Ann, Sean, and I decide to search the Poudre Canyon for some neighborhood sport climbing. We don’t have much to go on – a couple of trad routes in an old book, some beta from a web search, a hint from a local climber. Thus armed, we drive about 15 miles up the canyon to…

Today there are some high clouds, so we optimistically head to the sunny Cactus Cliff area. Lisa & Dave go with some of their friends to the tougher Gem Wall, and we head for Cactus to see what we can hit before it gets too hot. Crynoid Corner, 5.7. Ann leads this again, and I…

After a pleasant night in our tent at the Cheese Head Ranch, a spread north of Canyon City owned by a climber from Wisconsin who hosts an annual Memorial day climber gathering, we set out with our friends Lisa, Dave, and Dyson (now a year and half old!) for the Menses Prow area, hoping for…

Maybe the climbers who named these rocks hoped to keep the yuppies away by giving them impolite names or, more likely, got into a competition that included putting up the hardest climbs with the foulest names. The way I see it, the visions conjured up by the names here make the reality the most pleasant…

This morning we head to Poland Hill, intending to get schooled on some more Vedauwoo cracks. We hope to toprope Fantasia, 5.9, a “classic Vedauwoo offwidth”, but the anchor situation up top doesn’t allow for an easy toprope of this route. So we end up on: Southwest Friction, 5.6. Ann leads this out of the…

I’m working extra hours this summer to take every other Friday off, and this is the first. The extra day makes the weekend into a whole different thing, not just an extra day but a day when few people are out. Ann is interested in learning to place traditional gear, so I suggest we spend…

Vedauwoo weather is highly variable this time of year. I figured the best strategy would be to go fairly early so that when the weather window opens, we’re ready to jump through. Ann, Sean, Rogan, and I reach the Reynolds parking area on FS 700 around 9:30 in a cold wind. Some hardy frisbee golfers…

For those who found fault with Sean’s earlier pictures of me bouldering, try these.

I drop Ann off at a trailhead at the base of the foothills, then drive up to Rotary Park to meet Sean. We boulder for awhile, stopping often to admire the setting. There are these bushes in bloom – not lilacs but similar – just going nuts right now. Combine it with the sunset and…

This climb is so popular that we shunned it all last year rather than wait in line to climb it. Today we are there early, but still not the first. We decide to wait for it this time, and get ready at our leisure. It’s worth it. Edward’s, 5.7, is a beautiful hand crack. We…