Big Mud

It was December and thus time to aid some towers in the desert.  Marcus, Matt P, Matt K, Bill, Ian, Sean and I were headed to the Fisher Towers with no plans.  When we all met up at the parking lot we chose teams and objectives.  Bill, Sean and I (Team A) were headed for 'Sundevil Chimney'.  While the Matts, Ian and Marcus (Team B) headed for the 'Finger of Fate'.  We were both climbing 'The Titan' just from different sides.  The climbing went well for both teams.  Team B made the summit, while Team A fixed ropes on the first 3 pitches for a summit attempt the next day.  Luckily we all finished our days at the same time and hiked back to the cars together a little dirtier then when we walked in.  Matt K. and Marcus headed for some food in town.  For the rest of us it was a little tuna mac and time for bed.  Team A got up early and headed for the fixed lines.  Team B split up  to ascend some inferior objectives.  After some scary/dirty/great pitches we topped out in the dark, rappelled the route, hiked out and drove back to Durango.  All in all a great weekend in the desert with a great group!  Thanks for the photos Bill!

The Titan.

Ben on pitch 1 of Sundevil Chimney.

Belaying Sean on pitch 2.

Bill leading pitch 3 with Sean belaying.

Ben getting scared on pitch 4.

Bill

Sean

Ben

Sean on pitch 5 with Ben belaying.

Setting up the rappels.

A long exposure on top.

The Titan.

November Reunion

Brad, Koren and Owen moved to California a few years ago, leaving behind multiple sad climbing partners.  They returned last November with an additional member of the family, and we were able to get out and climb a little.  We met in Moab at the hostel, which we had discovered as a great place for big groups years ago.  9 people wanted to climb, well really it was 8 people and a gimp since Matt had a broken hand.  Lots of time was spent pouring over guide books trying to find something that would be a) a tower, b)new for everyone and c)enjoyable for everyone.  Quite a challenge!  We finally decided on a feature called 'House of Putterman'(H.O.P.).  The drive out required a little four wheelin' which is always fun when there's a caravan of vehicles.  Ryan and Marcie decided to do another tower near by called 'Echo Tower' and disapeared in a cloud of dust.  As soon as the rest of us parked Matt spotted a small unclimbed tower.  He grabbed Bill and the two of them headed off with the drill.  Since H.O.P. was right next to the unclimbed tower, we sorted gear at the trucks and then gave chase.  Matt started drilling as Brad started up pitch 1.  As the 5 of us climbed H.O.P. Matt and Bill topped out on their tower, rappelled and started jugging lines we had left fixed for them on H.O.P.  The unclimbed tower was dubbed 'Putterman's Nub', and was free climbed on toprope after our 7 person ascent of 'House of Putterman'.  Always a pleasure to see the Brandewie family!  Let's make it happen again soon!  Thanks Bill for the photos!

Leeches

Matt on 'Putterman's Nub'.

Amber climbing pitch 1 with Brad belaying.

Bill finishing it off.

Amber on pitch 2 with Brad at the pitch 1 anchor.

Ian A. on the final moves.  Nice lead Ian M!

Brad sensing that there will be trouble.

The crew on top!

Free climbing 'Putterman's Nub' on TR.

Free Zion

As is usual with a Zion trip we drove straight to Zion, got in late and found some free camping.  After a good night's sleep, we cooked up some breakfast burritos and chilled in the car to get out of the cold wind until the temperatures warmed up a little.  We wanted to climb a classic route called 'Monkeyfinger'.  Eventually we got out of the car and started the 5 minute approach.  'Monkeyfinger' ended up being pitch after pitch of stellar free climbing, definitely the highest quality free route I have gotten on in Zion.  It's easy to see why its a classic.
When we got back to the ground we still had some light so we waded across the Virgin River to get to the 'Pulpit' and the 'Pulpette', both of which are small towers.

Following pitch 3.

Matt following pitch 4.

Me following the crux pitch.

Matt topping out.

Rappelling 'The Pulpit'.

The next day we got up earlier and started the 1.5 hour approach to West Temple to climb a route called 'The Big Lebowski'.  If you haven't seen the movie I highly recommend it!  (I ended up taking a tumble during the approach and cut up the back of my hand.  5 days later I pulled a small stick which had impaled itself during the fall out of my hand.)  We got to the base of  the route all cut up from bush whacking as the sun was coming up and started the route.  With our 70 meter rope we were able to link two pitches into one long pitch most of the time, making the route go fast.  The climbing ended up being less then stellar, with a few exceptions.  Back at the base it was another 1.5 hour hike back to the car.  Giving us a car to car time of 15 hours.  On the hike out we went over the route and gave each pitch a 'good' or 'crap' rating.  The route had a 75% crap rating.  At the very least it was a long adventurous day.

Matt on pitch 4.

Starting the offwidth on pitch 8.  

Matt starting a pitch with a rack rigged for battle.

Matt starting the pitches 'Walter's Whites' and 'The Jesus'.

Matt on a 'good pitch', pitch 18.

Looking toward Springdale from high on the route.

Ice in Cody, WY

I left Durango at 6am and before I knew it I had been driving in Wyoming for 5 hours.  Thats when I realized that I hadn't seen a single cop since crossing the boarder and I could count the number of trees I had seen on one hand.  And with that said I had also passed very little civilization and the wind was blowing at least 30+mph the whole time.  It ended up that the wind didn't ease off until I left the state 4 days later and out of the 4 days I was in Wyoming I only saw 1 cop total.  I arrived in Cody just after 6pm, around 12 hours after leaving Durango.  Chris was flying in from Chicago and I picked him up at the airport later that evening.  After a long day of travel for both of us it was good to be stationary in a hotel room looking at a guide book, trying to figure out what to do in the morning.  We finally decided on a drainage with two routes right next to each other.  "Stringer" and "Desperate for Lovin'".

The next day turned out to be a great day of ice climbing with a moderate approach and good ice.  I had heard that there is often minimal snow in the area and was pleasently surprised to find out how little there was.  On Day two we did more hiking then climbing on a route called "The Schoolhouse Route".  Lesson learned.  Day three turned out to be the gem with a route called "Broken Hearts".   While Chris and I were in the Cody area we saw too many deer to count, bighorn sheep, quail, and a wolf!

All in all it was a fun trip in a cool area!  Below are an assortment of photos.      

Chris leading "Stringer"

Chris following "Desperate for Lovin'"

Chris starting up pitch 2 of "The Schoolhouse Route"

"Schoolhouse Route"

"Broken Hearts"

"Broken Hearts"

Post holing out of "Broken Hearts"

"High on Boulder" on the left and "Moonrise" on the right.

"Stringer"

"'Desperate for Lovin' behind Chris"

Rappelling "The Schoolhouse Route"

"The Schoolhouse Route"

"Broken Hearts"

"Broken Hearts"

Mixed up in Ouray

This past weekend Matt, Bill and I were headed to Ouray for a couple days of work.  We decided to head up a day early and come back a day later, so we could get in some personal climbing while we were up there.  Unfortunetly I only pulled the camera out for the last day.  It ended up being two great days of mixed climbing in the park.  

This is me on the 2008 qualifier route.  

Cleaning some snow off the top.

Matt on the same route.

Matt topping out.

Bill on the 2008 qualifier route.

Matt starting the 2012 comp route.

Matt traversing the ice bridge on this years comp route.

Bill belays as Matt leads pitch 2 of an easy 2 pitch line in the school room area.