Back To Basics

Although I've been enjoying sport climbing more and more, at heart I am still a boulderer. With some cool new areas to explore, I've been getting out on the blocs a little more lately. Here are some photos and a short video of some new stuff, with another video in the works. Sadly, none of it is well shot - mostly crappy attempts on a tripod, but I'm pretty psyched on the stuff I've been climbing, so I'm going to share anyways....

LIZARD BOULDERS

Sucka MCs

Futile Devices

Sweet Arete

The General

GANDALF'S GORGE

Who's Got ADD?

Trad, trad, trad. TRAD!!

Those have been my thoughts for the last few months. Out of all the wonderful aspects of this sport, its the fright of being out on the fringe that I'm most addicted to. Body-lengths above my last piece trying to convince myself that I'm good enough, composed enough really, to climb the 5.8 that is making me piss my pants, thats the state of mind I appreciate the most. Since I purchased my rack a few months ago, I hadn't bouldered at all, and had sport climbed only twice. Last Sunday though, a few friends and I went to go work the infamous Bob Murray problem Jewel Thief, and my interest in bouldering was revamped entirely.

All of us made good progress that day, and all four of us slapped the lip of the boulder at least a few times, but nobody actually weighted the sharp crimp we would need to send it. We left that day determined to come back later in the week for a late afternoon session.

Thursday saw us driving up the mountain, hoping for good conditions on Lemmon while it was still 104 degrees in Tucson. Oddly enough the temps were perfect up on Windy Ridge and the air was dry. We wasted no time at all. Aaron made the first run, and weighted the crimp, and after that, though no one would say it outright, we knew it was going to happen.

Both Aaron and I sent Jewel Thief second try that day, putting the number of ascents at or around 8 in total. While Ryan and Andrew made progress by linking the first move, arguably the hardest before the top-out, with the rest of the face moves.

So here it is, an overly-dramatic video of one of Tucson's proudest and oldest boulder problems. Enjoy.


Jewel Thief from Dustin Payne on Vimeo.

The Elusive Catalina Butterfly

Another blistering hot Tucson Tuesday with only one route for escape - drive fast and high up Catalina Highway. Todays destination was the Butterfly Wall on Mount Bigelow, with a cool elevation of over 8000 feet and the ability to chase shade. Routes range from 9+ to 12+ on stellar rock that is pretty unusual by Lemmon standards.

Standard first disclaimer for people going to the Butterfly Wall - THE HIKE IS A MISERABLE, ULTRA-STEEP, THIGH BURNING, HEART EXPLODING SLOG.

Standard second disclaimer for people going to the Butterfly Wall - MAKE THE HIKE, YOU WON'T REGRET IT - THE CLIMBING IS THAT GOOD.

I first heard of the Butterfly Wall last summer from our local guidebook author/prolific FAist, who plainly stated that it might be the best wall on the mountain. High praise, indeed, so I was excited to finally get to check the place out this month.

Towers on top of Mt. Bigelow:

From the top of Mt. Bigelow, you descend the ridgeline following ever steepening switchbacks, trying to use the expansive views as a good distraction from the pain your thighs feel as you hike. While looking out at the summit of Mt. Lemmon to the east and distant ranges to the north, you pass through stands of pines that were ravaged by the 2002 forest fire.

Life is resilient, however, and wildflowers and wildlife are abundant.

Bear scat:

Besides the physical toll the approach takes on your body, there is another side effect of this hike. The trail is composed of very loose and fine grained soil which is easily kicked up into cloud of dark dust. Let's go ahead and call the end result the Butterfly Tanline:

After about 30 minutes of downhilling, you are rewarded with this sight:

The left arete is Firefly, 12c, and to the left is Iron Butterfly, 12a. You cannot tell from this picture how steep they are (especially the arete!), but they are certainly as tall as they seem. Even with a 70 m rope, it requires some trickery to reach the ground when lowering from these climbs. Both are about as good as sport climbing gets. The pinnacle poking over the trees in the bottom left of the picture is also home to some amazing and unique climbing.

The pocketed face of Trundle Pinnacle:

The leftmost line of pockets is 5.10 (and a solid contender for best 5.10 on Mt. Lemmon), a little left-of-center is 11-, in the middle is a 10+ trad route, and the pocketed face on the right is 11+. All are excellent climbs, especially considering they are the only routes with true pockets in the Catalina Mountains.

Looking up at Firefly:

This classic endurance climb starts off with some fun, tricky slab climbing up to a good rest. From there you have about 90 feet of hard climbing to clip the anchors, getting progressively harder and steeper all the way to the final bulge. This climb requires the full package of skills: power, technique, endurance, a cool head, and lots of will power to keep hanging on. If you are lacking in any of these on your attempts, you will be thwarted (this day I was lacking in most of those areas).

A peregrine falcon, who wasn't too excited about our presence:

After three 5.11's and on go on Firefly, I was beat and ready to go. I won't go on and on whining about the hike out the Butterfly. Sure, it's tough, but by then you are a solid believer in the second disclaimer - Hell yeah, the climbing is worth it!

P.S. - Big thanks to Chris P. and Brent S. for rediscovering this area and all their effort in establishing both the trail and the great climbs.

P.P.S. - Clayton - I have about 5 of your draws, and they've been used at some cool places the last week.

P.P.S. - It's Orifice season! Screw you falcons, let's go climb!

Down in the Basin

Friday found us enjoying a perfect January day at the boulders of Molino Basin. Dustin and I were joined by Pete (a strong sport climber trying to rebuild some strength after a few months off recovering from a broken foot) and Jonathan (an aspiring pro cyclist, here in Tucson for the winter for training). The weather was warm, 70 degrees, but absolutely perfect conditions in the shade of the canyon for gripping onto the water polished boulders of Molino.

It was nice having a few pads and spotters, as there a few problems here I've been wanting to get on, but have always put off climbing them without good protection. So after a few quick warmups, it was nice finally getting on Moonboard (v4, or v7ish from the low start) and Battle Tackle (v4). I had hoped to work a bit on Hammer of Hate (v8ish), but a headache slowly building up throughout the day cut my climbing a little short.

Molino is one of my favorite places on the mountain to boulder, with great rock, fun problems, and an idyllic setting. I only wish there were about 10 more good boulders down there. Here is a short video of some of the problems we did:

New Wave

Harder climbs at Windy Point are definitely for the masochists among us. The granite there is crimptacular, and not just your run of the mill crimpers. These nasty guys have teeth - sharp and serrated rows of crystals that subsist on dermis and blood. We fed them well on Tuesday.

A large crew assembled at New Wave Wall, most of us with soft tips from a summer of climbing steep jug hauls high on the mountain. New Wave Wall is home to three classic climbs - Holey Moley (11d), Tsunami (12b) and New Wave (12c), as well as a few others. The wall is about 70 feet tall, slightly overhanging, and striped with white quartz bands all the way up. Feeling pretty good, I had sent Holey Moley and Tsunami on my first trip to New Wave the previous Thursday. My goal for this trip was to get on New Wave.

Holey Moley is one of the better 11+'s on the mountain, and a few people got on it today as a 'warmup'. Holey Moley starts with some sharp thin crimps up to a large hole, where you can get a real good rest. From the hole you move into the crux on - SURPRISE! - sharp little crimps. After you reach a horizontal break in the wall, you can get another shake, then follow easier but very good climbing to the top.

Holey Moley:

Tsunami saw a ton of action this day. Lots of people were working on it, and Ian managed to send first go after working the moves a previous trip. A fun and dynamic route, Tsunami is all business for the first 50 feet. Other than a jug to shake on right before the crux, none of the holds are too good, but none are too bad. You follow a series of crimps and sidepulls through technical and elegant sequences including a few deadpoints. After the one big jug and a slight rest, you are then faced with the biggest deadpoint of the climb, and using at least one hideously small and sharp crimp. For those that are familiar with Sentenced To Hang at Jailhouse, Tsunami climbs very similar to Sentenced, but Tsunami is maybe a touch harder and the rest isn't nearly as good (on the plus side, you aren't facing a 40 foot fall at the chains of Tsunami...).

Tsunami:

Unfortunately we got no pictures of New Wave, but continuing a strong week I managed to send on my third go. After trying hard on this three times, I had to come home and ask Kerry if her hospital does fingertip transplants. Unfortunately, they don't - better stock up in Climb On bar.

Here is a video of Dan, Christian and Ian climbing Tsunami:

Tsunami from Joe Kreidel on Vimeo.

Hairpin Bouldering

Some photos from a couple of warm afternoons of bouldering at the base of Mt. Lemmon.

First two photos taken by two year old Adelaide:

Clayton on the center topout of the cave traverse:

The fun vertical boulder:

Uncle John providing shade:

Team Tuesday v.2020:

Back to the cave for some shade and overhangs: