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Fall Forays

Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2013 5:17 am
by skykilo
Three-day weekends are tiring!

Friday: Climbing in Arches National Park: not recommended.
fall-wknds, notrecommended

Saturday: Ross leads the first pitch of Coyote Calling, getting ready for the grand finale.
fall-wknds, coyotep1

Pitch two of Coyote Calling is an all-time splitter.
fall-wknds, coyotep2a

Ross moves into the thin hands zone.
fall-wknds, coyotep2b

Ross leads yet another splitter on pitch three of Coyote Calling.
fall-wknds, coyotep3

After all those crazy burly cracks, Coyote Calling has a sweet little sport climbing finish!
fall-wknds, coyotefinish

Sunday: on the way home from Moab, we stopped by Durango to climb a classic sandstone overhanging finger crack splitter: Watch Crystal: so good.
fall-wknds, watchcrystal

Thank goodness for intermediate two-day weekends to get some rest. Last weekend we were at it again.

We got a late start Friday then climbed a couple classic pitches at Penitente, San Luis Valley, Southern Colorado. The welded tuff is bomber. We climbed Bucket Slave and Rocket Man. Rocket Man is burly with a couple clips where a slip would result in an ugly ground fall .
Image

We spent Friday night at Nick's trailer near Fairplay. Thanks Nick! Sunrise on some high peaks. Brrrrr....
fall-wknds, fairplay

We met Miranda in the South Platte then made the grinding hike to Poe Buttress to climb Mississippi Half Step. This thing is an all-time classic. The sweet new guidebook has an excerpt from an old Rock and Ice article that calls it "the hardest 5.11 in the whole Front Range."

Miranda getting close to the techy, sequential traverse after the thin fingers on the 5.11d first pitch.
fall-wknds, mississippi1a

After the traverse, more funk ensues.
fall-wknds, mississippi1b

Pitch two is the splitter to end them all. It starts with fine fingers.
fall-wknds, mississippip2a

Then there is an intricate, thin face crux with trucker small nuts for pro.
fall-wknds, mississippip2b

Finally it ends with a burly thin hands and fingers splitter. Just wow!
fall-wknds, mississippip2c

Then Micah led Turkey Foot crack, Cynical Pinnacle in the background.
fall-wknds, turkey1

Micah in the beautiful upper splitter.
fall-wknds, turkey2

We had a great time drinking and eating hipster vegan food with Miranda in Denver on Saturday night. Then we made our way to Eldorado Canyon the next morning.

Sunday: our climb: The Naked Edge.
Image

It took us way too long to get on the route. The first pitch is actually two pitches off the deck. But we didn't really know where we were going so we took three pitches to get there.

The first "5.11a" is an amazing thin finger crack.
fall-wknds, nep1

The second pitch is special. It starts with some good runouts, but they're not very difficult.
fall-wknds, nep2a

The crux of the second pitch involves sustained 5.10 climbing well above a small brassy. Whew!
fall-wknds, nep2b

Pitch three is less difficult and wanders, but still with some interesting sections.
fall-wknds, nep3

At that point, I'd reached my limit for the weekend. Two difficult pitches of climbing remained, then an easy pitch, then a scamble and hike for the descent. I was running out of gas and did not want to get home in the early morning hours. So we rapped. Can't wait to go back and finish it!

Looking forward to a relaxing two-day weekend. D'oh, Monday is a holiday!

Re: Fall Forays

Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2013 5:25 pm
by DonJuanPakistan
No, THIS one is the best splitter. No, THIS one. No....

Re: Fall Forays

Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 5:37 pm
by naomig
No one makes more of their time than you. Nice climbing. Where are you off to this weekend?

Re: Fall Forays

Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 6:43 pm
by skykilo
No plans for this weekend. Waiting to see whether we're going to run an experiment. If not, it sure is tempting to go somewhere. Then again staying home sounds nice.

Hey Drew: SPLITTERsplittersplittersplitter5pl1tt3R!

Also, a funny quote from Micah on Saturday: "That's the last splitter you'll be getting today!"

Re: Fall Forays

Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 6:34 am
by EpiKing505
Deddy!

Re: Fall Forays

Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2016 1:21 pm
by skykilo
Finally returned to The Naked Edge and topped out swapping leads with George this weekend. What an all time classic! The position and exposure are unbeatable. Then the last hard pitch ends with -- you guessed it Drew -- an all-time splitter!