Panther Boulders

I first made the long trek out to the boulders about 10 days ago, and posted a few photos and one crappy video. I scoped out a bunch of quality looking stuff, but only climbed one ok roof, because it was lowball and pretty safe to climb with one pad and no spotter. It could see the potential, but didn't experience it. Today I went back with my friend Chris (no stranger to Team Saucisson, as Chris is a fellow midwest refugee) who had originally spied the boulders using the incredible satellite images from Microsoft Bing. We had a great day, and I am only more certain in the fact that this place is for real.

The boulders here are of a massive scale, which was evident from the satellite images. These boulders are STEEP, with overhangs of every angle. Many of these boulders are tall, and will require rapping in to clean and inspect holds. Right now the biggest downside to this place is the rock quality. There is a lot of choss, but with a little work, most of the lines are cleaning up nicely.

The rock come in two basic varieties: 1) volcanic conglomerate - this rock is the chossiest stuff, but also has some of the coolest features - cobbles and bricks of all sizes welded into the matrix of the rock. This rock requires the most cleaning, but after getting cleaned and climbed on, should be pretty solid.. And 2) Silverbell-quality bullet volcanic. This is similar to the real hard and solid (and often sharp) volcanic rock found at Silverbell Boulders, which aren't too far away. There are a some fractured pieces that need to be cleaned, but once the loose stuff is cleaned, the rock is bomber. Fortunately, on many problems the lower part of the problem will be on the weaker conglomerate, and the topouts will be on the bullet rock. Pretty reassuring once you are well off the deck.

Today we started at the Quivering Beast boulder, where Chris had cleaned and established a fantastic and long roof problem. It goes at around v4, and tops out after about 15 feet of horizontal climbing. While this problem itself is a worthy climb, there was an obvious extension that was our main objective for the morning.

Quivering Beast starts on the bottom right of the boulder, and climbs the underbelly to the jug pockets right of the woody bush in the photo. The extension keeps going, topping out left of the arete:

After working the problem in sections, it became a matter of having the gas left to stick the final crux throw after 20+ feet of roof climbing. With your left hand in a shallow pocket - and a key thumb catch - you bump your right hand along a sloping lip. You get a solid heel hook, then make a long move to a small crimp on the lip. Careful - if you miss the hold your heel is liable to stay and you are likely to go head first into your pads. Chris pulled this awesome feat off, which was only slightly less dramatic than Dustin's full gainer into a belly flop from a similar heel hook at Hairpin...

After dialing in all the moves, and with the sun creeping up on us, I managed to pull out a send, nabbing the FA of this incredible problem. In keeping with the Beast theme, I named it Righteous Beast, and I think this problem might be one of the best in all of Tucson.

Chris at the crux:

We then went to work in the cave just down and left from where Righteous Beast tops out. There was an intriguing line of underclings and pockets up the short and steep face, and after just a few minutes of brushing it was ready to go. Starting with a right hand underling and your left hand gastoning a sloping pocket, you pull up and make a LOOOOONG move to a good, sharp pocket.

Bump your right to another sharp little pocket, set a wicked drop knee, and make a LOOOOOONG move with your right hand to another pocket.

The hold I am gunning for isn't even visible in this picture:

We both had limited success on this problem, but hasn't seen a solid send. Chris sent using slightly different beta, but with the pad checking his swing. I thought I had it, nailing the long throw and holding the swing, only to have a huge chunk of the pockets lip rip right out from under me. This will be another quality dynamic problem on this boulder, with an FA up for grabs...

After the Beast we headed up to escape the unseasonably fierce sun in the shade of the mighty Split Boulder.

Actually two boulders separated by a large split, the Split Boulders have a lot of potential. Chris has sent a line on the left boulder (the north face), and had his eye on a tall problem on the right boulder (the south face). He had worked out the beta for the bottom, but without a spotter committing to the tall topout wasn't a good idea. He set up the pads, Chris pulled on and sent easily. He made it look easy, and I flailed a bit on the bottom before moving on to other problems. Now dubbed Cig Machine (v4ish), the bottom of the climb has excellent dynamic moves requiring precise body tension and a high pain threshold. After a handful of long, powerful moves, you reach some sharp jugs that lead you up the easier topout. A high quality problem for sure, and one I'll have to send next time. There will also be a few variations on this problem that should be fun as well.

Me on Cig Machine (photo by Chris Prewitt):

After Cig Machine, we worked a couple of lines to the right. There was an obvious line starting on two underclings and moving through real cool pockets. This start proved a bit too tough today, and we did an easier variation using one undercling and a good cobble. Then I spied a great looking feature - an overhanging arete/prow - that unfortunately had crappy rock. I cleaned it a bit, climbed it (with more holds breaking) and named it Disasterpiece Theater (v1). Hopefully it will clean up nicely, because it is a great and obvious feature, but climbing through all the junk kinda sucks.

Feeling a little gassed, we headed down to Ol Snaggletooth, a nice gentle overhang with lots of good jugs and a couple easier lines. Before we tried the Snaggletooth lines, we cleaned the south face for a while, which had some cool holds and a few good looking lines. Unfortunately the rock at the top was pretty bad, and will require a bit more cleaning. Climbing the established lines on Snaggletooth was a great way to end a fantastic day.

Hiking out we scouted out a couple more boulders, and surveying the boulder-filled valley, I was filled with anticipation. The weather will only get better for a couple months, and these boulders will only get better over that time. It is exciting to be on the ground level of developing this area, even though all the work involved - cleaning loose blocks, brushing dirty holds, grooming landings, marking trails - seems a bit daunting. And of course we have to try to do all this while making minimal impact, as this area is in a near pristine desert environment, and is actually within Saguaro National Park.

The reward will be worth the effort, as Tucson will have a killer new bouldering area, with a high concentration of problems across the grades, with beautiful, compelling lines of all shapes and sizes. There are more than enough FA's to go around, so come on out, find some lines, put in a little work and make your mark on Tucson bouldering....