arrived at the trailhead at 5:30 AM for an alpine start.  The alpine glow on the surrounding mountains was simply incredible.  As the students geared up, we communicated the plans for the day.  From there, we worked our way to the base of the couloir.  Last year when I was a BMS student, the Cristo Couloir was my hard snow so I felt comfortable on this terrain.  Initially, we asked the students to practice the 4 styles of self arrest with an ice axe - sliding down a snow slope on your back feet first, in a seated position, on your stomach face first and my favorite, on your back head first.  Once they felt they had enough practice, we started our trek up the mountain.  Snow conditions were not great but we continued on up practicing skills.

We successfully summited Quandary Peak about 1:30 PM and enjoyed an outstanding view on summit for about 20-30 minutes.  A lot of folks called their Mom's to wish them a Happy Mother's Day.  I called Karen and my Mom as well to wish them both a happy, happy.  Afterwards, we down climbed about 500'-750' on the couloir before setting up the glissade - basically sitting on your butt and ride the snow down to the TH.  We probably lost 1500' in about 5 minutes of sliding - great fun!  All in all, hard snow day was a success and I believe the students learned quite a bit about snow travel.

Next on my agenda, climbing Little Bear Peak this Saturday AM with great friend and fellow climber, Patrick Vall.  Little Bear is a serious mountain - a Class 4 - more so in the summer because of rockfall.  Our plan is to do Little Bear as a snow climb thereby reducing the risk of rockfall.  That and the snow provides a more solid anchor of sorts - we'll have crampons and ice axes to aid us.  If successful, this will be #40 out 54 14,000' peaks in Colorado.

Climb On my friends!

3rd Rockin' and Rollin'...

I apologize for the tardy update to the blog but finally had a moment to write.  You see, the past 1.5 has been chaotic at best and (partially) stressful at least.  Two weekends ago, I was in Albuquerque, NM visiting my wonderful girl and the boy after spending way too much time apart.  Unfortunately, the company (aka.  ESRI) summoned me to Redlands, CA soon thereafter to spend 5 days learning how to write multiple choice questions for an ArcSDE Instructor Exam.  It was a good experience but mentally drained me...I was happy to be home!

Basic Mountaineering School continues.  The BMS lecture format has ended but the field trips continue as the team nears the goal of the Grad Climb.  This past weekend was termed "3rd Rock Day" and is the final trip dedicated solely to rock climbing.  The goal  - to complete a 4-pitch climb on the 5th Flatiron directly west of Boulder, CO.  Last year when I was a student, the 5th Flatiron was my 3rd rock day and it pushed my comfort zone in terms of rock climbing and exposure.  It's amazing to think what a year makes in personal growth and comfort with accepting the exposure...yet to persevere higher.  I thoroughly enjoyed the 5th this time around.

Our team met at a reasonable 7 AM at the parking lot Chautaugua Park and geared up for the 1.5 mile, 1200' hike to Royal Arch.  From there, we hiked the climbers trail to the base of the 5th Flatiron.  Weather wise - it's was ever changing but the plan was to get the 4-pitch climb in.  My team was composed of one student and two instructors for a total of 3 folks.  We set about getting geared up and from there, our rock lead Chris Bartle started up.  The BMS student, Zack Schiel, was 2nd on the team and I was 3rd.  We successfully arrived at the first belay station as a team and then proceeded up the 2nd pitch.  During this time, the weather changed from mixed sun/clouds to light snow.  As the rocks were getting wetter and the weather showed no sign of improving, 2 of 3 teams decided to bail off the rock as conditions were sketchy at best.  Our team hastily set up a 40'-50' rappel to the south side of the 5th Flatiron and hiked down to meet the team.  The 3rd team remained on the rock and eventually completed the multi-pitch climb.  All in all a successful trip.

This weekend is termed "hard snow day" as we attempt the Cristo Couloir on the south side of Quandary Peak.  Conditions are mixed as of yet but we will see what the team can accomplish with crampon travel, ice axe work, glissading, and rope travel.  If we summit this particular 14er, it's a bonus.  But if snow conditions are poor, then we focus on training.

Climb On my friends!

On rappel...

For regular readers of my blog, the subject line may seem a bit familiar.  Back in January 2010, I joined a group of friends to ice climb down in Ouray.  Well, it's now April and the snow/ice is mostly gone from the Colorado Front Range (although I'm sure we'll get hit by one more snowstorm...but that's another story...)

This past Sunday was 1st Rock Day for my Basic Mountaineering School students.  As we prepared earlier in the week by testing the students about their knowledge of climbing knots and what they're used for, the field trip is intended to introduce them to the details of top roping, anchors, multi-pitch scenarios, how to escape the belay and ultimately to have fun.  As I noted in my last blog posting, I had a sneaky suspicion of some anxiety about 1st rock day but when the time arrived, the students completed the task and hopefully learned some things as well.

We arrived at the trailhead at 7 AM and geared up for the hike/climb.  Now granted, the climbing area was no more than 1/2 mile from the trailhead but the instructors thought it would be good practice to hike 1-2 miles with a full pack and climbing ropes.  Our rationale is that as the field trips progress, we'll be hiking longer and higher with heavy packs of climbing gear, food/water, overnight gear, etc.  We arrived at a big pile of rocks no more than 40' high and set up two anchor stations for top-roping and rappelling.  The top rope station allowed students the opportunity to rock climb in their mountaineering boots, to practice climbing signals, and to belay each other up the rock. The rappel station allowed students the opportunity to rappel down a nearly vertical rock face and to understand how the systems work.  The class builds redundancy into the climbing systems so the risk for injury is rather low.  Fortunately, the redundant systems worked well as one of our first students to rappel down managed to do a full 180 degree flip with her back against the rock and her head towards the ground.  To her credit, she held onto the rope, kept her wits about her, and righted herself to continue to rappel.  I was pleased/happy/relieved....  The remainder of the students did very well and did several rappels during the course of the day.  BTW, that's me on rappel...had to get one in!

This Sunday is 2nd rock day down in Castlewood Canyon near Castle Rock, CO.  On the docket is prussiking, passing the knot, how to build anchors, more rappelling, and rock climbing.  Should be great fun!

Climb On my friends!

Head west young man...or is it north...or...

This past Sunday AM, Easter Sunday, was the first field day for a new Basic Mountaineering School (BMS) class.  Last year at this same time, I was a student in BMS but this year I'm an assistant instructor.  BMS is a class offered by the Colorado Mountain Club and is designed to give aspiring mountaineers the skills necessary for navigation, rock climbing, and snow skills.  The class is broken down into 5 lecture nights and 6 mandatory fields trips with 2 "qualifying" trips afterwords to officially graduate from the school.  The field trips cover such topics as map/compass, rappelling, rock climbing, escaping the belay, "passing the knot" in the rope, self arrest with an ice axe, crampon travel, and a host of other skill sets to prepare the student to safely traverse the mountains - whether it's in Colorado or other loftier ascents.

I had an excellent BMS experience last year and was pushed outside my comfort zone often - particularly when we got to the rock climbing field trips.  I guess it's a natural fear that you don't want to fall off a mountain; yet rock climbing, by it's nature, is typically on vertical terrain and gravity always winds.  You have to train your mind to trust your gear, your fellow students, and your instructors.  It took some time to trust the gear but once I learned  the reality that my body weight on a rope is really nothing for the system, then my fear of falling decreased dramatically.  Now I can rappel off a 50-75' cliff without much fear.  The class also has the added benefit that as I get closer to completing the 54 14ers in Colorado, my comfort level on the more difficult peaks is better than if I had not taken the class.  Case in point, I climbed Pyramid Peak (one of the top 5 most difficult 14ers) last summer with my climbing partner, Alan Arnette, last summer and felt more confident in my abilities to summit.

So, this past Sunday...map/compass day with the students.  The gist of the trip is to have the students guide the group to 6 points on a map using their compasses and terrain reading skills compared to the map.  Our roles as instructors was to make sure they did not get into difficult terrain, to assist those who did not understand how to use a map/compass and provide support.  Long story short, they were rock stars!  They found all 6 points without much difficulty and in reviewing the GPS track, did it in an efficient manner.  I was pleased with their teamwork and their skills.

Next Sunday is 1st rock day on Little Scraggy Peak.  My guess is there's some anxiety among some of the students but I'm hopeful that they will do well.  More to come...

Climb On my friends!