Iron Monkey Footage

Well, the slideshow was a success last night. Thanks to everyone that showed up and thanks to Mountain Hardwear, La Sportiva, and Metolius for donating swag for the raffle. All in all, $305 was raised for the Access Fund.

For those that missed the show, here's a new video I put together for it. It shows some of my attempts on Iron Monkey and also includes an interesting fall. I still haven't finished this climb. Those who follow this blog probably know that I've been close for a long time. Perhaps I'll be able to pull it off this fall.

Enjoy the vid.

Iron Monkey Attempts from Matt Wilder on Vimeo.

Another Slideshow (Bent Gate Mountaineering)

OK, I know this is lame... It's been a slow summer and I haven't posted here since my last slideshow months ago. Still I wanted to announce a show I'm giving soon. I'll be posting more content here soon as the Fall season comes into swing.

I'm giving a show 8pm this Wednesday (8/11) at Bent Gate Mountaineering in Golden, CO. If you're around, you should definitely try to make it. It will cost $5 but all the proceeds will go to the Access Fund and there will be a raffle at the end. Mountain Hardwear hooked me up with some great swag including two packs and several hats and shirts. La Sportiva donated a gift card for one free pair of shoes and some hats. To top things off, Metolius gave me some rock rings to give away along with other misc booty.

I'll be doing the show solo so it will be significantly different than the last show I did with Andy Mann and Jonathan Siegrist. I'll be showing photos and video that cronicle my progression as a climber and tell the story of how I've merged my love for trad climbing and bouldering.


Here's the full description of the show:

"Bouldering above gear: a synthesis of distant disciplines"

by Matt Wilder

Through this multimedia show I'll try to figure out why I tend to find myself far above gear with hard moves between me and safety --- a question I ask myself often. I'll begin by tracking my history as a climber following my split identity as a boulderer and a trad climber with some classic photos from my early days. The bulk of the show will highlight classic climbs and boulder problems I've established, repeated, or failed on in the past. I'll show an unseen video compilation of some of my better falls and video footage of several 5.13 and 5.14 trad climbs. The show will culminate with a personal narrative of my experience establishing two new 5.14R trad routes in the Front Range, Viceroy and Cheating Reality, accompanied by video footage and photo sequences. If time permits, I'll also talk about some of my bigwall free climbing forays in Yosemite and the magnetism which has recently been pulling my thoughts back to El Cap. At the end I'll be giving away and raffling swag from my sponsors: Mountain Hardwear, La Sportiva, and Metolius.

Colorado Burl Slideshow Tomorrow

Everyone who's in the Boulder area should come out to the slideshow I'm giving with Andy Mann and Jonathan Siegrist at Neptune tomorrow (Thursday) at 8pm. Andy's going to be showing a sick set of photos from his collection including exposes of my two 5.14 trad FAs in the Boulder area. He'll also be showing photos from Jstar's new sport crag in RMNP and Jstar will be giving a full rundown of the place. I'll be talking some about my two routes and the experience I had on them. We're going to have a raffle with some great swag. I know Mountain Hardwear hooked up some great stuff and we have good product from other companies too. All in all it's going to be a kickin' time, so make sure you're there.


In other news, I'm still recovering from the UBC Earth Treks comp last weekend. I climbed so much and was so sore. This comp was totally sick -- such a strong field, great setting, and tons of climbing. I finished 16th which I was happy with considering I hadn't been training much and how deep the field was. I felt like I could have done a bit better on some of the problems in the semis, but that's always how comps feel unless you flash the problems. It was a ton of fun and it was great to watch the finals. Tons of action. I hear the live internet stream was great too. I think they've put some clips up on their website. Anyway, these guys are putting on pretty sick events. Check out the UBC website. Another comp that looks to be really cool is the Battle in the Bubble which is going to be an outdoor (but on plastic) comp on May 15th at the Boulder Reservoir. I'm going to be out of town for the New River Rendezvous which I'm super stocked for so I'll miss the comp here. I'm sure it's going to be a really fun time though.

Masterpiece Video

Here's a video I edited of my attempts and eventual send of Masterpiece V13 in Joe's. I was trying to capture the whole process in this video. Hopefully you don't find it too redundant.

In other news, I have my "80's Rocker Hair" costume all planned for the premiere of Core. Everyone attending should dress up cause you could win some good stuff. I also got back on the Iron Monkey this weekend in Eldo. I was pleasantly surprised with how well it went and hopefully I'll be able to finally accomplish this long term project. More on the Iron Monkey to come soon.

Masterpiece V13, Joe's Valley from Matt Wilder on Vimeo.

Core on Blu-ray (and premiere soon)

Just wanted to remind everyone that the premiere of Core is this coming Wednesday at the Boulder Theater. Don't miss it. For those of you who can't wait, the movie is now available on Blu-ray. This is the first release of the film and it won't be available on DVD for a few more weeks. The Blu-ray version will also have some extra footage in it including the uncut Fred Nicole interview. Buy it here:

http://www.bouldering.com/products/Core-Blu-Ray.html

Joe's Recap

My trip to Joe's is over now and after climbing 7 out of the past 10 days, my body is in need of some serious rest. I feel very fortunate to have had such an amazing trip with perfect weather, great problems, fun ascents, and cool people to hang with. Here's a quick recap of my last days of climbing. Also, I'll try to update my Joe's beta post soon with the info I gleaned from this trip.

On Saturday, I decided not to go back to Masterpiece because my body was still sore from the many attempts on Thursday. Instead I warmed up and climbed some fun problems at the Eden area including Save Yourself which is awesome, and a fun new Huecoesque problem called Bring the Heatwole. Later in the day I tried Mask of God V13 a bit. I stuck the big gaston move out right but wasn't sure how to do the next move. I also tried the project left of Wind Below. This is an amazing line but very hard. I didn't have much psyche so I only tried it twice. It seems doable though, someone just needs to get it done. Sunday was another rest day.

On Monday, I took a slow warm up at the riverside area and then made my way up to Masterpiece. I pulled on in the middle and climbed to the top for more warm up and to practice the moves. My fingers got numb and my left arm got a slight pump that wouldn't go away. I started giving it goes from the bottom and on my second and third attempt I climbed through the crux and fell in the middle section. My heel blew off a slopey heel hook both times. On my next go though, I tried a bit harder, climbed through the middle section and sketched my way through the high finishing moves with numb fingers and waning strength. It was a real fight and I got a little lucky to pull it off. We got some great footage of the send which I'm editing now and will hopefully have up soon.

Yesterday, I wanted to get a bit of climbing in before hitting the road. I climbed the straight up from Ghost King which goes at V10. This problem was never named so we started calling it Porn King to have something to call it. I guess the problem to the left, Ghosts of War, has also been called Porn King. We figured that a problem doesn't really need two names so we stole this name for the direct problem. It's a really fun problem and has an awesome sloper at the lip. Check out video of this problem below. To end the trip, I gave a few goes on Knocking Room which broke and is now a project. The moves seem feasible but will be very hard. It involves serious crimping and I'm guessing it will check in around V13. Still a cool problem, but I can tell it won't be as classic as the pre-break Knocking Room.

Here's a recap of the problems I climbed this trip:

Ghost King V11
Ghosts of War V12
Obelisk V9
Black Dahlia V10
Dance With the Devil V7
Kill List V12
Godsend V9
G207 V7
Save Yourself V8
Bring the Heatwole V8
Masterpiece V13
Porn King V10

Porn King V10, Joe's Valley from Matt Wilder on Vimeo.

Joe's Update #2

Past two days have been great. Today is another rest day -- definitely needed after climbing my first 4 out of 5 days. Here's a quick run down of the past two days. The first day, after warming up, I headed above the right sign area and checked out some awesome problems. First was Sunshine Daydream V6 which had some fun moves. My girlfriend Sandy sent this in a few tries which was rad. Next Justin, Noah and I worked out the moves on Dance With the Devil V7. This problem is one of the best problems in Joe's, scary but totally rad. I did it after a few attempts figuring out the top. After this I started working on Kill List, the V12 to the right that shares a similar finish. I worked out all the moves and then sent my first full try. Probably took about 10 tries in total. Kill List is also a great problem well worth the hike. With the light fading, we hiked farther up the hill and found Godsend V9. This problem is quite uncharacteristic for the area with big slopers. I flashed the problem, Justin and Noah both dispatched quickly and we made it down the hill just as it got fully dark.

Yesterday I warmed up climbing G207 V7 (which Sandy is close on) and then worked on Masterpiece V13 in the afternoon. I figured out all the beta, but was having trouble with a foot switch at the beginning of the problem. Eventually I figured out some micro beta to make the foot switch easier but at this point was too fatigued to do the full sequence. I'm really excited to go back to it tomorrow and am confident that it'll go smoothly. This problem is probably my favorite of the trip so far. Such an impressive boulder and location. On top of that the holds are amazing and the movement is really fun. I can't wait to climb it in its entirety. Fun!

Here's a video I put together of Kill List. It doesn't have the best angles, but shows the problem a bit. This is pieced together from a few tries (hence the inconsistency in the spotter's attire). We got more angles and the problem will probably go into Try Harder. For now, my goal was to just get some footage out there so people could see the problem and get psyched for it. Get up there and do it -- it's rad.

Kill List V12, Joe's Valley from Matt Wilder on Vimeo.

Joe's Update #1

Today is my first rest day since I've been here. I drove out on Saturday and got in after dark so didn't get to climb at all. Sunday and Monday were perfect conditions though --- sunny but still with a bit of a chill in the air. On Sunday I climbed at New Joe's and after a long warm up Noah Kaufman and I made our way over to the Ghost King Boulder. I pulled on to the Ghosts of War V12 for a few tries to get my fingers psyched for some smaller holds. Then I down climbed from the top to check out the top out of Ghosts of War and the Ghost King V11. After watching Noah give a few burns on Ghost King, I got psyched to see how it felt. My first go was solid, but I fell releasing a toe hook because I missed the good foothold. I sent the problem on my second go. Super classic line, lots of fun. My fingers were a bit shocked from pulling hard so I took a short break before getting back on Ghosts of War. I had Noah give me some weight through the first moves of the problem so I could feel a pocket halfway up. It felt pretty bad and I dropped off. Without many expectations, I jumped on from the start to try the first moves again and just feel out the problem. I stuck the opening sequence and got my right hand into the small two finger pocket. Unsure of which feet to use and not really finding anything good, I just made a long campus to the good incut above. I stuck this and sketched my way through the sandy topout moves. It was really enjoyable to climb this problem because I had to improvise and climb in the moment. I think it went down 5th try which was really cool.

Yesterday was lots of fun too and again perfect weather. After a warm up, I went up to the Obelisk V9 with Noah and Justin Alarcon. It took a bit to figure out and get motivated for the scary finishing moves. Once figured out though, Justin and I sent the problem. Next on the list was the Black Dahlia a problem rumored to perhaps be the best V10 in Joe's. We saw it and it was pretty spectacular. The line comes out a beautiful slightly overhanging black wall with macro features but not tons of small edges and pockets. The business comes down to a long move to a sloper and then some heel hooking and toe camming to get to a decent lip hold. To surmount the lip you have to pull a long move to a good edge and then press up and over. On my flash go I stuck the long move but didn't feel the heel hook right. After a few more goes I had the problem figured out and sent on my 4th try. We got some cool footage of the problem which should make it into the long awaited "Try Harder" due out in a year or so. Psyched for more cranking tomorrow!

Here's video of me doing Obelisk.

Obelisk V9, Joe's Valley from Matt Wilder on Vimeo.

Last Prep for Joe's

I'm pretty much ready for Joe's though I still have to do a bunch of packing and other things that need to be wrapped up before I leave town. Yesterday was my last day of climbing. I got out to Eldo for a short bouldering session to reaccustom my skin to sharp rock and to pull on some small crimps. I went to the Gill boulder which is right next to the road in Eldo. Surprisingly, I had never climbed on this boulder and there were some pretty fun problems to do. I managed a flash of 606 V10 and I climbed the Horan Problem from a sit to the left which felt V9ish. I also checked out Resonated V9 which is on the river nearby. That problem is awesome and I climbed it on my first try. Really fun. I was happy with the outing and feel strong and ready to get after it in Joe's. The weather is looking bad in CO Friday night and Sat. morning so I'm going to have to postpone leaving by a bit. I was going to leave late Friday, but now I'll probably wait for the weather to pass. Unfortunately, that means I probably won't get to Joe's in time to climb on Saturday. Still I'll get there soon enough and be cranking in no time. Psyched.

Joe's Valley To Do List and Beta (edited)

So I got back out to Clear Creek Canyon this weekend and finished up my business on Interstellar Overdrive 13d. I gave a warm-up burn on it and then sent it next try (4th on try on the route). I was psyched with how smoothly it went. The climbing was really fun. Apart from being a bit height dependent (not a problem for me) and having one nasty sharp crimp and some glue, this is a great climb. That sounds like a bunch of ifs, but it really is a fun line. Here's a photo of me on the lower section of the route.


I'm really getting psyched for my trip to Joe's Valley that's coming up. I feel like I'm in good shape and am excited to try lots of new problems. I've been doing some research and have put together a list of problems I'd like to try. This is my list (perhaps a bit ambitious):

Masterpiece V13
The Ghost King V11
Ghost of War V11/12
Black Dahlia V10
Skeleton Key V11
Zero V13
Prince of Thieves V11
Mask of God V13
Moment of Truth v10
Right Sign Project V10-12?
Botox Bowtie V13
Beyond Life Sit V12
Godsend V9
Kill List V12
Black Out V12/13
Black #1 V12
The Zodiac V12 (Where's this one?)

In making this list I combed a bunch of internet sites trying to get beta on where the new problems are. I've climbed a bunch in Joe's but still didn't know where many of them are. I put together an expanded list with beta on how to find new problems. I did this mainly for myself when I get there. I thought I'd share it with everyone because some may find it useful. You should know that it is probably riddled with errors because this is info I collected through the web and almost none of it is first hand knowledge. Perhaps I'll revise it after this trip. I think there's a new guide coming out soon which will be much better than this list.

Also I added links at the bottom to videos of some of these problems.

*******************************************
NOTE: I owe most of this information to Jamie Emerson's blog (especially this post which has photos of lots of the boulders) and Anthony Chertudi's site. Also the stars are a complete guess on my part from photos and descriptions. Don't take them seriously... I just did them for myself because I thought they'd help me remember the ones I must check out.
*******************************************

JOE'S VALLEY NEW PROBLEMS BETA


NEW JOE'S

The Ghost King V11 **, Ghost of War V11/12 **, V10, V8, V6, V5
New Joe's Wash. In a drainage on the right shortly after old mine and rusty car when hiking to New Joe's from the new access point higher up the road. Ghost King starts under and left of slopy arete lip. Big move to the right and then toe hook to get up to the upper slopers. Ghost King can be climbed straight up from the starting hold and is about V10. Ghosts of War V12 takes the white streak up the middle of the Ghost King boulder. The left arete of the boulder is V8. Line of crimps to the right of the left arete goes at about V6. To the left is a small boulder with a great slab that is V5 or so and climbs a mono.


LEFT FORK (all mileage from the National Forest Sign)

Masterpiece V13 ****
Up the Left fork just after the right fork splits off. Park about 100yds past the split. The boulder is across the river and a ways up the hill. It's the largest boulder on the hill, is long and brown, and a built up landing is visible at the bottom.

Left Arete of Majestic Boulder V11 ** (0.18 mi.)
Across river early on left fork. Maybe this is The Zodiac V12?.

Groundation V8/9, Obelisk V9, Black Dahlia V10 **** (1.1 mi.?)
To access this new area, drive about 150yds past the mine cart and park in a large pullout on the right side of the road. An obvious trail will lead about 200yds up the hill to the new boulders. Farthest left is Groundation V8 or V9. The Obelisk V9 is almost straight up from the parking lot, and is visible about half way up the hill, up and to the left. It starts in the middle of the face and heads right, to the arete. The Black Dahlia V10 lies hidden in a gulley of boulders about 200 yds up from the road, three quaters of the way to the cliffband and is the right most problem.

The Skull V11 (0.27 mi.)
Across river from "Wood removal by permit" sign. Long black boulder. Fairly obvious short bulge on left side.

Skeleton Key V11, Zero V13, V9, Proj. (0.35 mi.)
A large parking lot on the left. Park here to access Halloween Town, which is upstream about 50yds from the parking lot. The Skeleton Key V11 is up the hill about 7 min and is most notable for the very hard and crimpy sit-start that has ALMOST been climbed by James Litz. For Skeleton Key, pull on, left crimp, right hand pocket, and then jump for sloper. The arete to the right of Skeleton Key is V9. From here hike about 50yds up canyon to a massive overhang. Zero V13 climbs out the right side, starting on two small crimps in the black rock and heading right through a mono.

A Wrinkle in Time V11 **, Prince of Thieves V11 ***, Proj. (0.7 mi.)
A small pullout on the left. The massive boulder in the river that faces the road is A Wrinkle in Time V11. There is a project on the left side of the overhang. From here, look back down the canyon towards two massive boulders on the hill. On the down canyon side of the uphill boulder is a long black face. This is Prince of Thieves and it climbs from two small crimps, then big left hand move, then grab right hold off to the right and do another big move out left to a hold. Match this hold and then move to the left again. Pretty much straight up from here to high finish.

Big Crimpin' V10/11 **, Dark Continent V7 **, Ghurka Knife V9 **, V7 (1.5 mi.)
Pullout on the left, just before the 8 Mile sign. This small gulley right of the road is home to several problems. Big Crimpin’ V10 is at the top of the cluster and faces down river. Climb a few hard crimp moves to fun moves on juggy shelves. The arete to the left of this goes maybe around V8 but is a bit scary. Dark Continent V7 and Ghurka Knife V9 are around a cave-like feature half-way up the hill. Down towards the river is an obvious and sharp V7 arete.

Trent's Mom Area (2.0 mi.)

Mask of God V13 **, Man From the Past V11 **, Wind Below V8 ****
The Powerline Boulder lies about 100yds down stream at the same level as Trent’s Mom. There is a fairly well worn trail to the boulder, which faces downstream. The first part of the trail is a bit of a steep scramble. Man from the Past is the left most problem. Mask of God starts the same and then diverges right. Wind below is the tall face to the right. Perhaps there is another problem on this boulder called Darkest Star V10.

Moment of Truth v10 **
From the Trent’s Mom parking area, cross the river and head up the obvious drainage. After about 10 min you will come to a cluster of three or four large boulders. Almost directly in the stream is a very nice Harry Robertson problem, The Moment of Truth V10. This faces the road and begins on a perfect flat edge. The first move is a tough one, up to a right hand sloping edge. A couple crimp moves lead to a wonderful and technical mantel.

Right Sign Area (2.1 mi.)

Right Sign Project V10-12? ***
Right next to the road at the start of the Right Sign approach.

Botox Bowtie V13 **
This is the short prow just below Wills of Fire (Left Sign area). Hard compression moves low to the ground. On the same boulder as the Right Sign Project. Could be easier than 13.

Beyond Life Sit V12 **

Eden V10 ***, Anatomy Act sit V9
On right side of road just past Right Sign area up the hill a bit. Eden is a classic problem up crimps with a long move in the middle. It's on the right side of a boulder and faces the road.

Godsend V9/10 **, Kill List V12 ***, Dance with the Devil V7 ***
10 min uphill from rt. sign you will arrive at a nice black pocketed boulder home to a highball Dance with the Devil V7 (like wind below with a worse landing) and Kill List to the right of Dance with the Devil. The climb to the left is a project? On your way you’ll pass a V5ish thing and if you continue over the first cliff band you’ll arrive at the Godsend V9. Godsend is also said to be 1000 yds above Eden.

Gentleman’s Project V11 ****, Black Out V12/13 **
To get to the Gentleman’s Project V11 and Blackout V12/13, which are on the same boulder, park at The Angler and walk down the road (up river) about 100yds to a small pullout on the left. Across the street is a small cairn. Follow the well worn trail for about 8 minutes up the hill to an obvious overhanging face. There seem to be other moderate problems around as well. Gentleman’s Project is on the big boulder with a big gaston move to start. Black Out is a sit start to bad crimps in the corridor past Gentleman’s Project.

Worm Turns sit V12/13
A bit before Smoking Joe and Riverside areas. On right side in low cave.


RIGHT FORK

Finger Hut Direct V13
Climb the first moves of Finger Hut and then continue straight up.

Afterthought V9 **
On a square looking boulder about 10 minutes up the hill from the Warm Up boulder described in the guidebook. Start with two sidepulls. Move to a lefthand sidepull and then dyno for the lip. A hard project is to the right.

Hydrogenated Oils V11?
Right of No additives. Obvious start on jugs and then up shallow mono pockets.

Battletoads V10 **, Playmate of the Year V9
There is a large parking area on the right about .25 miles past No Additives. From here, follow a newly marked trail up an old road grade. When the grade ends after 200yds or so, head up hill to a fairly obvious cluster of boulders. In this cluster lies Playmate of the Year V9, which faces down canyon and very nearby is Battletoads V10, a short but quality arete on perfect black rock.

Black #1 aka Brenda V12
This beautiful block is located just past Dairy Canyon on the left side of the road, 20 ft from the road. Faint white streak through horizontals. This boulder is about 10 minutes up the right fork after the road turns to dirt (maybe 4 or 5 miles).

Dairy Canyon V10/11
Presumably a bit before Black #1.


UNKNOWN

The Zodiac V12 ***

Fiery Furnace v10

Death Scream v10

Barney Rubble v10

Smoken Direct v10


VIDEOS:

Black Dahlia V10
http://vimeo.com/8144967

Masterpiece V13
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpGwdAjqbzI (Mike McClure)
http://vimeo.com/4228114 (James Litz)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwxkCCOsfqQ (Anthony Chertudi)
http://vimeo.com/7457432 (Carlo Traversi)

God Send V9/10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwxkCCOsfqQ

Eden V10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MgK4_foOBg&feature=related
http://vimeo.com/7363495

Skeleton Key V11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfbqFeD72oQ&feature=related

Afterthought V9
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaYoctxheqc

Prince of Thieves V11
http://climbingbum.blogspot.com/2007/11/thanksgiving-in-joes-valley.html

Ghost King V11
http://vimeo.com/7444933

Battletoads V10
http://vimeo.com/4226249

Playmate of the Year V9
http://vimeo.com/7363495

Outdoor climbing -- What's that?

I've been cooped up climbing mostly in the gym due to bad weather and lots of work. In fact, I don't think I got outside once in the month of February! The weather is changing though and I have some fun climbing coming up in the near future.

Last weekend the weather finally was nice and I got out to Clear Creek Canyon for a day of climbing at the Wall of the 90s. I wasn't feeling super energized, but threw myself at one of the classics of the wall "Interstellar Overdrive" 5.13d. It took a bit to figure out the moves on the first go but after a while I had a sequence figured out. I lowered down to the midway rest and then TRed to the top clean. After some lunch and a long rest, I gave it a redpoint burn. I was somewhat pumped in the middle and not very optimistic, still I kept climbing through the crux moves. My fingers went numb, but I kept going move to move and I found myself at the end of the crux on a decent hold. Unfortunately, I was completely pumped and I couldn't feel my fingers. I had finished all the hard moves, but I couldn't hold on any longer and fell after my feet cut right before trying the last move. Couldn't have been closer. It was a bit of a bummer to fall so high. Still I was psyched that I got that far because I wasn't expecting much. Hopefully I'll get out soon to wrap up that project.

The big news is that spring break is in a week and a half. This means that I've got a good solid 10 days of outdoor climbing ahead of me. I've been training a bit in the gym and feel pretty strong. The plan is to go to Joe's Valley, but I've heard that the left fork is covered in snow. If it looks unclimbable there, I'll probably hit up Moe's Valley instead. Either way, I'll find some place to crank. Joe's would be the best because there are lots of new problems there I'm psyched to try. I especially want to try Masterpiece V13. This problem looks cool, hard, and a bit scary. Lots of others too. Can't wait, but I have to because I've got lots of work to do between now and then... work that I should be doing instead of writing this blog post.

Check out this site that has a lot of motivating photos and info about Joe's:

http://www.atxarteclimbing.com/

Here's a video of Masterpiece. This looks like the beta I'll use though I may see if a heel hook is possible:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpGwdAjqbzI

Also, I got my first round of new threads from Mountain Hardware and am really psyched on them so far. Lots of nice stuff.

Coming soon to a theater near you

So it sounds like Chuck Fryberger is finished editing his new film "Core". I worked with him a lot for this film and it should have some good clips of me including footage of Cheating Reality and the Bandersnatch. I'm really excited for the premiere of the film which will be on April 7th at the Boulder Theater. I have a trailer here for you to watch. I'm sure you'll recognize right away that the quality is top level and that the whole film is going to be a visual feast. Check this out:



In other news, you may have noticed that the logos have changed a bit in my blog title bar. As of today, I'll be part of the Mountain Hardwear climbing team. I'm really excited to be partnering with this company that makes very high quality gear and clothing. I enjoyed working with the North Face over the past 3 years and will continue to think highly of their great line of products. I chose to make the switch primarily because I believe the goals and aspirations of Mountain Hardwear are more closely aligned with my personal climbing goals. I know my climbing will benefit from Mountain Hardwear's support and I'm sure that the company will find value in my promotion of their product. I'm very enthusiastic about this new opportunity and am confident that this will be a great relationship that extends far into the future.

You my have also noticed that the Clif logo is missing from my title bar. I am no longer sponsored by the company. I suppose they dropped me though communication was not very clear. It seems that Clif's primary focus is on endurance sports and as a consequence places less emphasis on marketing to the climbing community. They are a great company that makes excellent and tasty energy bars and I will continue to use their product though now I will have to pay for it. I'm open to developing a relationship with other companies that make energy products if they think it will benefit their product.

Daniel Woods got the Solution

Joe Kinder put together this short on Daniel. He asked me to put it on the blog, so here it is.

Daniel Woods Loves the Solution from La Sportiva on Vimeo.

Stefan on Mangum

As promised, in short order, here's a video of one of the ABC kids, Stefan. He's climbing crimpy V9 Mangum.

Stefan Lavender on Mangum from Matt Wilder on Vimeo.

The Bandersnatch

I've been back in Boulder for a few days and have been lagging in summing up my Hueco trip. It's always the same, I get back into town and have tons of things I need to get done and always school work or research to do. Anyway, the short news is that I sent the project I was working on.

I named the route The Bandersnatch after a character in in Jabberwocky poem in Lewis Carroll's "Through the looking glass." This is also the name of my dad's sail boat and so this name is a bit of an homage to him. It's not really clear what a bandersnatch is, but they're presumably tough characters that deserve respect and a bit of fear.

This new problem is a good candidate for the list of hueco classics with its varied movement, length, ground level location, and striking feature. Like the mythical bandersnatch, this problem warrants some fear mainly because an unplanned fall from one of the several heel hook moves could result in an unpleasant tumble down the slab behind the climb. Mostly, though, the climbing is safe.

Chuck Fryberger got some great footage of the problem for his new film "Core" which will be out sometime this spring. Here's one video still that I pulled from his blog.


This is the move that takes you into the crux part. From a wide span, you heel hook next to your right hand and reach far up the arete to an edge (the one I'm grabbing in the photo). Then you have to bring your left hand into a little two-finger pocket, move the right hand to a small crimp, and then readjust the feet without losing tension. All that sets you up for a delicate dynamic move to a good hueco. From there you have to do a 6 move boulder problem that is about V8 and then an easy, classic topout.

Andy Mann got some cool photos too but might be saving them for print somewhere. If I can get his go ahead, I post some of the b shots here.

Difficulty: I'm thinking that V12 is probably a good grade for this problem but it's a bit hard because I haven't been bouldering other graded stuff recently. The problem took me 4 or 5 days to complete. Based on how long it has taken me to do other problems, that could suggest that the problem is more in the V13 range. Still I think V12 might be more accurate. I'm psyched to hear what other people think. It may be the case that the problem fit my style of climbing as well.

Here's another view of the line shot while I was brushing the holds on the first day.


For anyone intersted in finding the problem, it is on west mountain at ground level right near the wall of the rumbling rabbits which is in the guide. It's hard to miss if you walk around that area a bit. It's on the upside of a ground level boulder.

The other news from my Hueco trip is that I got to climb a bunch with the ABC kids team from the Boulder Rock Club. I also got some cool footage of their amazing accomplishments and hopefully will be posting some videos here soon.