Francerland from Matt Wilder on Vimeo.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Francerland on Vimeo
I uploaded my video from France and a bit of Switzerland to vimeo so it can be embedded anywhere. Here it is if you haven't seen it yet:
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Slideshow Tonight in Denver
I'm giving the last of my three shows in Denver tonight. The show in Durango last night went really well and I think tonight could be even better. I'll be talking about my progression as a climber beginning with vintage photos of my early years and then moving towards some of the recent cutting edge gear routes I've established. I'll also be showing a short rough cut from Chuck Fryberger's new film the Scene which shows my ascent of the Golden Bullet 5.13d in the New River Gorge.
Come out to the Wilderness Exchange at 8:30pm for an entertaining and inspirational evening.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Francerland
I edited together a video of Ethan and I bouldering in Font and it's finally done and up on the web. It's being hosted on the brand new and improved La Sportiva site. Check out the video... hope you like it.
Mini Colorado Slideshow Tour
I'm doing three slideshows next week in various Colorado locations. The first show is on Tuesday the 26th at Summing Canyon Mountaineering in Glenwood Springs. On Wednesday I'm giving a show at Backcountry Experience in Durango. On Thursday the 28th, I'll be giving a show at the Wilderness Exchange in Denver.
If you're in the area, come by and check out a show. All are free. I'll be talking about my history as a climber and the crossover between bouldering and trad climbing that I've experienced in the past few years. I'll be showing photos and some video.
Here are the posters for the shows:
Monday, April 11, 2011
Red Rocks video on Deadpoint
John Dickey put together a short video of Ethan and I trying this project in Red Rocks over New Years. It just got posted on Deadpoint Mag. Check it out here:
My video from Switzerland and France is done and will be up somewhere soon.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
New? Highballs in Eldo
Yesterday I climbed two really cool highballs on the big block past Midnight Frightening near the boulder with Elegant Infinite. I don't really know the name of any of the actual boulders back there. Anyway, these problems were really cool and seemed like first ascents. Well one seemed like it had never been climbed and the other has a TR anchor on it so it has perhaps been climbed but I wonder if it's been bouldered. If anyone knows anything about these two lines, I'd be psyched to hear.
The first problem I did is this rad slightly overhanging face on the side of the boulder you see when you first approach it. It's about 12ft right of a 5.13 sport climb and starts off the slab the boulder sits on. You do a slightly awkward reach out to a pocket and then take a fun big swing on crimps. From there you move up to another big edge and then you have to pull the hardest moves. The crux sequence starts with a long move to a small left hand crimp. Then you hand heel match and bring your right hand to an even worse crimp. Once established on these two tiny holds, you have to make a slightly dynamic move to the jug at the lip. It's quite scary because at that point you're probably 15ft above the landing which slopes away from the problem. The mantle is relatively easy as is the 15ft of slab that leads to the top. All in all it's a super classic line. The only thing that could take away from it is the sharpness of the two small crimps. This is Eldo though and sharp holds are fairly common. It was tough to estimate the difficulty, but it seemed like V8 or V9. I'd love to hear if the problem has been bouldered or TR'ed and if it has a name. It definitely hadn't been done in a while because there was lichen on the crux crimps. If it doesn't have a name, I was thinking of suggesting the name "Jetlag" due to my 3am wakeup the day I did it.
Chuck Fryberger was out with me and caught these two ascents for his new film The Scene which will probably come out sometime in August. Here are a few captures from the first problem.
The second problem is pretty much on the exact opposite side of the boulder. It starts with a small jump to an obvious jug. Then you head up and left through a pocket and a funky pebble crimp. It has some really cool moves through a bulge and then a high vertical face with small crimps leading to the top out jugs. A really awesome line up a beautiful sweeping part of the boulder. This one felt to be about V7 or V8 and I was thinking of calling it "Bones." Though it's obvious and seems like it must have already been done, I'm pretty sure this one is new because lots of foot holds and hand holds had lips that crumbled easily. If it had been climbed, I think these would have been cleaned up a bit. Here are a few screen captures of this problem. What a treat to climb these two problems in one day!
The first problem I did is this rad slightly overhanging face on the side of the boulder you see when you first approach it. It's about 12ft right of a 5.13 sport climb and starts off the slab the boulder sits on. You do a slightly awkward reach out to a pocket and then take a fun big swing on crimps. From there you move up to another big edge and then you have to pull the hardest moves. The crux sequence starts with a long move to a small left hand crimp. Then you hand heel match and bring your right hand to an even worse crimp. Once established on these two tiny holds, you have to make a slightly dynamic move to the jug at the lip. It's quite scary because at that point you're probably 15ft above the landing which slopes away from the problem. The mantle is relatively easy as is the 15ft of slab that leads to the top. All in all it's a super classic line. The only thing that could take away from it is the sharpness of the two small crimps. This is Eldo though and sharp holds are fairly common. It was tough to estimate the difficulty, but it seemed like V8 or V9. I'd love to hear if the problem has been bouldered or TR'ed and if it has a name. It definitely hadn't been done in a while because there was lichen on the crux crimps. If it doesn't have a name, I was thinking of suggesting the name "Jetlag" due to my 3am wakeup the day I did it.
Chuck Fryberger was out with me and caught these two ascents for his new film The Scene which will probably come out sometime in August. Here are a few captures from the first problem.
The second problem is pretty much on the exact opposite side of the boulder. It starts with a small jump to an obvious jug. Then you head up and left through a pocket and a funky pebble crimp. It has some really cool moves through a bulge and then a high vertical face with small crimps leading to the top out jugs. A really awesome line up a beautiful sweeping part of the boulder. This one felt to be about V7 or V8 and I was thinking of calling it "Bones." Though it's obvious and seems like it must have already been done, I'm pretty sure this one is new because lots of foot holds and hand holds had lips that crumbled easily. If it had been climbed, I think these would have been cleaned up a bit. Here are a few screen captures of this problem. What a treat to climb these two problems in one day!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Back in the states
So I'm back in the states now and woke up this morning at 4:40. The one good side of the return jetlag is that you have lots of time in the morning to be productive. I'm taking advantage of that to write a quick summary post about the trip.
All ended well. On Saturday we got an early start warming up at Elephant. I did a good portion of the blue circuit there which was tons of fun. It's a real adventure through the boulders and has a bunch of highball problems. They mapped out the first problems so you can go from one to the next without ever having to walk on the ground.
Once we were warmed up we headed to Elephunk and Ethan gave it some goes. Unfortunately the conditions were a bit mungy at the boulder and Ethan had to let it go for another trip. Next we stopped off at my favorite bakery (Frederic and Delphine's Artisan Boulanger in Ury) and stocked up on croissants and other delectable treats for the drive back to Zurich. With that important business taken care of, we drove over to the area with Gecko.
I had Ethan give me weight through the first move because I wanted to try slightly different beta for the next move. The higher foot worked well for me and I climbed to the top. I came close on my next go and then sent on my third try of the day. The problem felt pretty good and I found myself wishing I had more time to work on the 8b+ sit start which is the most obvious start for the problem. Next time I guess. Ethan got back on Les Beaux Quartiers 8a again and looked much more solid on the moves. Then he gave it a go from the bottom and cruised it.
We were both psyched to finish the trip on a good note and decided to end our day while we were ahead. The drive back to Zurich was mellower than I was expecting. My flights yesterday were long and arduous but I think it's always that way with international flights. Now I'm back in Boulder with lots of school work and house work to get done. I have a few climbing projects in mind too though so perhaps you'll be hearing more about those soon.
Below are three sceen captures from some of the video I got. I'll be editing a longer video of the trip that will be posted on the Sportiva site. I'll post a link to it when it's up.
Me on Gecko 8a+
Ethan on Les Beaux Quartiers 8a
Me doing Fata Morgana 8a
All ended well. On Saturday we got an early start warming up at Elephant. I did a good portion of the blue circuit there which was tons of fun. It's a real adventure through the boulders and has a bunch of highball problems. They mapped out the first problems so you can go from one to the next without ever having to walk on the ground.
Once we were warmed up we headed to Elephunk and Ethan gave it some goes. Unfortunately the conditions were a bit mungy at the boulder and Ethan had to let it go for another trip. Next we stopped off at my favorite bakery (Frederic and Delphine's Artisan Boulanger in Ury) and stocked up on croissants and other delectable treats for the drive back to Zurich. With that important business taken care of, we drove over to the area with Gecko.
I had Ethan give me weight through the first move because I wanted to try slightly different beta for the next move. The higher foot worked well for me and I climbed to the top. I came close on my next go and then sent on my third try of the day. The problem felt pretty good and I found myself wishing I had more time to work on the 8b+ sit start which is the most obvious start for the problem. Next time I guess. Ethan got back on Les Beaux Quartiers 8a again and looked much more solid on the moves. Then he gave it a go from the bottom and cruised it.
We were both psyched to finish the trip on a good note and decided to end our day while we were ahead. The drive back to Zurich was mellower than I was expecting. My flights yesterday were long and arduous but I think it's always that way with international flights. Now I'm back in Boulder with lots of school work and house work to get done. I have a few climbing projects in mind too though so perhaps you'll be hearing more about those soon.
Below are three sceen captures from some of the video I got. I'll be editing a longer video of the trip that will be posted on the Sportiva site. I'll post a link to it when it's up.
Me on Gecko 8a+
Ethan on Les Beaux Quartiers 8a
Me doing Fata Morgana 8a
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