Archive for the ‘Rock Climbing’ Category

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Rock Climbing – Swanson’s Arete, Eldorado Canyon, CO

Friday, May 18th, 2012

On Friday, I led a CMC (Colorado Mountain Club) climb up Swanson’s Arete on the Redgarden formation. Jeffrey and I had now each led the first pitch up the West Chimney. We had it dialed and we were eager beavers for the summit.

The challenge was to take two lucky individuals past the Red Ledge, up the arete proper, rappel to the ground, and back to the car in a safe and efficient manner. Would we make it to the top before afternoon weather? Would our ropes get caught in the Dirty Deed rappel? Would we have to leave gear? Questions were about to be answered! (more…)

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Rock Climbing – Basic Rock School – Flatironette, Boulder, CO

Sunday, May 6th, 2012

CMC Boulder Basic Rock School Heading to "Class" Clare on the Summit of Flatironette
I am an assistant instructor for the Colorado Mountain Club’s Basic Rock Climbing School. Our first outside field trip was to the Flatironette in Boulder, CO. It’s a tiny flatiron rock formation which is situated just in front of the first flatiron. It is a perfect place to take people who are new to climbing. It has very mellow 2 pitch climbs, with no rappel. The only serious issue is the exposure of being up high. Thankfully, none of our students had a debilitating fear of heights!

I Love La Sportiva Approach Shoes!
Everybody had an enjoyable time climbing the Flatironette and I had the opportunity to climb it in my new La Sportiva approach shoes. These shoes are awesome and are my go-to shoe for anything easier than 5.4…the sticky rubber, toe rands, and laces around the ankles are fabulous features. (more…)

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Rock Climbing – CMC Boulder Leader’s Day

Sunday, April 22nd, 2012

The summer is coming soon and with it comes CLIMBING season!

In order to get all the rock climbing leaders psyched up, Jeffrey arranged an outing on the First Flatiron. The plan was to climb various routes and then talk about setting up some summer climbs for CMC members. It was a great deal of planning on Jeffrey’s part and I was happy to take part in the fun!

I climbed with Slava and Mike. We carried up some fresh fruit for everybody to enjoy after the climbing was over. On the way up Bakerdango (what I like to call my variation of Fandango-starting at Baker’s Way), we ran into Rick. Rick was climbing with Eileen and her husband Bob. I also ran into Brenda on the summit and briefly saw Jeffrey as he was ascending the summit ridge. Excellent times!

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Rock Climbing – Swanson’s Arete, Eldorado Canyon, CO

Friday, April 20th, 2012

Jeffrey and Clare at Start of Swanson's Arete (5.5)
Jeffrey and I climbed Swanson’s Arete. The last time we attempted the route, we had to bail because of high winds. This time, we showed up midday and, thankfully, we were blessed with excellent weather. We started climbing around 2:30pm and finished at 8pm, in the dark! (more…)

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Rock Climbing – Kamikaze, First Flatiron, Boulder, CO

Saturday, April 14th, 2012

Clare & Doug on Top of First Flatiron Flatirons View South
Photos above courtesy of Doug…Awesome Shots!

Doug and I went for a romp up the First Flatiron. We intended to do Zig Zag (5.7). Not so surprisingly, we missed a turn at the very first Zig and ended up on Kamikaze (5.8). Or so we think that’s what happened!

Part of the fun of the Flatirons is routefinding, one never really knows ones true location which makes for an exciting day. We had a blast even though we weren’t really certain where we were; great weather and a “can do” attitude fixed the wandering woes.
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