Newlin Creek

On Sunday I made a trip to Newlin Creek for the first time. Tom Camillieri was kind enough to give me a tour of the place. Bottom Line, Newlin is awesome! Its like climbing in the Poudre Canyon, which I think is some of the best quality rock in Colorado. Oddly, these two areas are separated by a couple hundred miles, despite their similarity.

Its getting warm on the front range and the alpine bouldering will probably be melting out soon. Areas like Newlin will be getting a bit warm in the following weeks. I think there are still some good days though, and I'm psyched to get back there before focusing my attention elsewhere for the summer.


Location of Newliw:

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Lumpy Ridge

Saturday I went bouldering at Lumpy Ridge with some friends. Lumpy is typically regarded as a trad climbing area, but has some decent bouldering as well. Typically I avoid places I can't bring my dog, but decided that a day there would be fun. Just had to make sure not to leave too many projects to draw me back.

The day turned out to be great weather, and we climbed a number of Lumpy classics. Dan got some footage of me on Angry Man Left v7 or 8; the short, classic, and less angry of the angry men. The crux for me was keeping this left heal hook from slipping off while making my way to the jug lip of the boulder. In the end I decided I would just swing-campus out to the lip before the foot had a chance to pop. So maybe not the most graceful, but hey, it worked!

Back on the Front Range

I'm back in Fort Collins after being gone for almost 5 months. I left Joe's Valley a day early. This is probably the first time I have ever left Joe's sooner than I had to, but I just couldn't climb anymore without a few rest days. Unfortunately I had to be back in CO for work so I couldn't stick around long enough to rest.

The last few weeks in Joe's have been amazing as always. I've done so many great problems. I was able to capture a video of one particular problem called Moment of Truth v10. I don't know what conditions are normally like for this problem, but it was sitting on top of a frozen stream surrounded by ice on 3 of 4 sides (all but up). A week prior it was also covered on top with a half foot of snow and ice. Ryan Silven and I cleaned off as much as we could, and then Ryan went back again after a few more inches of snow fell. Finally it was climable.

The problem is very short. Its basically one hard move to a difficult mantel that really isn't very difficult. Amazing rock, great holds, and how often do you get to climb a boulder surrounded by ice. But enough, here is the video.

Moment of Truth from Paul Nadler on Vimeo.

For anyone that wants to find Moment of Truth, park at the big pullout as for Trent's Mom. Then hike across the river and up the off-shoot canyon following the stream. After about 5 minutes you'll come to a cluster of boulders. Moment of Truth sits towards the back of this cluster kind of to the right of one of the large boulders.

Now being back on the front range, I'm excited to get out climbing. Not sure what is on the agenda yet, perhaps clean up some old projects, perhaps find some new ones. I'm sure it will be a little of both.

Joe's Valley

As many of you know, I tore a ligament in my ring finger last October while trying to complete a project in Joe's Valley. I was very close, falling on the last hard move on the previous attempt.

Driving back to Joe's Valley, I had more or less a single goal, to complete this problem I hurt myself on last fall. Its normal for me to obsess like this, but usually I am not so nervous about a climb. Not knowing whether my finger was ready was worse than knowing it wasn't.

My first day in Joe's, I got warmed up and went strait to the problem. I pulled on and did the initial campus move into the slot pinch. I felt good and not out of shape. I adjusted the pinch to get ready for the crux move. I started to pull, but felt a little pain in my ring finger. I hesitated for a second, telling myself everything was fine, but I knew better. The finger wasn't ready and the consequences of continuing would be severe. I dropped off, and put the project on hold again.

Being unable to do this climb right now, I'm turning my focus to other climbs. Climbs which I had neglected so I could climb on, or rest for my project. I was able to do a cool mono crimp problem (Hydrogenated Oil) that I first tried after my injury, since I pretty much only need my pointer fingers. This is an interesting problem and very difficult to grade. Consensus seems to be about v11, yet I know of at least a couple of strong climbers that find it very difficult. Yet there are also a couple of climbers that find it quite easy, including one that can do the crux moves in his approach shoes while talking to me about how easy it is :) Thats bouldering for you.

Also this past week I have done a number of very good problems up to around v9. Its been a lot of fun climbing and hanging out with friends, and I'm looking forward to my remaining couple of weeks here. Almost I have forgotten about the project... almost.

No photos to share yet due to the camera situation, but I was able to take some photos with a friends camera which may yield some decent photos in the near future. For now I have a video of a very cool climb I did yesterday called Playmate of the Year v9. Aptly named. Enjoy!

Playmate of the Year from Paul Nadler on Vimeo.

Leaving Las Vegas

Tomorrow I leave for Joe's Valley. I'v been in Las Vegas most of the winter which is longer than I usually stay in one place, but now its time to move on once again. When I first got here my goal was to rehabilitate my finger and get back into shape. This last month or so everything has been coming together and I'v been able to climb lots of great boulder problems. I feel ready for the spring climbing season!

Unfortunately, there is also some bad news. A couple of days ago my I broke my camera. I don't know how it happened exactly, it was in its protective bag, but my LCD screen is broken and inoperable. Probably I dropped it or bumped it into something, these things happen when your out climbing, its just a matter of time. I just wish it wouldn't have happened so soon! Technically the things still works, I can still take pictures, but in a very limited way. The screen isn't just to review your shots, its also the access to the menu system which allows you to change all the settings, delete photos, etc. Also a while ago, my main lens stopped auto-focusing, which wasn't a big problem; but now combined with the screen, the camera seems barley usable.

Probably I need a new camera, but it could be a long while before I'll have money for that. Perhaps I'll find another broken D50 that I can pull the screen out of. Anyone know of one? I may try sending in the camera to Nikon for an estimate, but I have the feeling that fixing the screen and the lens would cost about as much as a new camera. If anyone has other ideas I would love to hear them. Until I figure something out, I'm not likely to be posting many photos.