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Climbing, Adventure, Gear & Choss
route development
All’s Quiet On the Drilling Front
For several years, I was pretty focused on new route development in the Roaring Fork Valley. There were three cliffs in particular that we had a vision for, knowing that when they were complete they’d offer fun, unique climbing that was much closer to town than anything currently established. There were only a couple of us toiling away at adding routes, and it was a lot of hard work. Finally, in about 2007, the crags were developed enough that whether you were in the mood for granite, sandstone or something else, you’d have about 50 pitches to choose from at each spot.
The Eight Unfortunate Truths of Route Development
Ultimately it comes down to what matters more in the end, the style of the FA or the end product? The problem is that the “quality” of the end product means different things to different people. Some of my favorite routes scared the crap out of me because of runouts or bad gear. Those same things that added to the overall quality of my experience would ruin it for others, because they don’t climb to have a heady experience where they could get hurt or die, they climb because they like the movement and safety of it all.
Bulldog Creek Dog Walk (IV WI 4+)
Hayden Carpenter and Tom Bohanon recently repeated an obscure ice climb on the south side of Mt Sopris. Given a brief mention in Jack Robert’s ice guide, Bulldog Creek Walk is described as being 100 meters of WI 4. What they found was seven pitches of ice in a remote setting that makes for one […]
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