Washer Woman Tower

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piz : )

Thanks to my amazing sponsors: Arcteryx, CAMP-USA, SCARPA, Sterling Ropes, the AAC and WIndX-treme

Tyson getting his gear ready for the climb. Last year during the Red Rock Rendezvous, I was auctioned off as a fundraiser for the American Alpine Club.
He wanted to do his first tower in the desert and I wanted to provide that experience. It took over a year to connect but, this weekend we came, we saw and we stood on the summit of Washer Woman via the In Search of Suds route. Great job Tyson!!

 Hiking up in the rain. Washer Woman (has the hole through it) is on the right and Monster Tower is on the left. They range in height from 600ish ft to 700ish ft tall

 Looking at fossils on the way up the trail.

 It was storming that day but I had a good feeling that it would blow on through and we would enjoy perfect temps and dry rock.

 My new Arcteryx back pack. Muira 45 is the bomb and opens up completely to easily get everything out! Huge zippers and a narrow profile make this great to carry and with its new even tougher material, it holds up to me dragging up up walls to drill or to just go cragging!

 Got to carry a B-DRY with me on days where it might rain. Totally water proof and tiny. What else do you need in a rain jacket?

 Tyson: getting ready to slay the beast.

 Dave belaying and Tyson heading over to the beginning of the route. It starts with two pitch of dihedral climbing. It can be awkward at times but there are tons of cracks and face holds to piece together to make it climbable!

 Crux of pitch one a hand crack in the dihedral that gets a little funky. The foot is just too high to stand on and you feel really insecure. Tyson made quick work of it after his nerves settled down.

 Over the crux.

 At the anchor and on his way!

 A stemming machine!

 No hands rest, now that is good beta!

 Finishing pitch 2.

 At the end of pitch three you get exposed really quickly.

 Monster tower in the background along with Indian Creek and the Colorado River way down below. The white rim is the white rock on the bottom right of the photo.

 Tyson could not wait to lead the last pitch up the head of the washer woman. He was composed and settled and aced it on sight!!! Mike B watching overhead and supporting from above.

 Victory V at the top of his first tower!

 Monster tower is a few feet taller and can be done with washer woman the same day.

 Dave and Tyson enjoying the summit.

The VERY memorable rappel back to the ground. You are immediately exposed and hanging in mid air!

2013 Red Rock Rendezvous Wrap Up

Get outside and have an adventure!

piz : )

Thanks to my amazing sponsors: Arcteryx, CAMP-USA, SCARPA, Sterling Ropes, the AAC and WIndX-treme

The 10th anniversary of the Red Rock Rendezvous was a great success. SCARPA sent me to teach clinics on the topic of Introduction to Traditional Climbing and my two 8 hour sessions were full of questions answers and plugging gear into deep and dark cracks.

Two full clinics wore me out and I was able to relax in the perfect temperatures at the campground. There were many great vendors of food, climbing, running and biking equipment. There was a really positive and friendly vibe throughout the entire weekend where people shared their excitement for just being there.

I bumped into a few people from Cleveland, Ohio (where I lived until I was 18). It is great to see that climbing is growing in so many places where there is little to no rock nearby. Gyms have been such a wonderful way for people to get to know the sport and eventually get them outside to experience it in all of its glory.

I will be there next year, so mark the dates and put it on your schedule to see, meet and take lessons with the pros and your friends in a perfect setting.

 Athlete introductions

 Slack lining, bouldering comps, autographs, shoe demos free goodies and raffles. This place rocks!

 Early morning sunrise on Mt. Wilson

 Shingo (SCARPA athlete and bad a$$)) telling another SCARPA customer the real deal about shoes.

 My group hiking to the clinic location

 Plugging in some gear after our discussion

 An all tricam anchor. Very proud.

 Saturday's group! Thanks for coming guys. You were great!

 Sundays group, thanks for coming guys. We learned a lot.

The bouldering wall and comp. The grassy field was packed as they threw themselves up the wall. It was awesome to see everyone going big! There were a few flappers after this one.

May 1st Slide Show at Colorado Mesa University

Get outside and have an adventure!

piz : )

Thanks to my amazing sponsors: Arcteryx, CAMP-USA, SCARPA, Sterling Ropes, the AAC and WIndX-treme

Check out the link below for my May 1st slide show on Cuban rock climbing!
The show starts at 7pm and will blow your mind! (I hope.)

http://www.coloradomesa.edu/op/wnw.html

I will be raffling off an Arcteryx Atom Jacket and one pair of SCARPA climbing shoes.
All proceeds will go to the Western Colorado Climbers Coalition.

The Exponential Challenge Route List (for those who must know what we climbed)

Get outside and have an adventure!

piz : )

Thanks to my amazing sponsors: Arcteryx, CAMP-USA, SCARPA, Sterling Ropes, the AAC and WIndX-treme

The 2013 Spring Break Exponential Challenge Route List

 

Day One:             Free an Aid Line on a Desert Tower Day   Rough Canyon Grand Junction, Colorado

·         FFA of Tabeguache Tower in Rough Canyon 5.12 3 pitches

Day Two:             2 Longer Multi-pitch Routes Day in Unaweep Canyon Grand Junction, Colorado

·         Echoes 5.12+

·         Sweet Sunday Serenade 5.9

Day Three:          4 Tower Day in Colorado National Monument Grand Junction, Colorado       

·         Long Dong on Kissing Couple 5.11

·         Otto’s Route on Independence Monument 5.5

·         Medicine Man on Sentinel Spire 5.12

·         Defecating Monk on Remnants Tower 5.7

Day Four:             8 Desert Cracks Day at Escalante Canyon Delta, Colorado

·         Short Corner 5.10

·         Leaning Corner 5.10

·         The Curve 5.11

·         Red Cam Lieback 5.10

·         Big Hands Roof 5.11

·         Fork It 5.11

·         Some Short Hands 5.9

·         Zig-Zag 5.11

·         *Frank Zappa Appreciation Society 5.13+ Ben tried this once and it was a bad idea!)

Day Five:              16 Rifle Routes Day Rifle, Colorado

·         Nessum Dorma 5.10

·         Pellet Gun 5.10

·         Primer 5.11

·         Fire Arms 5.12

·         Return to Sender 5.12

·         Pinchfest 5.12

·         Choss Family 5.11

·         80 feet of Meat 5.10

·         Cold Cuts 5.10

·         Crime and Punishment 5.12

·         Jailbait 5.11

·         Steroid Power 5.11

·         Cardinal Sin 5.12

·         Fistful of Dollars 5.11

·         Rehabilitator 5.11

·         Bottom Feeder 5.11

Day 6:                   32 Routes in Clear Creek Canyon Golden, Colorado

·         Snoopy 5.9

·         Lil Dog 5.11

·         Unknown 5.9

·         Dog Breath 5.10

·         Hot Dog 5.11

·         Fiddler on the Woof 5.12

·         Big Dog 5.12

·         Dog Run 5.12

·         Powertrip 5.12

·         Hazardous Waste 5.11

·         Anarchy Rules 5.12

·         Monkey Wrench 5.11

·         Maestro 5.12

·         Anarchitect 5.12

·         Question Authority 5.12

·         Halloween 5.9

·         Stone Free 5.11

·         Reefer Madness 5.11

·         Centerfold 5.10

·         Curvaceous 5.11

·         Wet Dream 5.12

·         Recovery 5.10

·         Foxy 5.10

·         Little Kitten 5.10

·         Overpass 5.11

·         Passing Lane 5.9

·         Deuces Wild 5.10

·         Via Comatose Amigo 5.10

·         People’s Choice 5.10

·         Nickels and Dimes 5.9

·         Roadkill 5.10

·         Road Warrior 5.12

Day 7:                    64 Routes at Shelf Road Canon City, Colorado

·         Spray Load 5.10

·         Fast Food Nation 5.11

·         Slicer 5.10

·         Barbed Wire Love 5.10

·         Crynoid Corner 5.7

·         Illegal Smile 5.11

·         Three-Quarter Ton 5.10

·         The Alignment 5.10

·         Misalignment 5.11

·         Blackman’s Burdon 5.10

·         Banana Split 5.10

·         Cellulite Corner 5.9

·         The Killer Toupee 5.10

·         Cactus Pod 5.10

·         Awesome Offwidthin 5.10

·         Axis of Evil 5.10

·         Gabby 5.10

·         Glass Babies 5.10

·         Muscle Beach 5.11

·         Wadsworth Boulevard 5.10

·         Third Stage 5.10

·         Red Giant 5.9

·         Just Thesenga It 5.11

·         Dihedrus 5.10

·         Thumbs Up 5.10

·         Hey Pueblo Gringo, Got a Hanger? 5.10

·         Kalahari Sidewinder 5.8

·         Christmas Tree 5.10

·         Kodachrome 5.10

·         Turkey’s Beak 5.10

·         Bur-Har-Bur 5.9

·         Unshelfish 5.10

·         Alexi’s Climb 5.5

·         Ian’s Climb 5.7

·         Red Eclipse 5.10

·         Solar E-clips 5.9

·         Beef Cake Formula 5.8

·         Amiga 5.10 Ol’ Four Seven 5.9

·         You show Me Your Heavy Weapon, I’ll Show You Mine 5.7

·         Black Slabbeth 5.9

·         Totally Blonde 5.10

·         Quarterback 5.10

·         Candy for Big Kids 5.10

·         Oscar de la Cholla 5.9

·         Too Much Beef Not Enough Meat 5.9

·         Risky Business 5.9

·         La Temperatura de Shelf 5.10

·         Half Breed 5.10

·         The Stand 5.10

·         Crimpson Candy 5.10

·         Cheeseburger in Paradise 5.10

·         Raven 5.9

·         Total Recount 5.10

·         Funkdemental 5.11

·         Poquito Mas 5.10

·         Relampago 5.10

·         Fishisms 5.10

·         Great Expectations 5.10

·         Shelf Pride 5.9

·         High Heeled Titty Twister 5.10

·         Politically Incorrect 5.10

·         Bombodido 5.10

·         The Book of Dude-Aronomy 5.10

·         New World Order 5.10

18 of 127 were 5.12 or harder (14%)

26 of 127 were 5.11 or harder (20%)

56 of 127 were 5.10 or harder (44%)

27 of 127 were 5.9 or below (22%)

Exponential Challenge: Day 7

Get outside and have an adventure!

piz : )

Thanks to my amazing sponsors: Arcteryx, CAMP-USA, SCARPA, Sterling Ropes, the AAC and WIndX-treme

 We stayed in hotel instead of risking a bad nights rest. We got to the Cactus Cliff by 630am and started climbing at 7 in one of the coldest winds that I have climbed in.

 This is the first route of the day. With frozen hands and limbs we climbed steadily throughout the day. I chose to lead every route of the day as an additional personal challenge to top off the week.
In the end, we each climbed 64 routes and I have to thank Ben for joining me. He did great and stuck with it even when the fatigue really set in for him.
The one route that stuck out on this day was the 11th from the end. I got cold, tired and really felt that I was going to fall while on lead. The overhanging dihedral was kicking my butt and hitting all of my weaknesses. I sucked it up and got a second wind as the folks from Denver that we climbing next to us began to chat it up. Thanks so much for those that we climbed with over the week and to all those who helped me train. It was great fun to get it done!

 You can see it in our eyes that we are kind of tired after 12 straight hours of climbing and belaying.

Sunset at Shelf, we didn't even need our headlamps!

Exponential Challenge: Day 6

Get outside and have an adventure!

piz : )

Thanks to my amazing sponsors: Arcteryx, CAMP-USA, SCARPA, Sterling Ropes, the AAC and WIndX-treme

I slept a bit uneasily in Golden, CO the night before the 32 pitch day. But I had a plan and new that I could do it. We would visit 4 walls and do about 8 routes at each wall and then take it from there. If we were unable to get 8 at a wall then we would catch up at the Red Slab at the end of the day.

We started at the Dog Wall. It has a warm up or two and then a few juggy overhanging climbs.

 We got and early start and caught a beautiful sunrise as we got into the car and headed into the canyon of Clear Creek.

 Dog Wall. Still needs a bit of cleaning to get the glued holds off the wall, but in the end its still fun. We completed all the routes on the wall except for 1 or 2 in about an hour.

 Yes it was down jacket time again!

 Ben taking a TR burn at the Dog Wall.

 After flying through those climbs we were to tackle 8 at the Anarchy Wall.
Only one route was dripping, so we flew though these in about an hour or so. Two of my favorite climbs in the canyon are on this wall. Anarchitect and the 12d to the left! I was psyched to send both of them on my first go after all these years!

 Ben and I after slaying the routes on the east side of tunnel two.
Before we stopped there, we climbed with some Colorado School of Mines students at the Wall of the 90's.

Then John Dickey, (the great video and photographer) stopped down so that Ben could show off is "god" like qualities!  We ended the day around 130 and were off to Canon City and Shelf road by 230.

In all the day went off without a hitch, sending all the climbs was awesome and I felt ready for the big day at the Cactus Cliff. It actually became pleasant by the end of the day so we didn't have to wear our down jackets all day for once!

piz : )