The snow freaks are starting to get nervous, but for the climbers, the weather has been perfect for late season cragging here in the Roaring Fork Valley. We got out this past weekend for some trad climbing at the upper F-Pan crag on Saturday. Couldn’t have asked for a finer day, and the routes were fantastic. We’re working on getting some topos together for this upper area, as there are close to 50 routes up here from 5.8 to 5.13, many of which are excellent trad lines. Stay tuned for more info on this fantastic zone.

Sunday we slept in and then headed out to the Surgery Buttress. This limestone crag features excellent stone and abundant sunshine in the afternoon. Some other friends showed up at the cliff and all in all we had a great day of cragging.

Also, congrats to Mike Schneiter and Chris Van Leuven for finishing their 5 pitch project on the Grizzly Creek Wall. The route is reported to be of high quality on excellent quartzite. Hopefully Mike’s gonna blog about it, until then you can check out the beta and some pics on MountainProject.com.

Ah, that magical time of year. When the snow starts swirling in the mountains, and the ski freaks look for ways to hurt themselves before the season even starts early season turns. And then there are those that know this is the best time of year to be in the desert. You are as fit as you’ll be all season, and it’s now or never to get on those unrelenting vertical splitters that seem so punishing in the spring.

This past weekend, it was even so warm we had to climb in the shade one day! We had a great crew from Carbondale and beyond, and shared many fine pitches, stories and good food around the campfire. There were even some guest appearances by rainbow brite, a pirate, a dead guy and a chick magnet.

Sunday evening of course came too soon, are you ever really ready to leave the Creek? The beautiful landscape and endless splitters always beckon for a return visit. We’ll have to see what we can do, after all, gas sure is cheap these days!

Rainbow Brite?!?! Is that you?

Derek Hanrahan getting warmed up.

Or maybe it’s here for those who’d rather chase ephermeral drips than relish in the last beautiful days of sun before winter closes it’s icy claws about us.

Looks like the folks in Crested Butte have found some stuff to play on.

Also, down south it appears things are coming in around Ouray and Silverton.

Not much going on in Rocky Mountain Park at the moment, sounds like it’s just too dry there currently, which is hard to believe, as we have an incredible amount of snow above treeline in the Elks.

In these parts, the Laundry Chutes on Sopris appear to be in good shape, and the right most one is definitely worth checking out if you are in need of an alpine fix close to home. I was up in the area yesterday and the summer trail appears to be relatively snow free still, so have at.

As for me, I’ll be holding onto the rocks as long as possible…

Last week I got to spend four incredible days climbing in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. We managed to put together a pretty good crew that trickled in over the course of several days, teaming up for various ascents along the way. This was my fifth visit to the canyon and perhaps one of the most fun climbing trips I’ve had in recent memory.

First up was Escape Artist. Ya and I had never climbed together in a multi-pitch setting, and certainly not one so demanding as the Black, so we figured it would be a good intro. A lazy morning had us out of camp around 9:30, and down the SOB gully into the canyon. Fortunately we had the place to ourselves, despite the late start. The highlights of the route were the crack at the top of the 70 meter first pitch, the wild Vector Traverse, and the never ending stemming of the crux pitch (calf pump!). We were in the shade until the last 250′ of 5.6 exit slabs, and once the sun hit us we realized we’d need to be in the shade for the rest of the trip.

Derek rolled into camp later that night, and we settled on Comic Relief for the next day. Another leisurely start had us walking down the SOB gully again around 9:30, and today there were other climbers all around us. The route was fantastic, offering up pitch after pitch of excellent crack climbing. We were all impressed with the quality, and both Ya and I were feeling tired but happy with the 2000′ of climbing we’d done in the first two days. That night Steve joined us, and he and Derek made plans while Ya and I tossed back some beers, knowing that we had earned a day off.

Our rest day was excellent, including a late start, some stretching at Chasm View, watching our friends climb, and scoping future adventures. Jon and Mike arrived around 4pm, and quickly headed off to go simul-climb Maiden Voyage. That night around the fire we made plans for the next day, and headed off to sleep relatively early.

Our most “alpine” start of the trip had us up at 7, and out of camp by 8 am. Whoa buddy, we’re kicking ass now! Steve and Mike had headed out earlier as they were going for the Moveable Stoned Voyage, so Derek, Jon, Ya and myself all descended the Cruise Gully together. They were heading for Midsummer Night’s Dream, while we were going to check out the Checkerboard Wall. We had great views of each other as the day progressed, and even some banter back and forth at exciting moments. Nothing like pulling through a crux to hear your buddies on another wall cheering for you.

We made it back to camp first, and the others sooned joined us as we relaxed in the afternoon and listened to the thunder rolling closer and closer. As the rained started, we broke down camp, thankful we were off our routes, and wondering how the parties not yet at the rim would handle the weather.

All in all it was a fantastic trip, with excellent routes, great friends and one of the most incredible canyon’s anywhere.

Guest blog by Andy Wellman.

By most accounts this year’s Rifle Clean-Up event was the most productive ever! If I had to point to one reason I think it was that the locals came out in droves ready to make their canyon a friendlier place for climbing. There had been mass e-mail communication amongst most of the local climbers for months in advance discussing what projects should be completed, and people showed up ready to make it happen. Perhaps nobody should receive a larger pat on the back than Michael Kennedy, president of the Roaring Fork Climbers Coalition, who spent countless hours and who knows how much money fixing up the approach to climbs which he doesn’t even climb on! Props to you Michael. Mike Logan and Mike Brumbaugh (and many others) put in some serious time and effort helping Michael revamp the base of the Project Wall, moving boulders to create more parking spaces, building stairs up the erosion prone trail to Living in Fear, and building a retaining wall type platform along the base of some of the best routes in Rifle to cover the crumbling pile of loose choss which people have been belaying on for the last decade. Thanks so much Mikes!

The Summit County crew impressed everyone by constructing a stone stairway to heaven, (um… I mean PMS) and then back down the hill to the route Kingfisher. The stairway fixes the problem of a very slippery dirt slope which has caused people to eat shit for years, and is impressive in its size and fortitude. And they busted it out in about 2 hours! Nice work guys! Other projects completed include replacing many old and rusty bolts, repairing bridges damaged by high flood waters this spring, and helping clear brush from the Koper trail, a popular hiking trail amongst town locals and visiting tourists. And everyone spent the day picking up trash.

The party was not a disappointment either! Over 140 people showed up to share the Avery Beer and hamburgers, and voluntary donations towards next year’s Clean-Up event exceeded $500, ensuring that this tradition will not stop soon. While the large crowd prevented everyone from taking home a raffle prize, the mad dance party afterwards ensured that everyone took home a nice buzz. And to top it off, we as climbers were personally congratulated by Elmer the camp host, one who does not dish out praise often, for how smoothly everything went, how well we represented ourselves, and how clean we left the community house after we were done(more props to those that helped with the cleaning).

Well done everyone, and thank you so much to EVERYONE who pitched in a helping hand!

This is Andy Wellman’s first post for SplitterChoss.com. When he’s not climbing in Rifle, you can usually find him at the Wolverine Publishing world headquarters, putting out some of the best guidebooks around.