Mt Evans with Rob D'Anastasio, Jimmy Webb, and David Graham

Colorado has been very wet this late summer, storms coming in most afternoons. It's been good for the land, but makes climbing difficult.

Rob D asked me last Saturday if I'd like to join him up at Mt Evans for a bouldering session with some of his friends. The hike into into Area A takes about an hour and half from the parking lot at Echo Lake. We got caught in a downpour at the reservoir and sat under some trees and waited. After the rain started to pass we kept going up the path. Bouldering pads bobbed through the trees in front of us; lots of people bailing for fear of more storms. Pity, it was a beautiful day. We got to the Ladder, a V2 with an awkward start, and found Jimmy Webb and Dave Graham doing warm up laps.

The crew headed over to the Dali Boulder where several people try the Dali Sit Start, V9.

Rob D on the Dali SS

Dave, Jimmy and Rob started working on Ode to the Modern Man, a very hard V14 with powerful moves off tiny crimps. 

David Graham trying hard on Ode to the Modern Man V14

It's a big move to a tiny crimper

Rob working on the top of Ode

 It was getting late, but instead of going back we head further into the valley toward Area B. Everyone was Psyched to get on Chris Schulte's problem, 1%ER. The talus field is full of huge boulders you have to scramble over to get to the climbs, and there are some beautiful problems in Area B. Everywhere you look there is potential.  1%ER is further southwest down the valley than I've been before, and the boulders just keep going.

Area B's talus field

Rob D trying 1%ER

 1%ER is on a short boulder, maybe 10ft tall, and starts out with a super hard compression move at full wingspan. Your left hand slaps up terrible slopers while you utilize heal and toe hooks. The problem culminates with a dyno to a good-ish jug that sends your feet flying out, making you almost horizontal.

All three try the moves, but Jimmy gets the pieces of the puzzle figured out.

Jimmy Webb practicing the final move on 1%ER

Jimmy Webb sticking the super hard first sequence on 1%ER

Dave Graham giving it a go 

Jimmy Webb swings wildly on his send and the 2nd ascent of  Chris Schulte's 1%ER

Just after Jimmy gets the 2nd ascent of the V13 the skies open up and we run for cover in one of the nearby "caves". We start the hike out when the rain slows, but it's a long hike out in the rain and in the dark. We are thoroughly soaked and ready for a great burger.  Nonetheless, a great day at Mount Evans.

Waiting out the rain

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Gear Review: Mad Rock's New Performance Shoe, the M5

For years I've jammed, pushed, squeezed, and strained to get my rock climbing shoes on my feet. I lived by the mantra, "Tighter is better." But then last year I ripped through the leather on the inside of my Muiras before I wore out the rubber! I was tired of my feet always hurting, so I bought a pair of general use Scarpas that were comfortable enough I could wear them most of the day without my feet rejecting them like a foreign pathogen. For a year I climbed, and climbed well, in them. I thought, maybe, all this hoopla about super tight climbing shoes was bologna. If I can climb 5.12 in comfortable shoes with no real noticeable difference in performance, then why put ourselves through all this suffering? 

This summer I've been shooting photography with incredibly strong boulderers that make climbing v15 look easier than me climbing v6 (I don't really enjoy bouldering), so I'd usually throw my climbing shoes in my backpack and put in a few tries on nearby V-easies while the real climbers rested. I found, with increasing certainty, my shoes were holding me back from pushing harder on boulders' precise and powerful movement. I didn't want to believe it at first. I just generally threw it under the excuse, "I suck at bouldering," which isn't far from the truth.

Madrock M5

Like many people, my first pair of climbing shoes were Mad Rocks, and I beat them up in a hurry. I've had a few pairs here and there since then, including the Demons, which I loved.

When I first pried the M5 onto my feet they were beyond tight, extremely hard to cram my foot into, but my feet found their customary position with the toes curled against the rand and my heal slid into place. I often joke about "The Shoe Crux", struggling and putting more effort into getting your shoes on than you actually exert on the climb. The M5 definitely gave me a shoe crux to start, but now, 3 weeks later they slide right on. 

Precision. Above all, that is what I think when I'm wearing the M5. My footwork is way more precise. I know I can toe down on the tiniest nub and the Mad Rock rubber is going to stick. I have way more confidence in my feet. After a year of guessing, I feel like I can really work on my feet again. And I can boulder (whether or not I want to is another story). 

The fit is not as natural as the Demon's, but it heal hooks with confidence and your curled toes give you the power to push off of the tiniest chip. Basically, it climbs hard.

Move the Pull-On straps!

I really only have two complaints on the shoe. The pull on straps are awkwardly placed so when you're pulling hard the shoe flexes and makes it harder to get the shoe the rest of the way on. If the both straps were moved over just a bit it would ease the shoe on so much easier. 

Velcro needs a tab

Because the velcro extends beyond the rubber backing it makes it unnecessarily frustrating to undo the velcro straps. If the rubber backing went past the velcro or if the velcro strap were looped and sewn at the end it would solve this problem. 

Overall, I really like these shoes and I'm excited they  have stretched just enough to make it standable to have them on my feet longer than 2 seconds after my climb. 

Rafting the North Fork of the South Platte River

James's awesome Samoyed, Wesley, playing in the field before getting kicked out because "dogs are not allowed" 

"Want to get action shots of kayaking and rafting at the Bailey Whitewater Festival?"

I tend to jump at this kind of invitation, this time coming from my former roommate, James Sims. Based out of Aspen, James has been strategically rafting every major rapid in Colorado this summer in his small HYSIDE raft. He'd recently told me about taking the raft down the North Fork of the South Platte river, doing some first descents in a raft.

The only other place I've shot whitewater sports before is the Vail Mountain Games, where kayakers and rafters do the same section of river repeatedly and I can shoot comfortably from the sidelines. When I pull up next to James's 4Runner and the campsite in the field of tall grass, he throws me a life vest and dry pants. I think, "well I'm unprepared for this." I didn't bring anything of use except my camera, and well, nothing to keep my camera protected.  James gets me two dry bags to double bag my camera in and we go to meet his cousin Jake who will be in the raft with us and a couple kayakers that are going to be floating with us.

We put into the South Platte just outside of the small village of Bailey. The river is pretty calm, but we practice some maneuvering skills till we reach the campsite where we pick up several more kayakers. I've rafted a quite a few rivers around the world, but the last being in 2008. I'm comfortable in a raft, but I was a bit rusty.

We reach First Falls and we all get out to take a look at the falls. James and Jake plan on getting the first descent of it in a raft. The river narrows to one point and drops a good 6 to 8 feet. The landing zone is particularly scary because of blades of rock that extend towards you as you come over the falls.

James and Jake drop First Falls with relative ease, but everyone was nervous.

Peter flying off of Falls Three in Four Falls

James & Jake after Third Falls

Jake takes Peter's Kayak and Peter runs Four Falls with James

I rejoin James and Jake in the raft after Four Falls and head down the river. We hit a few rapids, and come close to falling in the drink a few times and reach SuperMax, an impressive rapid with some technical maneuvers. I watch several kayakers go for swims. One kayaker traveled almost the entire rapid under the water, only coming up enough to catch a breath of air. Every attempt at rolling over failed. Another kayaker went bottoms up and only corrected the last moment before hitting the rocky cliff leading into the final falls. He slid the kayak onto the rock then down the cliff, missing the falls all together.

Our jolly bunch

James and Jake dropping the last falls on SuperMax 

An advantage of having a small raft is it's easy to pull it out and run the rapid again. The little raft ran SuperMax (or Tampax if you skip the first bit) four times

It's nice handing the camera off to someone and getting into the action myself. 

Professional Stackers

It was a fantastic and unexpected day. I'm definitely psyched to get out and play some more, hopefully I would come slightly more prepared next time.