New Routes on Camp Bird Road

 Andres and I went up Camp Bird Road, drill in hand to expand the dry tooling options up there. There are a number of routes that have gone up there in the past couple of years that are worth checking out if you like to pull on rock with ice tools or are looking for a safe way to get comfortable on real steep terrain.

Many people know about the M6 that makes use of the shackle next to skylight and the M7 that shares the anchors. There are many more that don't get as much attention and are as good. We bolted an M3 that is good for beginners and there are a couple of M4s and M5s that have gone up in the past few years. One of my favorites is the thin, pumpy seam near the mile 4 marker up by chockstone it goes at about M5. If you want to try out this dry-tooling business and are looking for some easier options come on down and give some of these newer routes a try.

I am headed out ice climbing tomorrow so check back soon to find out about local ice conditions.

Ouray Ice Conditions

Direct North Face

 I took my trusty, Korean made, light SUV for a ride over the pass to see how the ice was doing in South Mineral Creek, usually the first ice of the season to form. While in the past I have enjoyed parking right across from these climbs, the kim chee mobile was cruxing through about 8+ inches of snow. With the current storm, only high clearance, corn-fed trucks will make it down the road and back easily.

The light was flat which made scoping the ice hard but needless to say it was on the thin side. Campground Couloir had tons of snow in it and looked wet, DNF looked thin and steep, and Snowblind looked close. While they could all be climbed on marginal pro, continued freezing temps mean that these climbs will be good to go for climbers who think placing an ice screw is more than a symbolic gesture.

Campground Couloir

Snow blind

Mammut 150 Peaks Project - Castleton

Here are few pics that John Catto shared with me from our recent climb of Castleton Tower. It was one of the first events for Mammut's 150 Peaks Project to celebrate their 150th anniversary. Stay tuned for the finished film piece on our climb, coming soon...

SJMG Guide Pat Ormond bringing up the wheels for Sean O'Neil's wheelchair.

Whole team on the summit of Castleton.

Looking across to climbers in Fine Jade.

A-List Extreme Cameraman Jay Smith hard at work.

Get ready to go down, like the sun...

Happy Trails, CC

October on the Camp Bird Road

Well, I guess winter must be close. We took a drive up the Camp Bird Road today, and there were guys drytooling near the Skylight. There were the good beginnings of ice on a number of climbs including the Ribbon, Racing Stripes, and the Talisman. Hopefully the nice weather coming our way doesn't knock it all down, or it could be epic come November!

Unknown climbers scratching away...

Ice forming down most of the Talisman.

Looking down Canyon Creek towards the Bridge of Heaven.

Ice starting to form on the Ribbon.

 Happy Hunting, CC

HELLO FROM BISHKEK

Hi, this is Andres reporting from Kyrgyzstan.

We are finally back in the capital after espending 20 climbing in the Torugart -Too range.

This range is located in the border of Kyrgyzstan and China. We where the firts americans on visit this awesome range and we also had the opportunity to climb 2 unclimbed peaks a 4000 and a 5000 meters peaks.

Both of them where great 1000 meters climbs full on crazy awesome alpine faces with lots of ice, rock, snow and great views.

Our approach to the range was by horses 3 days each way did make the experience super magic and little painfull. As you can imagine 3 days on a horse can get pretty crazy. In fact, my partner philippe fell out his horse bruising himself pretty good.

Anyhow, now is time for us to hang out in the city and wait a few days for our return back home.

I'm super excited to be back in san juans and start getting ready for the ice and mixed climbing season.

Hope to see you all there this winter.

Photos from this trip will be posted once I get back.

Cheers

Andres

Seasonal Update

Here is our Seasonal Newsletter. It outlines the great climbing around now, as well as some of our upcoming trips and promotions.

Autumn 2011 Newsletter

Late Summer Snow!

Well it looks like Autumn is well on its way to the San Juans. The last couple mornings we have woken up to a fresh dusting on the Amphitheater above Ouray. This morning was the most snow yet. Hopefully we keep getting early snow in the highcountry, and then we'll have one of those epic early seasons again. Its been a few years since I've climbed Birdbrain and the Ribbon on Halloween, but maybe this year!

A not so great photo of the new snow in the Amphitheater.

I'm headed back to the Utah desert shortly to get in some more sunny rock climbing over there! This next week of weather looks great for some late summer adventures. Come on out and climb one more San Juan peak, climb a classic route in the Black Canyon, or go to the desert for some towers. Make the most of the good weather coming our way, it'll be winter soon!

Cheers, CC