Last week in Colorado

Its my last week in Colorado.  My trip has been amazing. I have met some great new friends and climbed some amazing boulders.  It is sad that I have to go at the end of the week but I know that I will be back soon.  I have a trip back to the east coast for the Nor'Easter comp on September 23rd and 24th then to the Rumney for a couple of days and followed by a trip to the New River for a much needed does of sandstone.

Ben on the crux of Potato Chip 

Upper chaos canyon at dusk

Secret Splendor 

Soap on a rope

RMNP#2

A short week after my first trip to the Rockies the opportunity came to make another trip back to CO. Weather in the east has been sketchy with rain and wind so timing was perfect for this second trip. It has been warm with a lot more rain than usual for September. The park weather has been hot during the day with temperatures reaching the mid 80’s but cooling off in the evenings so we have been looking for other options to keep us busy. Most of our time is spent hiking and swimming at the reservoir and making trips to other climbing areas near Fort Collins.

This past weekend we went to Wyoming for a throw at some offwidth and crack climbing in Vedauwoo. Vedauwoo is an amazing area with pink granite littered with large feldspar crystals.

Predominantly crack climbing, Vedauwoo offers large flaring cracks with small feet on amazing rock. I am not a great crack or offwidth climber so after I got seriously shut down hard on some local warm ups I started looking for potential lines that fit my style a little more. I was shocked at the potential that still remains at such an established climbing area. I spied no less than 5 hard double digit projects in the very first area that we climbed at about 100ft from the parking area. One project in particular that I put some effort into could easily go at v14/15 on a gently overhanging face with small patina crimps. I put time into another line that I was able to FA and called it The Republic. This line climbs out an overhanging arete with small crimps and a large span move that I was able to stick close to my max extension. I feel honored to add my vision of climbing to a list of classic hard lines in the area. Vedauwoo is a place where I could easily spend decades of time exploring and pushing my limits.

I have extended my stay to the 12th to capitalize on some good weather headed for CO this week. I hope to have the opportunity to climb at as many areas as possible before I leave. Photos and video to come soon.

More From KAdams

RMNP #1

The east coast is an amazing place to live with a beauty that changes with each season. I am always amazed each fall at the shift in color, temperature, smell and landscape that comes with the changing of the seasons. Winters are cold and Springs are short but offer a new look with a vibrant palate of greens, reds, yellows and blues with every tint and shade in between. Summer is hot and humid its the perfect time to have a beer and relax with friends. This summer however; I have had the opportunity to make several great climbing trips. One trip that I have been looking forward to more than others has been to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.

Littered with granite cliffs and boulders that attract climbers, hikers and nature enthusiasts from all over, RMNP is a destination anytime of the year but as a climber it offers an escape from the heat and humidity that settles in the east from May - September.

This journey marked my first trip to Colorado. I had been told about the rock, the culture, hiking, climbing and mountaineering that the Rockies offered. I was completely blown away when I finally made it to FoCo, Boulder and Estes and met some amazing new friends that continued to get my psych up to climb.
It takes roughly 30 minutes to get to chaos canyon and the lower bouldering areas. 15 - 20 feet of snow lay on the ground peppered with car and house size granite boulders and surround a beautiful snow melt lake. “This place is amazing” is all I could say. Temps in the 70 - 80’s during the day with no humidity and dropped to a cool 50 in the evenings.

We had perfect conditions on my trip and with the cooperation of the weather I was able to put down so many classic boulder problems and a couple traditional routes too. I feel comfortable giving this summation or advice to climbers planning a trip to the park, work on crimp strength, cardio for your hikes and power because you will need them all or at least I did.

It made me sad knowing that this place was only a destination for me and that I wasn’t calling it home. In my mind I knew that I would eventually have to leave but only for a short while.

Madness

1 Week into my trip to the New. It has been an amazing journey coming from a tweaked finger with absolutely no rope endurance to where i am today. I have managed several warm up onsights that boosted my spirits but when it has come to my projects i havent managed to snag any of them yet.

My focus has shifted from my long endurance sport climbing goal of Proper Soul to an amazing bolted prow feature on the meadow river that is (as of this post) still a project.

Ryan, Micah and I will be headed out for one last attempt at sending before i have to leave.

New River Booger Heat

I am staying in the New at the Rocky Top Retreat aka. Rogers. I got down here over the weekend and had planned on staying until I leave for CO but with heat in the 90's for the next 5 days I am thinking swimming is in my future not much climbing. I spent today deep water soloing and cross training trying to escape the heat but nothing seems to be helping. Headed for the Hole to keep in shape on some classics. Fall cant get here soon enough.

Fall

We had a hot summer, humidity was high and temps left most people traveling great distances to find refuge from the poor climbing conditions. Now that Fall is here and the cold air is around the corner I started to re discover some areas around my home. I found two new projects at Coopers Rock and recently temps have been cool enough to start trying them. Its amazing what you can discover when you stop wondering and start searching.