Cracks and Crimps

Yosemite Summer

2011-11-21T12:00:00.001-08:00

I've just finished with seven great months of climbing and work (read: play) in Yosemite. I had too much fun to stop for this blog at the time, so here's the quick recap. First of all, living in Yosemite Valley is obviously awesome.

I worked all summer for Yosemite Search and Rescue (YoSAR) and lived with my team in the SAR Site in the back of Camp 4. I got lucky and ended up in a sweet cabin which I made even sweeter with a few improvements. My tent cabin has a hardwood floor and great kitchen space. I added a back window and a wood burning stove.

The team consisted of a lot of new people this year, myself included. Libby, a Standford PICU nurse, was our most senior member in her third season. Deputy, a Lawyer gone dirtbag and our assumed Mayor, was back for his second season. The rest of us were new. Bud and I did some fun climbing together until he broke his ankle on the Rostrum. Amanda has been FoSAR longer than Lib has been on the team. Paul works winters in the coldest places in the world. Niels is a great climber from Utah and sent Freerider this season. Everett moved West from New York. Zach is a crushing nurse climber from Humbolt. We worked, lived, and played together all summer.

The work isn't really work, it's play. It's serious, but it's play...much too fun to be work. Most of our work is for minor hiker injuries on the trails. But also the water was quite high this Spring, which brought us lots of visitors and lots of work. We also had a few cool climbing rescues. One of the El Cap rescues was captured in photograph by Tom Evans. Here are a few of mine from the season...

Obviously,the climbing was great too. I climbed a lot, but even more importantly I climbed with a lot of great people. I grabbed partners from my team, friends of my team, friends of friends, other locals...awesome groups of people. I'm psyched to have ticked a some routes that have been important to me for a while...

- NorthFace, The Rostrum

- NorthwestRegular Face, Half Dome, in a day

- TheProw, Washington Column, solo in 10 hours

- LostArrow Direct, vertical camping style with Colleen

Ialso got to climb at a bunch of crags that were new to me. I escaped the summer heat at the Lower Falls Amphitheater, ticked the classics leaving plenty to return to at Sentinel Creek,and got my face on at Mecca, Public Sanitation, and Knobby Wall.

Even though I had a great season of climbing in Yosemite, Ionly have more and larger goals for next year. Perhaps if I write a few down I will be more productive…

- Astroman, Washington Column

- The Nose, El Cap, in a day

- Steck-Salathe, The Sentinel

- Silent Line, Ribbon Falls Wall

- The Shield, El Cap

- weak man’s linkup, East Buttress, El Cap, and Snake Dike,Half Dome, in a day

- Red Zinger, Cookie Cliff

- Blues Riff, Tuolumne Meadows

- lots of high and backcountry peaks, big mileage, in a day

- Triple Direct, El Cap, with Colleen

I'll be in and out of Yosemite through the winter working on the ambulance andperhaps playing on winter SARs. I gotinvited to work for Sierra Rescue for a week or two as an assistant instructorfor the swiftwater rescue courses before our season starts at the Site in lateApril. Can’t wait!

YoSAR!

2011-04-22T10:07:00.000-07:00

After a few months focused on work and without much climbing, I am excited to announce a dramatic change. I move to Yosemite on Sunday to work this season for Yosemite Search and Rescue. I'll be working from the Yosemite Valley SAR Site in a position that lasts 6 months. I plan to also operate as a Paramedic for SAR and maybe a bit in the clinic and on the ambulance. Finally, a job that combines rescue, EMS, and climbing!

I hope to report my climbing feats regularly on this blog. I may add stories of SAR missions as is appropriate. I bought a new digital camera, but my pictures will probably still suck. Anyways, stand by for an exciting summer of granite!

http://www.friendsofyosar.org/index.htm

Levitation

2011-02-16T15:28:00.000-08:00

I wrote this late last Wednesday, but couldn't get it to post with pictures.

As planned, Cory and I climbed Black Orpheus and Levitation 29 as a link up on Monday. It was awesome. 20 pitches of stellar onsight climbing with a long approach and descent.

We got a comfortable alpine start and were hiking early in the 0700 hour. Black Orpheus starts at 5.8 and below, so we simuled the first five pitches. We swapped leads through the 5.9 and .10 pitches, then simuled again to the summit. The top of Black Orpheus was being buffeted by wind, and we were concerned about conditions of Levitiation.

Some scrambling and repels got us to the base of Levitation, where the winds were much more tolerable. Cory linked pitches 1 and 2. At .10b, I thought the first pitch was one of the most technical of the route. The second pitch pulled an awesome roof with big moves between big holds at .11a. This lined me up for pitches 3 and 5, the crux. The fifth pitch crux was tightly protected and really fun. At technical .11a and receiving extreme wind, Cory and I agreed that the seventh pitch was the most difficult part of our day. We linked a few more pitches and topped out with more wind.

The descent was long and arduous. We dropped in to the Oak Creek Canyon near its top and scrambled for miles to its discharge in the Vegas Valley. In all, I'm sure we hiked at least 7 miles, and wouldn't be surprised if it was 10.

Cory and I had spent time together in the campground and at the crag before Monday, but we had never shared a rope. One my biggest days of climbing with a partner I had never climbed with before. Very cool.

Photos...

Cory and I climbed yesterday at the Second Pullout with Graham and Watson. We were pretty wasted, but managed to do 5 or six pitches of fun sport climbing. I finished the day on The Glitch, and fell once at the crux. I got back on without much rest and fired to the anchors. If I get another chance at The Gallery, I'm going to fire it!

Chasing the Weather

2011-02-13T15:07:00.000-08:00

I finished my work in Tahoe, passed the Wilderness EMT class in Paonia, and am now climbing!

Prior to heading East, I climbed for two days in Bishop. I bouldered with the James and John in the Happies then spend a day with John in the Gorge. John nearly onsighted Atari, and James and I punted multiple times from the last move. The next day, John and I started our day in the Gorge on Towering Inferno, a 5 pitch sport climb for which a willing partner is rare. I spoiled our onsight on the tricky crux, but John pulled through, saving the send. James concluded that John is a sandbagger...

Atari from Todd Bartlow on Vimeo.

http://vimeo.com/19907422

While in Bishop, a dirtbag friend of James suggested a way to live better in the Subaru: remove the bench entirely. I can't believe that I didn't figure this out on my own, the bench has been my problem the whole time because it makes the bed a few inches too short. I was further frustrated because this suggestion didn't seem useful for this trip, as I have nowhere to ditch the bench and get it later. I drank a few beers the night before leaving Bishop with a Berkeley Crew. I shared my frustrations, and Dexter offered to shuttle the bench back to the day for me. Sleeping in the Subaru is sooo much better. Thanks Dex!

It was cold in Colorado and Utah. On Tuesday, we had an extended evening outdoor exercise for the class. The exercise lasted until almost midnight, and temperatures dropped below zero degrees F.

After the class, I drove to Moab to check out Indian Creek. The temps in the creek were also frigid and there were no other climbers to be found. I almost got my car stuck in the creek crossing, then decided to continue father West.

My heart sunk again as I rolled in to the Red Rocks campground. There were barely any campers, and I was concerned I wouldn't find people to climb with. But, within an hour I had found plenty of climbers to camp and climb with. I am camping and have climbed a bit with Graham from El Portal and Watson from Boulder.

On Friday, my first day here, I climbed the Johnny Vegas to Solar Slab link up with David, from Calgary. David had rolled in the night before too, and had also found other climbers to share a site with. He is recovering from a shoulder injury, so he wanted to do long and easy. We simuled the entire 13 pitches link up in two leads topping out in less then 45 minutes. We spent the rest of the day sport climbing at the Gallery with other climbers from the campground. I got on The Glitch (.12c) again, and am determined to send it this season.

Yesterday I climbed a bit at the Sandstone Quarry with Cory and Lisa from Frisco and Nico and Lily from somewhere near Rifle. We did a sketchy pitch on soft rock, then relocated to The Peir, where we found a few great lines. I onsighted Under the Boardwalk and Basement, to stellar 5.11s. Then, Nico and I both punted off the crux of Geometric Progression (.12b), forcing us to leave a bail biner.

I have had a great rest day. I stretched, ran, and found a dirtbag shower.

Cory and I have big plans for tomorrow. We are linking Black Orpheus (11 pitches, .10a) and Levitation 29 (10 pitches, .11c) in a day that is sure to be exciting. I'll take the camera!

Climbing Horizon

2011-01-28T13:45:00.000-08:00

I just glanced back at my calendar from the last few months hoping I've done some climbing that I failed to report here, but sadly, I haven't. I've been to Bishop twice, but either the weather wasn't good, or I didn't accomplish much. Casey and I planned to meet in Red Rocks for New Years, which I planned to link with climbing in Bishop and/or J Tree. But, the weather wasn't right for that either, so we bailed before we even started. I have been climbing quite a bit in the gym, which is fine, I guess...

So, I am happy to report that there is climbing on my horizon. Yesterday I left the Bay after lots of recent work in the City. I am at work in Tahoe for almost a week, which is relaxing so far. Next week I head for Paonia, Colorado, where I will take a wilderness medicine class through NOLS WMI. I might have a day or two of climbing on the way, perhaps in Bishop. Then, I have a week to climb. I need to be in Vegas at the end of the week for a bachelor party, so I'm hoping the weather will be good in the Creek. If not, Cedar City, St George, and of course, Red Rocks, would also be on the way.

I'm reporting from a new computer, so perhaps I'll post more often. But, my camera is only getting older and the audio/video doesn't work anymore. Hopefully, I'll have good stuff to share.

Salathe

2010-10-31T13:47:00.000-07:00

Big walls!

Casey--who has been featured on this blog before--and I climbed the Salathe last week! Sooo psyched.

We planned to climb and haul the whole thing in 2 1/2 days, sleeping on the plush El Cap Spire, and Long Ledge. Weather pushed our start back a day and the window threatened to close on our climb. We prehauled to the Heart and slept on Hollow Flake Ledge and on The Block. Our accommodations were barely adequate, spending night one scissoring, and night two on a sloping ledge equivalent to standing.

Despite that bad bivys, the climbing was great! We lead in chunks; freeing, french-freeing, and aiding as quickly as we could. We both cursed our way through some wide sections, and I blew a fixed piece and whipped out of pitch 34, but we had a great time.

Chicago <--> Red River Gorge

2010-09-13T21:46:00.000-07:00

I had made a quick stop in Red River Gorge a few months ago while in Chicago with Lauren. I just got the photos, so he's a quick post.

We had a blast...stayed at the legendary Miguel's, climbed sweet amphitheaters and splitter cracks, and swatted at enormous bugs. We were there a bit early in the season, so it was hot, but not too crowded. I would love to go back and live it sometime for a month or two.

Cachaca

2010-08-10T21:12:00.000-07:00

I climbed at the Leap earlier this week with friends Elliot and Sophie. We got a late start on our first day and all the popular routes on the East Wall had climbers, so we jumped on Fantasia. Fantasia features fun but run out slab climbing above mostly small gear...a heady route. As Elliot fidgeted with gear on the second pitch the cloud roared with thunder and opened in to downpour. We bailed, leaving gear and a rope for the next morning.

We spent the rest of the day introducing Sophie to the Strawberry lodge bar and our sweet secret camping spot.

The next morning, Elliot and I finished Fantasia, but were disappointed in the route and the time we had wasted on it. We spent the rest of the day cruising East Crack, Surrealistic Pillar, and Corrugation corner as a team of three. Very fun!

We spent Monday night visiting with my friends Craig and Sue at their place in South Lake. The plans for Eagle Lake Cliff the next morning were spoiled by Cachaca. Cachaca is a sugar cane booze, which Craig and Sue brought back from their recent wedding in Brazil. Sue suggested shots of Cachaca with our innocent dice game...the night continued...and climbing the next day lost it's appeal. We hauled our hangovers to the beach early the next afternoon before Elliot and Soph came back to the Bay and I swung around the lake for work the next morning.

Elliot and I have rough climbing plans next week in Tuolumne. Hopefully we will crush some hard climbing.

Signal Element

2010-08-05T20:07:00.000-07:00

I did a little climbing on Donner Summit last week between shifts in Portola.

Dexter, a coworker from the climbing gym has a family cabin in Alpine Meadows. He was in the area for a week with Ellis, another coworker, who was working on his sports photography portfolio.

Tresa came up for a day and we all had a great time hanging and climbing. I was psyched to redpoint Peter Principle (5.11a), a route which had given me trouble a few weeks before. Ellis grabbed some great photos. Check out his website and blog, Signal Element.

Siblings in Toulumne

2010-08-05T19:56:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, my brother, sister, and I all had four matching consecutive days off work. A siblings adventure was in order.

My sister and I met my brother in Manteca and we cruised to Toulumne. We got to the campground as the rangers divied out the only available campsites to a crowd of people. As we realized our predicament, Dave Freidman, a friend from the gym, drove up with his fiance. We bouldered for the afternoon then bivied outside the park for the night.

We got a campsite the next day with Matt Owen, another Berkeley climb, and his friends.

During the stay Rebecca, Andrew, and I climbed West Country on Stately Pleasure Dome and the Southeast Buttress of Cathedral peak. We also did a great amount of swimming, lounging, and drinking. Good times with the sibs!

Vedauwoo and Devils Tower

2010-07-13T14:07:00.000-07:00

I had an awesome road trip a few weeks ago that needs reporting.

I helped Lauren move from SoCal to Chicago. We packed the driving in to about three days and spent another three days climbing. We spent a day in Vedauwoo, the South-Central Wyoming destination which I loved last year (twice). We did a bunch of fun routes on the Southeast side of Nautilus.

After enjoying Vedauwoo we scooted up to Devils Tower. I'd never been to the Tower before, so I was psyched to check it out. Survey says: Devil's Tower is rad. The routes are tall, the rock is diamond, and the cracks are splitter.

On the first day we climbed a bunch of pitches on the bottom of the West and North side of the tower, running from the heat of the sun. That afternoon I stubbed my toe badly while playing in the river. The next day we tried One Way Sunset, and Lauren really wanted to take it to the summit. But, my stubbed toe was too painful in climbing shoes. We made it up the first two pitches, which were great, but I couldn't continue to the top.

One interesting note about Devils Tower is the tourist interaction. There is an easy paved walking trail that circles the Tower just below the talus. Tourists walk this path all day, gazing at and talking ignorantly about the climbers. All the approaches use this tourist path, and the climbers stick out from the tourists like drunks in church. Each day is public relations challenge as climbers are forced to answer and deflect stupid questions.

We finished the driving in time to spend the 4th of July in Chicago. Super fun!

Photos!

Lauren and splitters at Devils Tower

Vedauwoo

Portland

2010-06-28T13:44:00.000-07:00

I had a sweet trip to Portland last week, finagling climbing and college style fun in to a off-the-cuff vacation.

Nate, a college friend, and his awesome girlfriend, Donee, who live in Seattle organized a trip to a sweet rental house on the Oregon Coast for the weekend. I was immediately in and knew I needed to include climbing. So, I called Micha, whom I met through Casey in Colorado during last summer's road trip. Micha works weekends as a Emergency PA in Portland, so we climbed for a few days midweek.

We did a day and a half at Trout Creek, before being shut down by the rain. We rolled to Smith Rock, but it was also wet. Despite the rain, I was psyched to see new places and climbed a bunch of great routes.

The story of the week was an enormous whipper I took off a 5.11 double crack stemming route. The routes was eating all the #0.75s, and I needed to place another. So, I pulled out the piece at my knees to bump it just above my head. As I leaned over to look in the crack during the placement, I blew my right foot off some lichen. My next piece was almost 15 feet under me, and I had pulled some slack out to bump the 0.75, so air air air. 'Falling...big falling!' Micha sacrificed some good scratches to make the catch a few feet before I hit the ground. Thanks!

On Thursday, I met Chris and Chelsea at the airport in Portland. We took the train downtown and drank a few beers before being picked up by Nate and Donee for the weekend on the coast. The visit was great, the house was perfect, the people were a blast, and the weather could not have been better.

Moratorium

2010-06-03T11:14:00.000-07:00

I got back last night from The Valley. Tresa and I drove up Monday night, after we both got off work. Tuesday we climbed Moratorium, which I had been coveting for years. Tresa led the second pitch which features bold and powerful 10d stemming above purple and grey TCUs. I tried pitch three but couldn't pull it together for the 11b tips dihedral/chimney and pulled through on gear. I can't wait to get on it again.

We hoped to link to the East Buttress of El Cap, but it was soaking wet. That evening, we climbed Serenity Crack, and started up Sons of Yesterday, bailing as it got dark.

Yesterday we climbed at El Cap Base. The big event of the day was another lead attempt on Ahab, the knarly overhanging 10b offwidth which has been an endless epic for me.

Tresa fillet her finger on Moratorium and it was really bothering her yesterday, so we drove home last night. My left elbow is beat up, and both shoulders are tired, but the quick trip was great.

Half Dome and The Sentinel from the Base of Moratorium

Tresa Pulls Out of the Crux of Moratorium

Tresa on Moby Dick (5.10a)

Tresa Follows Sacherer Cracker (5.10a)

South Lake

2010-06-03T10:58:00.000-07:00

The bro and I had a long weekend recently in climbing at The Leap in Tahoe. The first day was cut short by rain. Day two we did a bunch of routes, and met up late in the day with friends from the Bay. Day three we climbed a bit with friends, until being shut down by snow.

Andrew had a great time following Surrealistic Pillar (5.7, 3 pitches), Corrugation Corner (5.7, 3 pitches), and East Crack (5.8, 3 pitches). The highlight for me was one-falling Pillar of Society, a really hard 5.12a sport climb which has given me difficulties for years.

Andrew follows Surrealistic Pillar

Andrew and I on East Crack top out with Elliot and Janet on Bear's Reach

Elliot, Travis, Janet, Andrew, and I Party and Camp

Surrealistic Pillar Direct (5.10a)

Me on Pillar of Society

Idyllwild

2010-05-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

I flew South last weekend to hang in SoCal and climb in Idyllwild.

We put in two days on Tahquitz, but didn't do many pitches. Our guidebook was published in 1970, and was useless. We botched most of the approaches and descents, never knew what we were climbing, and had some weather. I had a great long weekend, despite the lack of climbing.

I don't have any photos worth posting, but here's a video of me doing some approach shoe skiing. Don't worry, I was wearing a helmet.

Skiing in Idylllwild from Todd Bartlow on Vimeo.

I was hoping to be in Yosemite yesterday and today, but I had to stay in town. I got a call for a employment test this week, and needed the time to study.

I'm climbing in Tahoe with my brother for four days next week. Then, Memorial Day weekend I'm going to put in two short days at the Leap with Elliot before the Withrow-Chlebowski wedding in Davis. I'm really excited, Sunday, after the wedding a bunch of us are going tubing on Cache Creek. Should be a blast. I'll try to take photos of all the fun.

Pinnacles

2010-04-19T08:23:00.000-07:00

We've had a wet Spring, and multiple attempts to climb in the Valley got shut down by big winter storms. But, I made it out for a day last week. Sophie, a friend from Santa Cruz, and I have been trying to climb together for a few months. We pulled it together for a day at the Pinnacles.

The Pinnacles has a reputation for choss and lots of loose rock. But, I had never climbed at the Pinnacles, and was excited to check it out. The reputation is well founded.

Sophie and I climbed a few routes on The Citadel, a formation in West Pinnacles. We did Mission Impossible, a 10c which gets three stars in the guidebook. It was fun, but wouldn't get stars anywhere else. We also started up the first few pitches of Power Tools, a two star 10d. Maybe Power Tools got better on the higher pitches, but all I encountered was scary vertical gardening, so we bailed.

Despite bad climbing, it was a great day, and we had fun. Here's a few photos.

The Citadel

Sophie and I on Mission Impossible (5.10c)

West Pinnacles from The Citadel

My schedule doesn't look good for climbing in the near future. I am trying to plan for Tahoe with my brother in May. I might also get on El Cap with a big wall legend in June. But we'll see...

Desert Storm

2010-03-23T16:44:00.000-07:00

I've been back in the Bay for a few days after about two weeks of fun in SoCal, Joshua Tree, Red Rocks, and Vegas.

After the last post from my rest day in Red Rocks, I climbed three more days. Matt and I climbed Dream of Wild Turkeys (10 pitches, 5.10a) in Black Velvet Canyon. It's a really cool route which follows cool cracks and dihedrals up the Black Wall. There are a couple 10a spots and the whole route is sustained at 5.9, so it was cruiser, but really fun.

The next day Pat, another guy from MSU, and I climbed Bighorn Buttress (4 pitches, 11a R) in Willow Spring. The route had 2 of 3 stars in the guidebook, but barely deserved one. It was still kinda fun.

Friday, before the boys flew in to Vegas, I got in a few more hours of climbing at The Gallery. I did Yaak Crack again, then got two more tries on The Glitch (5.12c). I did it in one fall, and think it would go with a few more tries. Very cool.

I'm heading from the Valley tomorrow through mid Friday. I want to solo the Prow and do some other climbing with Chris and James, but the weather may get in the way. I'm going anyways, and it will be great!

Dream of Wild Turkeys (5.10a)

Bighorn Buttress (5.11a R)

Joshua Tree to Red Rocks, fingers crossed!

2010-03-16T13:21:00.000-07:00

After three days of climbing, and a another without a shower, it's time for rest day. I'm in the library in Las Vegas. I climbed last Saturday and Sunday in Joshua Tree, and I'll spend all week in Red Rocks.

Saturday in JTree, I climbed Bird on a Wire (.10a) and a variation of Dappled Mare (.8) with Lauren. I had done both routes before with Casey Chambers lasr New Years Day, but I didn't remember any of it, likely due to a severe hangover. Sunday, I threw up a top rope on the Thin Wall for a few of Lauren's friends to play on. Then, we climbed a sick 5.9 OW, whose name escapes me. It's a beautiful line, visible from the entrance trail, which had enticed me for years. We took some photos, but I don't have them yet...

I rolled out of J Tree Sunday afternoon enroute to Red Rocks. As I crossed the Nevada border I noticed my temperature gauge rising. I stopped to find collant sprayed enside my engine campartment and the radiator empty (!). I let the engine cool, filled and cooland, topped the oil, and comtinued to Vegas. It might still be burning a little collant, but for the most part, everything seems to be alright. I'll have to be attentive on the long drive home.

I lucked out yesterday. I hadn't figured out camping, so I rolled in to The Gallery, a popular sport crag to try to find climbing and camping partners. I met a group of college kids from Montana State. I got, and gave, a few belays, made some friends, and was offered a spot in their group campsite!

We did a bunch of fun routes at The Gallery and even took a few photos.

I'm psyched for 3 more days of climbing, then a weekend in Vegas for Shacklet's bachelor party. Hopefully I will have more good climbing to report!

Matt from MSU on Yaak Crack (.11c), Alonzo on the belay

Me on The Glitch (.12c)

Cookie, Arch, and Rhombus

2010-02-17T17:49:00.000-08:00

The weather in the Valley was great...isn't it supposed to be winter...?

I drove in to the Valley early Sunday to meet Phil for a day of climbing at the Cookie. Phil is a super strong climber, but doesn't make it outside much, and hasn't spent much time playing with cracks. I was psyched to climb with him for a day at the Cookie. We climbed Waverly Wafer (.11b), Wheat Thin (.10c), Butterballs (.11c), and linked both pitches of Outer Limits (.11a). No pictures, but a great day of climbing.

Phil took off Sunday after climbing, so I made my way to Camp 4 without plans for the rest of the visit. I was fortunate to meet up with Jay, an acquaintance from Ironworks. We climbed the wide on Tuesday at Arch and Generator. I put up English Breakfast Crack (.10c) and Jay did Midterm (.10b), then we both struggled on TR at Generator Crack (.10d). Jay had the camera...

I lead English Breakfast Crack (2 pitches, 5.10c)

Jay leads Midterm (5.10b)

I planned to rest Tuesday; run of hike instead of climb...but Monday night I bumped in a buddy, Chris, with another friend Dave, at the cafeteria. They convinced me to join them the next morning at the Ahwahnee for a day on Chris' Rhombus Wall Project. Chris says the line was established on aid in the 90's and he's been trying to free in on-and-off for five years. Chris, Dave, and I had a great time cleaning and climbing on the first four pitches. Chris took these photos of Dave and I and posted them to Facebook from the ledge atop P3.

Dave Allfree and I on the Rhombus Wall Project

I stayed in C4 again last night, went for a nice run this morning, then came back to the Bay.

Weather and schedule depending, I will be climbing again next week. Dave, Chris, and I are talking about getting on the Captain. We'll see...

Bouldering and Bolt Clipping in Bishop, Rain in Joshua Tree

2010-01-13T23:58:00.000-08:00

I'm still fighting for a Paramedic job, so I've been busy filling my free time with climbing.

I spent Thursday through Tuesday two weeks ago in Bishop. I stayed with Robyn, a friend from college who lives and works in Bishop for USGS. She hosted a fun costume party at her house Friday night.

I climbed one day in the Buttermilks and another in the Gorge with James. I hadn't been in the Buttermilks in a many years. It was fun exploring the incredible boulders, gawking at the famous lines, and climbing a few classics. The Gorge was also great. After warming up, James suggested Thieves in the Temple (5.12a) at Staying Power Towers, a line he had been on once before. He hung the draws with a couple takes, I led with a couple falls, we rested, then both redpointed. Very cool. We finished the day on Blood Sugar Sex Magik, a 16 bolt, 150 foot, 10d that goes on forever.

I climbed the second half of the weekend in the Gorge and in the Happy Boulders with Robyn and her friend Kenyan. We spent the Day in the Gorge at the Great Wall of China. I was especially psyched to onsight Wrath of Khan (5.11c), another tall monster with two mid .11 cruxes. The Happies were also fun, but no notable sends. Robyn had a fancy new camera and snapped some cool photos...

Owens River Gorge

Kenyan on Venom (5.11c)

Me in the Happies

I climbed last weekend in Joshua Tree. I climbed Saturday and Sunday with Lauren, Wylie, and Tricia. I am still in the area, and had planned to climb today, but got rained (read: poured) out. Saturday, Lauren and I got a late start but managed three routes before dark. Sunday, all three of us joined another group to explore Queen Mountain, which resulted in lots of hiking and not much climbing. Lauren snapped a few photos...

Joshua Tree NP from the approach to Queen Mountain

I hang and Lauren patiently belays on an unknown thin face (5.13-?) at Queen Mountain

Wylie

I've been managing a minor to moderate lower back injury for a couple months. It had almost fully recovered when I messed it up again last week in the gym on the leg press. Stupid... Also, I'm managing about ten different applications for Paramedic jobs. Frustrating....

Joshua Tree New Year

2010-01-03T21:58:00.000-08:00

I kicked 2010 off right with a trip to Joshua Tree and San Diego.

My friend Lauren was moving from The Bay to Temecula for work, so we transformed her work-funded move into a vacation. We split the drive in halves, which was super nice, putting us in Joshua Tree on Wednesday, the 30th. We climbed and camped in The Tree through the 2nd, then relaxed for an evening in San Diego before I flew back north.

Camping in The Tree can be a bitch over New Years, but we lucked out. Christina and Dan, friends from Berkeley, had reserved a giant group site at Sheep's Pass. We camped in perfect weather and made new friends.

The climbing also couldn't have been better. Lauren and I climbed some classics and dogged a few top ropes before NYE. Then, on New Year's Day we climbed with my buddy from Davis, Casey Chambers, who I hadn't seen or climbed with since New Year's Day 2009. Casey had some ideas for climbing in the Echo Rock Area, but, out of giggling stupidity, we skipped all the classics and climbed a few routes which didn't make the guidebook. I put up a dirty, hanging hands/fist flare and Casey rocked a ~120' dirty seam/sloper traverse. We'd like to think they're FAs, and would suggest Poop (5.10b) and Bloody (5.10c) for names and grades, but due to their locations and obvious lines, I'm sure they've been done before.

Before bailing for showers in San Diego on the 2nd, Lauren and I joined Christina, Dan, Doug, and Lisa on O'Kelley's Crack (5.10c) for a cold morning beat-down. Christina and I both led the beast, whose 5.11 start moves proved frustrating and painful to all.

A great trip, happy 2010! Pictures...

Lauren and I atop Intersection Rock

My lead, Casey and Lauren follow, unknown (5.10- ?), Echo Rock area

Casey and I on unknown traverse (5.10+ ?), Echo Cove area

Christina on O'Kelley's Crack (5.10c)

Me on O'Kelley's Crack (5.10c)

I don't have much work in January, so I hope to climb a bunch. I'll be spending a long weekend in Bishop later this week. Hopefully I'll have sick sends to report.

Nutcracker!

2009-11-26T22:22:00.000-08:00

My little brother started climbing recently. He's a student at CSU Chico. A new recreation facility recently opened there, where he pulls plastic and has met a community of climbers. He's been climbing a bit outside on his own, mostly bouldering and topropes on sport routes. He asked me to take him climbing earlier this week, so I decided it was important to make a trad climber out of him.

We spent Monday through Wednesday in Yosemite. Conditions were perfect; a bit cold at night and in the shade, but perfect on the South facing sunny crags. We climbed Monday on El Cap Base, Tuesday we did Nutcracker (5.8, 5 pitches), and Wednesday we were at New Diversions before returning to the Bay. We both had a great time. I got to climb a bunch of easy classics which I had never been on before, and Andrew got to experience his first multipitch and trad in Yosemite. Pretty awesome...

Here are a few photos...

Andrew follows Nutcracker (5.8, 5 pitches)

Manure Pile Buttress over-under Summit Shots

Andrew follows New Deviations (5.9)

Cookie Cliff

2009-11-12T18:35:00.001-08:00

I made a quick trip to The Valley yesterday with Garreth. We hoped to climb today also, but were forced home by rain and snow this morning.

We climbed at Cookie Cliff yesterday. I lead Catchy (5.10d) and Catchy Corner (5.11a), two great pitches which Garreth got to check out for the first time. Next Garreth put up the first pitch of The Enema, a cool chimney/offwidth/fist crack combo to a short squeeze flare. My ass got worked on the business pitch, a very steep crack with diorite jugs to a lightly overhanging hands/fist flare. We got one more pitch on Outer Limits before running out of daylight.

I've been to the Cookie many times, and done all these routes before, but I've still got a lot to do there. I'd like to redpoint Cookie Monster, The Enema, Waverly Wafer, Butterballs, and Butterfingers. I also still need to try Crack A-Go-Go, Twilight Zone, and Red Zinger. What a crag...

I haven't heard from South Lake yet, still hopeful...

Garreth follows Catchy Corner (5.11a)

The Enema (5.11b)

Update

2009-11-09T10:32:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in a while, but I've been busy and have done some climbing. My last post was after a visit to South Lake Tahoe with Andy and Phil. While in South Lake, I tested for Firefighter/Paramedic with South Lake Tahoe. I passed the test and returned for a panel interview two weeks later. The panel interview went well, but due to rumored budget problems, I didn't anticipate hear from them for a while. I made plans to go to The Creek for three weeks. I would still be there now, but a few days after the panel I received a call inviting me back for a chiefs interview. I canceled my plans for The Creek, picked up a few shifts at the gym, and prepared for the interview instead. The chiefs was last Monday. I was one of six interviewed for one immediate position. I felt the interview went well, and am really excited about the position. South Lake Tahoe....Firefighter and transporting Paramedic...so sick! Maybe I'll hear from them this week...

I made it to the Valley for two days last week. I planned to climb with Wylie, a friend I made in Indian Creek last Spring, and have climbed with since. He was staying in Camp 4 for a few weeks, but caught the Swine Flue and couldn't climb. Instead, I climbed the first day with Chris VanLeuven and friends at Blowhole, a spot he was researching for his book. He led one two pitch runout 5.10+ slab, I led another, and three other friends followed, jugged, and took some photos.

The second day I climbed with Meg and Ned, her coworker, at El Cap Base. I warmed up by onsighting the first pitch of the Salathe (5.10c). It's a fun, thin set of double cracks, for 35m+. Next, I volunteered to lead Ahab (5.10b), a overhanging flaring offwidth in a dihedral with about 40m of sustained awesomeness. Meg was disgusted, but Ned was psyched to follow. I put it up with two hangs, and Ned followed clean. I think I could redpoint next time. We toproped Mody Dick (5.10a) from the anchor and called it a day. Meg took photos, and got some good ones, but hasn't been able to retrieve them from her camera. I'll post them when they arrive.

I've been working a lot at the gym; behind the desk, teaching private lessons, and running a few lead clinics. I don't have any other photos to post, so check this out...

Garreth and I are trying to climb in the Valley this week, Wednesday and Thursday. Hopefully the weather will hold. I'd be psyched to get on Ahab again, maybe climb The Enema, Red Zinger, or Butterballs at The Cookie, or stuff at Arch Rock.

South Lake Tahoe

2009-10-05T13:04:00.001-07:00

I climbed this weekend, Friday through Sunday, in South Lake Tahoe. Andy joined me for the trip. We climbed at Eagle Lake Cliff, up the canyon from Emerald Bay on Friday. I put up
Quest for Glory (5.10d) and Space Truckin' (5.10a). We top roped a gnarly chimney, Separated Reality (5.8). And I got spanked with an onsight attempt of Space Walk (5.11c). I'd been to Eagle lake Cliff twice before, and I'm psyched to return for more routes and more work on Space Walk.

Phil met us Saturday morning and we went sport climbing at Luther Rock. Conditions changed through the day and we constantly battled the cold, but we had a great day.

We camped Saturday night at the East end of the Leap with plans to climb Sugarloaf on Sunday. But, as we prepared to go to sleep that evening, it started snowing. By morning four inches had accumulated on insulated surfaces and about an inch stuck on the ground. Shut down from climbing the Loaf, we drove back to the Bay and did a few gym routes before calling it a day.

Here are some photos...

Andy follows Quest for Glory (5.10d)

Me putting up the very cold warm-up, Moonshine (5.10c)

Phil on Happy Hour (5.11b)

Andy on Daily Prayer (5.10c)

Snow!

Also, on Saturday, I tested for Firefighter/Paramedic with South Lake Tahoe Fire Department. The test went really well, and I'm psyched. They only tested about 60 applicants and plan to interview 15 for 3-4 immediate positions. The interviews are to be scheduled for next Friday, so I hope to hear the results from the test today or tomorrow. Working in South Lake would allow for lots of climbing...

Seattle Adventure and Index Climbing

2009-09-16T00:05:00.001-07:00

I joined a great group of college friends this weekend for an adventure in Seattle. Adam, Chris, Erin, Jenna, and I flew to visit Nate for the weekend. I stayed to climb on Monday and Tuesday.

We spent the weekend days hanging out on the water of Lake Union, the Puget Sound, and near the Port of Everett and spent the nights drinking more than necessary. Then, Nate and I rehydrated and climbed for two days at Index. On Monday, we linked Davis-Holland (3 pitches, 5.10b/c) and Lovin' Arms (3 pitches, 5.10c) on Upper Town Wall. On Tuesday we linked Godzilla (5.9+), City Park (P2, 5.10b), and Sloe Children (5.10d). Then we climbed Thin Fingers (2 pitches, 5.11a). Everything we did was classic...a great quick visit to Index.

Here are some photos from the weekend.

Me, Jenna, Nate, Erin, Chris, and Adam

The Boys

Nate leads Davis-Holland, P2

Pulling the roof on Davis-Holland, P3

Nate follows Lovin' Arms, P2

Summit Shot

West Face Leaning Tower Solo

2009-09-04T14:17:00.001-07:00

I had no plans this week, Wednesday through Friday, so I went climbing.

I got to the Valley noonish on Monday and racked for a solo ascent of the West Face of Leaning Tower (C2F 5.7). I tried to do the West Face last year with Garreth, but our timing sucked. We humped all our gear out the ledge in time to watch two old guys move slower than molasses up the first pitch bolt ladder. Rather than climb behind them, we bailed. But this attempt, my timing couldn't have been better. While on the approach, two guys passed me on their way down. They said there was no one else anywhere on the wall. I was psyched.

I climbed the first four pitches to Guano and Ahwahnee ledges, linking two and three, then linked and fixed five and six on Monday afternoon, finishing slightly after dark. I spent the night on Ahwahnee ledge and woke with the sun Tuesday morning. I cleaned five and six, climbed seven, linked eight and nine, and finished up ten and eleven by early afternoon.

Overall, the climb went really well. The leading and hauling was relatively easy, but I did take a decent whipper off P3. I had clipped a fix nut and cleaned my piece below. When I stepped up into the piece, the cable broke. I fell about 30 feet, but it was really clean and the modified GriGri worked fine. Other than that, the climb went without incident. It was a lot of work...my shoulder is a bit sore, but with some rest I think it will be fine.

Here are some photos and a video.

Pitch 1

Ahwahnee and Guano Ledges

Ahwahnee (Ledge) for the Night

Cleaning Pitches 8 and 9

Leaning Tower from Todd Bartlow on Vimeo.

Chimney Rappels

Positive Vibrations

2009-08-30T18:42:00.001-07:00

About two months ago, before I returned from my road trip, my friend Tresa contacted me suggesting we climb a route on the Incredible Hulk. The Hulk is a huge alpine granite face high above Twin Lakes and Bridgeport, CA. Tresa had intended to suggest we climb Red Dihedral, a classic .10b on the fractured right side of the face. But, before she could make her intended route known, I got her psyched to climb Positive Vibrations. Positive Vibes is a steep and sustained .11a which follows the more splitter cracks on the left side of The Hulk.

We drove to Twin Lakes and hiked in to the rock on Friday, building a good base camp for our weekend of climbing. The rough idea was to climb Positive Vibes on Saturday and Red Dihedral on Sunday.

We got up with the first sun on Saturday morning, ate, and grabbed our gear for the route. As we scrambled the scree to the base of Positive Vibes another team was finishing the pitch one-two linkup. I also linked pitches one and two, climbing a few heads-up .10b-.10c finger/tips cracks in time to share the belay for a few minutes with the other team. Pitch three climbed a chossy left corner above a few roofs then traversed right across a hollow flake with a .11a stem to the belay. Tresa led pitches four and five, a crack in a tight dihedral and a traverse to a straight splitter with a few long waits in the intense cold behind the other team. I led pitch six, a thin seam in a dihedral with questionable thin pro to a .10c offwidth/thin hands roof and a .10d finger crack on a blank face. I stopped early on pitch six and led the .11a thin crack face boulder problem as the beginning of pitch seven, which continued with 180' feet of mostly thin hands splitters. Pitch eight, another 200' of splitters, put us on the summit ridge. This finished Positive Vibrations itself, but we still had three pitches of 4th class traversing and two pitches of .8-.9 to the summit.

Positive Vibrations was awesome. Other then a bit of choss and hollow rock, the route followed incredible sustained cracks in dihedrals and up blank faces. I was really psyched to onsight the route and consider it one of my proudest sends to date. But, the day wasn't all fun. We spent a lot of time in cold wind low on the route while climbing and waiting for the other team. By the time we made it to the summit ridge it was late in the afternoon. The summit traverse and top out sucked, with lots of difficult route finding on shitty rock and not much fun climbing. We summited just before sunset and hustled down the ridge to the single rappel into the gully. It got dark as we descended the gully and scree to camp, and by the time we got there we were both thoroughly spent. It went without much saying, Sunday was to be a late morning and return to the Bay...Red Dihedral would have to wait.

Approaching, Incredible Hulk in the Background

Cold Start and Linking P1 and P2

Tresa Follows the P3 .11a Stem

Tresa on P4

Tresa on P5, the beginning of endless splitters

Tresa on P6

Tresa follows Positive Vibrations (P6, 5.10d fingers) from Todd Bartlow on Vimeo.

Pre and Post Crux

Summit Ridge

Summit Shots

Tuolumne with Wylie

2009-08-23T13:19:00.001-07:00

Alright, I have decided to continue to use this blog to report on rock climbing adventures...post epic road trip.

Since I got back from to the Bay in late July, I've been out three times. I've climbed twice at the Leap. The first visit to the Leap was a spur of the moment solo trip. I roped soloed Surrealistic Pillar (5.7, 3 pitches) and Corrugation Corner (5.7, 3 pitches). I hadn't rope soloed before, but I recently modified my GriGri, and it was good to play with the systems. I hope to solo aid some walls in the Valley later this season.

The second visit to the Leap was with Elliot. We climbed Haystack (5.8, 3 pitches) and East Corner (5.11b, 3 pitches) on the first day. Day two we linked The Grove (5.8, 2 pitches) and Corrugation Corner (5.7, 3 pitches). I've done Corrugation about six times now, but Elliot had never done it before. It's classic...he was psyched. Sorry, no photos.

I spent Tuesday-Friday last week in Tuolumne with my buddy Wylie. I met Wylie in Indian Creek this April. He is working as a Backcountry Ranger in Inyo Nation Forest in the Whitney District this summer, so we met midway to climb at Tuolumne for three days. Tuesday night was interesting. We bivied in the backpackers camp. I awoke in the middle of the night to a bear standing three feet in front of me (insert girly scream and scared shitless photo). On Wednesday we linked Oz (5.10d, 3 pitches) and the Gram Traverse (5.10c, 2 pitches). It's a sick climb that I've been wanting to do for a long time. Here are a few photos.

Oz (5.10d) and Gram Traverse (5.10c)

Wylie on Oz (P1)

Wylie on Oz (P2) with the P3 dihedral and Gram Traverse above...

Wylie follows Oz (P3)...sick!

Gram Traverse

Wednesday night we lucked out. Some climbers that I know are working SAR in Tuolumne this season, so they offered us a place to stay for the night. We camped, campfired, and drank beers there...it was nice. Thursday morning at 1045 Wylie and I lucked out again. We were the first climbers of the day at Daft Dome and had our pick of the routes. We climbed West Crack (5.9, 5 pitches) and swung back around to climb Cooke Book (5.10a, 5 pitches). Photos...

West Crack

Cooke Book

Wylie and I planned to climb On the Lamb Friday, but we arrived at the parking lot and three other teams had the same plan. We decided to climb Tenaya Peak instead, so the question became 'simul or solo?' We soloed and were psyched. We went car to car in 2 hours 25 mins.

I spent Friday night in the Valley visiting friends who were staying in Housekeeping and returned to the Bay Saturday morning.

I am climbing on the Hulk Friday-Sunday this weekend with Tresa. We hope to climb Red Dihedral and Positive Vibrations. TR to follow...

Home

2009-07-28T09:26:00.000-07:00

I returned to The Bay yesterday after spending the weekend in the Seattle area. On Friday and Saturday, I joined Nate, Donee, and a few of their friends at a redneck bad wine and music festival south of Seattle. Sunday, I worked with Matt all day on his boat. It was a nice weekend and my shoulder is feeling much better with rest and ibuprofen.

I drove all the way from Nate's place, north of Seattle, to my families place in the East Bay yesterday in one push, stopping only for fuel. 838 miles, per Google. Not bad. My trip odometer reads 7264 miles since leaving The Bay in April.

I kept this Google Map while on the trip. It marks all the places where I stayed and/or climbed. Kind of cool.

View Cracks and Crimps in a larger map

All told, the trip was great. I did tons of great climbing, saw many awesome places, and made lots of new friends. Now, I'm out of money, and my shoulder is a bit bum. It's time to rest a bit and get a job.

Thanks to everyone who helped my progress and climbed with me along the way! See you on the road next time.

Thanks for reading!

Everett

2009-07-23T10:05:00.000-07:00

I drove from Squamish to Everett, Washington yesterday. I woke up in the morning and my shoulder felt no better than the day before. Other friends were leaving, I'm out of money, and my time is running out, so I didn't want to sit around in the campground to wonder about this shoulder. I am going to hang out in the Seattle area through the weekend. I had hoped to climb with Nate, but I think I will need to continue to rest the shoulder.

On my arrival in Everett I met Nate and Matt at Matt's boat. They are beginning a major project to refinish the deck, so I helped for the evening. Here are a few photos.

We are talking about doing some more work on the boat through the weekend. We also might do some hiking or tubing on the river.

It is likely that I will head for The Bay after the weekend. It will be a bummer to return two weeks earlier than expected, but with no money and a questionable shoulder, it seems like it's the right thing to do.

As an aside, check out this month's issue of Alpinist. Max, with whom I started my road trip in The Creek, wrote an article of our ascent of the Pratt/Robinson on the North Six Shooter. I haven't seen it yet myself, but I'm sure it's great. The story started as this post on SuperTopo. In the replies SuperTopo post, Doug Robinson added a great short account of the first ascent. Very cool.

Squamish Addendum

2009-07-21T20:23:00.000-07:00

As an addendum to my previous post, I forgot to mention a sweet send
at Cheakamus on Sunday. I onsighted From Beneath You It Devours, a
tall and beautiful 5.12c hanging dihedral. It was a lot of fun and
great for the ego, but it doesn't deserve 12c. Maybe 11d...12c for a
sport climber who doesn't know how to hand jam. Nonetheless, it was
really fun. Rock on.

Todd

Squamish!

2009-07-21T15:46:00.000-07:00

Hello from Squamish!

I arrived in Squamish Saturday morning to a crowded campground of road trippers and weekend warriors. After exploring for a few hours, I found Meg, a climbing friend from California who has been here for a few weeks. Her campsite mate had left that morning, so I took the open spot. We climbed Sunday afternoon with a large group at a few sport crags in Cheakamus Canyon.

Yesterday, I climbed a discontinuous line up The Chief, the El Cap of Squamish. Mariah, who I met the day before at Cheak, and I climbed Saint Vitus' Dance (5.9) to Squamish Buttress (5.10c)...about 13 pitches in total. Other than the forest bushwacking between real rock it was a lot of fun.

This morning, Mariah and I went Bouldering. She left this afternoon and needed to get on a project, Cutting Edge (V4), before heading home. While trying a classic V5 on one of the main boulders, I felt, and heard, a few pops in my left shoulder. It doesn't hurt and does have full range of motion, but it's very sore, and I am a bit concerned. I am going to rest today, and maybe tomorrow, then reassess.

Anyways, hopefully it will be no big deal. I haven't used my camera much yet, but here are a few photos from Squamish.

Scenery in Squamish, British Columbia

Mariah and I on The Chief

Mariah on Cutting Edge (V4)

Montana -> Washington -> British Columbia

2009-07-18T09:31:00.001-07:00

Alright!

Lots of activity since my last post, but I have no pictures to prove it.

After passing through the Tetons and Yellowstone, I spent a rainy night in Livingston, Montana. The next morning, I drove to Bozeman to climb with Leah. It rained on and off for the drive and conditions were not looking good. Leah suggested that we try a Gallatin Canyon, outside of Bozeman. As we expected, everything was wet, and rain continued to threaten. I originally met Leah on my first visit to Vedauwoo, when I was with Cody. It was nice to see her again and check out some of the local climbing, but it was a bummer not to get shut down.

That afternoon, I continued to Missoula, Montana. My college friend turned climber, Nate Wilson, was returning to his home town with his girlfriend for a few days to attend a wedding. I met Nate and Donee at the airport and we enjoyed catching up for a few days.

Yesterday afternoon I left the Wilson house in Missoula and drove to Nate's house in Everett, Washington. Nate's roommate, Matt, was spending the evening on a short sail and BBQ on his boat. I met Matt and a few friends for a couple beers on the dock.

This morning, I am preparing the car to cross into Canada en route to Squamish. I'm not allowed to bring beer or booze, and I'm not sure what the laws are for food. I am being extra careful...my friend Cody was denied entry to Canada because he had so much stuff in his car that they thought he was trying to immigrate.

I plan to spend about two week in Squamish. I am meeting Meg, a friend from Yosemite in the campground today. Nate and Donee are going to come up going to come up to climb next weekend. I think I'll return to Everett to climb with Nate for a weekend in early August. Then, home to the Bay, with a possible stop to climb in the Portland area.

Canada...here I come!

Wyoming

2009-07-13T14:38:00.000-07:00

Hello from Livingston, Montana!

Here are some pictures from last week and early this weekend, in Lander, Wyoming.

The Main Wall area at Wild Iris

Zorro Wall on the left, OK Corral on the right

Crowds at the Wild Iris parking area for Saturday morning free (!) pancake breakfast

Me on Zorro, 5.11d

Jordan on Zorro

While in Lander on Thursday, I met three cyclists who are riding across the nation on a ~4800 mile route. They are doing it hippie-style, no spandex or fancy bikes, and rarely a shirt or underwear. Funny. Their route is similar to mine for the rest of the trip, so I told them if I saw them on the road I would stop and we'd drink a beer. While driving to the Tetons on Sunday, I drove across them...so we had a beer. The guys with no shirts are them, the other two are also on a cross country trip.

I drove to the Tetons and did a short hike, then hung out at the Lodge for the afternoon with the cyclists. That night, I didn't want to drive all the way out to the National Forest to sleep, so I bivied on the shore of Jackson Lake, near the spot that I took and sent the picture from my phone. It was a awesome. I went for a swim during sunset and read until dark. As I went to bed, I noticed clouds and lightning over the Tetons, but the thunderstorms had already come and gone for the day, so I thought I was safe. Light rain woke me at 0100 this morning as the storm had pulled over the Tetons and was making it's way across the lake. I hadn't brought a tent or bivy sack to my site, so I had to take a 2 mile starlight hike to the car and back for my bivy sack. I set it up and within minutes a full downpour began. The storm past after an hour or so, and the rest of the night was great.

Today, I drove though Yellowstone, stopping only long enough to see the most famous sights, and get frustrated by the crowds of tourists.

I'm going to bivy tonight somewhere on the Yellowstone River near Livingston. Tomorrow morning, I meet Leah, who I met a month ago in Vedauwoo, to climb for two days near Bozeman, Montana.

Pysched.

Todd

Grand Teton NP

2009-07-12T13:32:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Grand Teton National Park. It's Sunday afternoon, but
I don't think this will send until tomorrow sometime. I am writing
from the shore of Jackson Lake, across the lake from the Tetons
themselves. It's beautiful.

I left Lander this morning after two great days of climbing. I
climbed at Wild Iris both days with Jordan, who came to town for the
International Climbers Festival with a small group from The Bay. The
Festival was very cool, with lots of events, gear demos, and free
food. The timing of my visit to Lander could not have been better. I
got some good photos and will post them next time I get computer access.

I am going to bivy somewhere in the Tetons tonight and spend tomorrow
in Yellowstone. I meet Leah, a climber who I met in Vedauwoo a few
weeks ago, in Bozeman, MT, to climb Tuesday and Wednesday.

Rock on...Todd

Wild Iris

2009-07-10T18:30:00.000-07:00

I left Golden Thursday morning to start my journey towards Missoula,
MT. I meet Nate, a college friend there next Wednesday night. But, I
wanted to take my time on the drive, so my first stop was Lander, WY,
where I am camped in Central Park.

I happened to cruise in to Lander at the same time as the
International Climbers Festival. I can't afford the $45 ticket to
their clinics and slide shows, but I am psyched to hang out with a
bunh of climbers. I met people in the park last night and went with
them to an event at the local bar. While dancing redneck style to
redneck music I was approached by a climber from The Bay. He is here
for a few people for the Festival, and as easy as that, I had climbing
partners. I climbed today at Wild Iris with Jordan, who lives, works,
and climbs in Oakland.

The rock is an incredible band of bone white limestone among the
aspens and pines at 9,000ft elevation. It took a bit to get used to
the climbing, but we did a bunch of sick routes. I was super psyched
to onsight a stellar 5.12a...the name escapes me.

Anyways, the library is closed, so I am posting from my phone. I have
a few pictures and will try to take more before my next report.

Now, I need to make some dinner. There is a climbers party downtown
tonight...so I need to put some food in my stomach to absorb the beer
to come.

Rock on.

Todd

Missioning

2009-07-06T10:23:00.000-07:00

Hi.

It's been over a week since I last wrote, and lots has happened in the meantime. After climbing last weekend in Estes Park with Gwen, Tricia, and Richard, we took a road trip for a few days. Richard and I loaded up with Jess in his minivan and made an evening drive to Independence Pass, a high alpine collection of small to medium crags above Aspen, CO. We were psyched to escape the hustle of the Front Range and even more psyched to find free camping in a beautiful location.

We spent Monday, our first day of climbing at the Outrageous Overhang and Olympic Wall. That evening, we were joined in camp by Teague, a longtime climbing/skiing friend of Jess' whom I had met previously in The Creek. The next day, we climbed at Lincoln Creek Cliff and Sunset Wall. Teague and I each put up a route for warm up, then we threw a top rope on Dean's Day Off (5.12a), a super sweet, slightly slabby tips seam up a beautiful wall. We all played on the TR, and after some practice and planning, Teague redpointed on lead. Very proud ascent. On Wednesday, our last day of climbing, Jess, Richard, and I did a few routes at Grotto Wall before trying to get an early start home. We were unsuccessful at getting home, but before that story, here's a few climbing photos.

Scenery at Independence Pass, CO

Jess on Unknown (5.12- ish), very fun

Teague on Dean's Day Off (5.12a)

Me on Cryogenics (5.10b)

So, the climbing was good, but the drive home didn't go quite as planned. Wednesday morning, as we left camp and drove to the crag, Jess' car was a bit underpowered and some engine sensory lights came on at the dash. We checked the fluid levels, but all was normal, so we hoped it was computer error and went climbing. At the end of the day, the warning lights were still on. As we climbed the steep 12,000ft pass, the car was extremely underpowered. The road steepened about 1,000 short of the summit and we rolled to a stop. Realizing we couldn't clear the pass, we turned back towards Aspen, and were able to make it all the way to a Honda dealership in Glenwood Springs. They were closing...so we were stuck for the night. We spent the afternoon drinking PBR by the Colorado River and bivied in town between the river and the railroad track.

During our adventure, Jess and I learned a few new words. Richard is from South Africa, and we were entertained by these:

Mission(ing): adventure(ing)

Siff: extremely gross, as in the STD

Kitted: well equipped

Dodgey: sketchy

And best of all!

Lolly Pop Man: construction dude with the STOP/SLOW sign on a pole

Anyways, the next morning, on Thursday, we wandered town until Jess got a call from the Honda place. It turns out, rodents had chewed some transmission wires and circuitry. The parts would take days to receive and the cost would exceed $1,500. Major bummer. We left the car, packed as much gear from it as we could, and hopped an Amtrak bus back to Denver. Even the bus ride was entertaining. We shared the ride with two Amish families in full attire. It was a trip. We caught another bus to Boulder and got a ride back to Estes Park, arriving late Thursday evening, more than 24 hours later than expected. Photos...

At the Honda Service Center

Richard, Jess, and Amish folks at the Amtrak Bus Station

Friday, I met Dave, a high school friend in the West Denver area. I took him climbing on the First Flatiron. Both he and his wife warned me that he didn't have medical insurance, so we had to be careful. Dave climbed well, but the heights got to his head, and he asked to bail from the summit ridge. I pushed us onward, and we summited in good style. With perfect timing, we raced back to the car as a enormous rainstorm engulfed the Boulder area.

I rested on Saturday, the 4th, and spent the afternoon exploring the Independence Day festivities in Golden.

Yesterday, I climbed with Chris, a friend of Casey's, and Colin at Lumpy Ridge. We did a few single pitch routes at The Book. Chris started the day in good hungover style by pulling a piece of gear and decking on our first route, Thindependence. He limped the rest of the day, and his right ass is going to be bruised, but he was otherwise fine. We put a top rope on Monkey on a String (5.12b), a sick, barely vertical, super thin, arete on the left side of the J Crack slab. It's very techy and quite powerful, but incredibly fun. I was psyched to get it clean on my second TR attempt. If I end up there again, I might have to give it a go on lead.

So that's that. A busy week. I am picking Casey up at the airport this afternoon. We are going to try to put in a few pitches in Clear Creek before dark. In the next few days, I'll climb with her and Chris, then pack up and head towards Montana with some stops in Wyoming. I'm psyched.

I don't know if I have mentioned this yet, but I have set a return date. I will be back in The Bay on or before August 14th, in time for two weddings that weekend. I can't wait to see everyone and get back to climbing in California.

Also, RIP John Bachar, a climbing legend who died yesterday in an accident near Mammoth.

Independence Pass/Day

2009-07-04T08:36:00.001-07:00

Hello!

I spent most of the past week climbing with friend's in Estes Park and
at Independence Pass, near Aspen. It's been an adventure. I've got
lots of photos of climbing and stories of missioning and other
interesting South African vocabulary to report. It's Independence
Day, so I don't think I'll find computer access till tomorrow.

Catch you then!

Turnkorner

2009-06-28T14:07:00.000-07:00

Hello from Estes Park.

I departed Golden Friday morning and met friends to climb in Estes Park. I am climbing with Tricia, Jess, Gwen, Chris, and Richard. I met Tricia in The Creek about two months ago and have climbed with her a lot since then. Jess, Gwen, and Chris are also friends from The Creek and live in Estes Park. Jess and I had an bonding adventure in The Creek, attempting to climb Belly Full of Bad Berries (5.13-). Richard is from South Africa, and knows Jess, Gwen, and Chris from a climbing trip in Spain. He is visiting for a few weeks.

It's only an hour+ drive, so I was able to make it around noon, with plenty of day left for climbing. I joined Gwen and Tricia downtown, where we combined vehicles and gear. Between rainstorms, we were able to sneak in some climbing at Mary's Bust, a small spot crag in Big Thompson Valley.

We did a few routes, and took a few photos.

Tricia on Proud Mary (P1, 5.9)

Mary's Tricks (5.11-)

Gwen on Mary's Tricks (5.11-)

Yesterday, I climbed Tornkorner (5.10b) with Tricia. Turnkorner is a improbable looking line up Sundance Buttress on Lumpy Ridge. It climbs a few hundred feet of discontinuous vertical cracks through poor rock before reaching an offwidth roof system. The next two pitches pull multiple wide roofs and climb a couple hundred more feet of flaring offwidth cracks. The last two pitches summit the 1000' buttress. It's worthy route which yielded a proud ascent. The pictures are of the route from the ground, me finishing pitch one, and the offwidth, from below and above.

Turnkorner (5.10b)

Gwen, Richard, and Tricia

This afternoon Jess, Richard, and I are loading into Jess' minivan for a few days. We are talking about climbing through Wednesday at Independence Pass, near Aspen, CO or Fremont Canyon in South central Wyoming. I haven't climbed at either of these places yet, so I am psyched for the adventure. As a team of three we should be able to get lots of photos, so I will report again late next week.

Todd

Country Club Crack, Take 2

2009-06-25T17:26:00.000-07:00

Yo.

I went back to Country Club Crack in Boulder Canyon this morning with Casey. We were on it a bit ago and needed to return for a redpoint attempt. Dark clouds were threatening as we gathered our rack at the back of the car. The first 15 feet of the first pitch are the route crux, so I jumped on without a warm up. Nonetheless, I managed to pull the crux clean and finish the pitch to the anchors. Casey made it through the hardest part, but fell at the top of the crux sequence. She started P2 shaking out the jitters, but easily walked through the leaning cracks, 11b flaring fingers, and short slab finish. I followed the pitch without difficulty until I mixed up the last move to the achors and fell. Bummer. Anyways, we did much better than last time, but both narrowly missed the redpoint. While rapping, it began to rain, so we bailed back towards Golden.

It wasn't raining in Golden, so we grabbed the Clear Creek guidebook and were able to put in a few pitches at Litte Eiger. Then, more rain...

I am giving Casey a ride to the airport in the morning. She is going to visit family on the East Coast. I am going to re-pack my car for the road and head for Estes Park. I plan to climb there through at least next Wednesday with Tricia, Chris, Jess, and Gwen...all friends from The Creek. Past that, the plans are unclear. I might stay in Estes or climb with people from Fort Collins. I am going to be in Montona in mid July, so I am hoping to arrange climbing partners at Fremont, Wild Iris, and Sinks (all in Wyoming) between now and then. We'll see...I'm certain it will work out well.

That's all, no pictures, just stories and plans. I should have some good stuff to post after a few days in Estes Park.

Rock on.

Todd

Haircut

2009-06-24T10:13:00.001-07:00

Mobile breaking news update!

I just got a haircut. Sorry Mom, I cheated on you...first time I have
got a haircut from someone else in many years. Now, for the finishing
touches, I have to go shave.

South Platte

2009-06-23T14:59:00.000-07:00

I returned to Golden this afternoon from a few days of climbing in South Platte. Casey and I drove down Sunday for three days of climbing. My friend Blake joined us for the first two. I met Blake during one of my first days in Indian Creek, stayed with him for a few days earlier this month in South Denver, and climbed with him for an adventure day in Clear Creek Canyon. I hadn't climbed with him since then, so it was nice for him to join us.

We climbed Sunday at Turkey Rocks, an area which I had visited previously with Cody and Tricia. Casey lead Quiver and Quill (5.10c) and Blake and I rode the TR for a warm up. Then, we walked around the other side of Turkey's Tail and got on Whimsical Dreams, a splitter 11b, mostly fingers through a few roofs. It was really tough for me...the crux focuses on my weaknesses. We all took a turn putting it up on lead.

The crag was crowded, so Casey and I cruised to the far side and got on an interesting offwidth. Sidewinder (5.10-) wasn't terribly hard, but it was heady. We didn't have quite enough gear and weren't sure about the anchor situation, so I bailed mid-pitch off some fixed nuts.

Casey on Quiver and Quill (5.10c)

Whimsical Dreams (5.11b)

Blake on Whimsical Dreams (5.11b)

Me on Sidewinder (5.10-)

On Monday, Blake, Casey, and I climbed at Thunder Ridge. None of us had ever been there before, and it's not listed in any guidebooks. We got recommendations by word of mouth and the beta form Mountain Project. Not surprisingly, we messed up the approach and bushwhacked for a mile or so. It was worth it. Thunder Ridge was torched a few years ago by a massive forrest fire. But the area is recovering, and it was beautiful. The wildflowers were out in force and the granite was stellar. We spent the morning climbing slabs at The Quarry in the hot sun. After noon, we moved around the corner into The Wasp Canyon and found some great steep routes in the shade. I started by putting up The G Route, a 5.12(?), which climbs mostly 11ish jugs on steep with a V3 ish crimper problem in the middle. It was really cool. Blake put up Storm (5.12(?)), and Casey put up Point of Entry (5.10+). Of course, without a guidebook, we didn't know what any of these routes were at the time. It was a crap shoot. We won.

Approaching Thunder Ridge

Casey on Pulp Friction (5.8+)

The G Route (5.12)

The G Route (5.12) from Todd Bartlow on Vimeo.

Casey on Point of Entry (5.10+)

Casey and I went back to Whimsical this morning. We did a warm up, then checked with headquarters (rock/paper/scissors) for the first redpoint attempt. I won, climbed strong through the bottom, and fell apart at the crux. Oh well. Casey pulled the crux like a champ, but fell out of the last roof secondary to messing up the gear. Next time...

In other news, Mike bailed, so I won't have a visitor for the next couple days. I'm bummed...I was looking forward to the escape from climbing and causing boyish trouble around town. He realized that Golden was going to be 700+ miles out of his way, and I don't blame him for rearranging his plans. I'll have to tour the Coors Brewery without him...

Rest day tomorrow. Probably climb Thursday. Rest and travel Friday. Estes Park for the weekend and early next week. Then, maybe Fort Collins...

Catch you later!

TBiz

J Crack

2009-06-18T19:50:00.000-07:00

I took a day trip with Casey to Estes Park yesterday. Estes is the access town to Rocky Mountain National Park. There is tons of developed climbing in the park and around town. We climbed on The Book at Lumpy Ridge, an area which I visited a few weeks ago with Cody, Tricia, Jess, and Gwen.

I forgot the guidebook in the car, so we were somewhat limited to routes which I already knew. We got on J Crack, a sweet 5.11c or 5.9 A0, which climbs a striking crack system up the central slabs of The Book. I had been on it once before, so I gave Casey the lead on the fun/crux pitches. We tried to free the short crux section, which consists of face climbing style moves through a thin, flaring, tips crack with small, difficult pro above a slab. She made it further through than I had on my previous visit, but whipped into the slab. In gutsy style, she adjusted her pro, and pulled it on the next attempt.

We did a few other routes before the menacing storm clouds, which had built through the day, began to unleash.

Here are some photos and a video.

Estes Park from The Book

Me on Loose Ends (P1, 5.9)

Casey on the crux of J Crack (P3, 5.11c), onsight attemp from Todd Bartlow on Vimeo.

Curvaceous

2009-06-17T20:07:00.000-07:00

I went to a show last night at Red Rocks Ampatheater and spent today good and hungover. We did get out and do some climbing...a few pitches at Wall of the 90s in Clear Creek Canyon. I got on Curvaceous again. It's awesome. Here are some photos.

Todd and Case on Curvaceous 5.11b

I've been keeping a Google map of places I've stayed and climbed. It's also got places I plan to visit. Kind of interesting...

View Cracks and Crimps in a larger map

Tomorrow, we're going to take a day trip to Estes Park and climb on Lumpy Ridge. We're planning to do a few routes on The Book. Hopefully...no rain...

This weekend and early next week we're going to climb in the South Platte area and in Shelf Road. Should be fun.

Country Club Crack

2009-06-17T08:22:00.000-07:00

Case and I climbed Country Club Crack yesterday. CCC is a classic 11c on Castle Rock in Boulder Canyon. It is the most striking line on the crag and is interesting both for its climbing and its history. The route has a really tricky face climb boulder problem start, probably V4ish, which used to be climbed as a bolt ladder. Past the boulder problem, the route follows a beautiful multiple crack system to the summit. The cracks have tons of pins and scars from pre-cam ascents. Really interesting.

We checked with headquarters (rock, paper, scissors) to decide who got to lead the crack pitch. I won. Case worked hard on the start, but wasn't able to get it and pulled through on the bolt. I couldn't get it while I followed either. My crack pitch was beautiful. Lots of small hands crack to a roof, then the pitch crux, flared baggy fingers for 15 feet. I took a fall or two, Case walked it.

On the rap, we set a top rope on P1 to practice the boulder problem start. After lots of work I was able to piece it together...double tiny crimps dynamically to a sidepull, match, low left press, bump the foot, grunt and windmill to the jug.

Anyways, if we get on it again, I'll lead P1, she'll lead P2, and hopefully we can get it clean.

Bloody Sharp Rock

2009-06-14T19:03:00.000-07:00

I'm back in Golden after three days in Vedauwoo.

Before the Vedauwoo tales, I've got a few pictures from last week. Last Wednesday Casey and I spent the day climbing in Boulder. We hiked the First Flatiron in the morning and explored Castle Rock in Boulder Canyon. While climbing at Castle Rock, we ran into Micha, who knows Casey from Ironworks. Micha joined us for a pitch or two and we made plans to meet again. Here are a few photos from the Flatiron...

On Thursday, Casey and I drove to Vedauwoo. I posted a message as we arrived describing the weather...it was intense. I was in Vedauwoo two weeks ago with Cody and loved it. It was great to return. As I mentioned before, Vedauwoo is known for wide, flaring, granite cracks. The climbing is really hard and the rock is mean. Casey and I agree, the YDS ratings in Vedauwoo are the hardest we have ever experienced. We both got bouted off Main Street, a classic 5.10a offwidth splitter. Neither of us could climb it...straight up...couldn't do it.

We were able to climb a lot of other great stuff. Casey and I both led Flying Buttress, a sweet 5.10b roof dihedral. I struggled up Ghost Dance, a 5.11b with a scary bouldery start to burly hands/fists/offwidth. Micha met us on Sunday. He climbed the first pitch of Friday the 13th, I climbed the second. Photos...

Vedauwoo

Vedauwoo gear...enormous cams and thick tape gloves

Casey on Flying Buttress (5.10b)

Micha on Friday the 13th (P1, 5.10a)

Friday the 13th (P2, 5.11a)

Ghost Dance (5.11b)

Micha on Finally (5.9), Casey on the belay

So yeah, Casey and I are back in Golden. Her belongings arrived over the weekend, so we'll move her in tomorrow. We haven't decided on plans, but we'll take off climbing again sometime this week. A lot depends on the weather. If the weather remains unstable, as it has been for many weeks, our options are limited. If it cleans up, we can commit to some longer routes...like on The Diamond in Rocky Mountain NP. ***insert anti-rain dance***

As for long term plans, I'll be in Colorado until early July. The Durks is rolling from New Orleans to Sacramento in a week or so. We are trying to meet in Colorado for a few days. Casey is out of town for the later part of June, so I'm thinking I'll climb with friends in Denver, Estes Park, or Fort Collins. In early July I'm thinking about meeting an acquaintance in Bozeman, MT, to climb for a few days. I'll continue from there to meet Nate in Missoula for a weekend. A few friends from the Bay will be on a cabin trip in Montana, so I plan to chill with them. Then, in late July I'll continue West towards Washington and British Columbia. I plan to climb around there till August sometime then head South. Micha lives in Portland, so I plan to climb with him at a few local crags. Then, eventually, I'll return to CA.

That's the plan. Rock on.

Todd

Fat Cracks

2009-06-11T13:15:00.001-07:00

More climbing! Casey and I just arrived at Vedauwoo. As we drove in
we marvelled at the storm clouds surrounding us. As Casey opened her
car door the sound of thunder rang loud. Within two minutes it was
hailing outrageously. We're now sitting in the car waiting for the
cell to pass.

Casey found a one bedroom house in Golden on Tuesday, but she shipped
her belongings as freight. It won't arrive till next week, so we have
a few days to climb before we move her in.

We're going to climb in Vedauwoo, weather pending, until Monday. I'll
try to take lots of photos and post them next week.

NREMT-P and Casey!

2009-06-08T18:36:00.001-07:00

I took my National Registry Paramedic written exam today. It was my
last testing hurdle to becoming a Paramedic. The test is administered
by Pearson Vue, a national computer based test services provider. For
this reason, I was able to take the test here in Denver, despite going
to school in the Bay Area.

The test can last up to two and a half hours and 180 questions, but it
runs on a certainty principle. So if it is 95% certain you are going
to pass or fail, it stops your test early. I was about 80 questions
in when it shut down my test. I thought it would tell me a
preliminary pass/fail, but it did not.

I think I passed. I wasn't 100% confident, but I thought I was doing
okay. I will get the results on time in the next day or two. Then,
NREMT will mail me my certification.

Once I get the certification, Ill apply for licensure in Alameda
County. So, hopefully, on my return I'll be eligible for a job. And
get one...

In more interesting climbing news, Casey arrived in Golden last night.
She is moving to Golden from Berkeley to start a Ph.D. in mechanical
engineering at School of Mines in the fall. I met up with her after
my test. We did some climbing, then I went to view a apartment with
her. We climbed for a couple hours in Clear Creek Canyon at Wall of
the '90s. Of note, I onsighted Curvaceous, an awesome 5.11b/c.
Sorry, no photos

In the next few days I'll help Casey move in, do some more cragging,
then head for big rock. Casey and I are talking about Vedauwoo, Rocky
Mountain National Park, and/or more.

Good times.

Todd

Not Quite

2009-06-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

Well, alright. Blake and I tried our marathon of climbing yesterday. Blake's idea was to climb all the routes at Little Eiger (Liger) wall in Clear Creek Canyon. He had asked friends to join him in this mission before, but they all thought he was nuts. I was in to it.

Clear Creek Canyon is just above Golden, CO. It's waters feed Coors Brewery and fill all of your Coors beers...mmm...

Anyways, we tried. The guidebook has 28 routes for the crag. We disqualified four routes from the mission. One was disqualified because it was a disgusting looking open project and another because it was really wet. Blake started on the two trad routes at Liger, but the approach ramp was wet and slimy and both cracks were choss, so they got disqualified. So, we were left with 24 routes, all sport, and all but one were single pitch. The multipitch was three class 5 pitches and and long class 4 choss trundle.

We started strong, in warm and sunny weather, just before 08:30 and had 6 routes completed before anyone else arrived at the crag. We knocked out the multipitch early and descended in changing weather conditions to eat a quick lunch. It sprinkled a bit, but the rock stayed dry. The weather continued to deteriorate through the afternoon...as did our power and endurance. 10 hours in to the climbing, it was clear we weren't going to make our goal. At about 19:30, it began raining in earnest. We retreated to our beers waiting in the creek.

All told, we both climbed 16 routes, 19 pitches, and 1650 vertical feet. The routes ranged from 5.9-5.12a/b with a concentration of routes in the 5.10+/5.11- spectrum. Many of the routes went up onsight or redpoint, and each was followed on toprope.

We took a bunch of photos, but I have no idea which route is which. Here they are in chronological order.

Denver

2009-06-03T16:15:00.000-07:00

The rain finally let up and I got to climb a bit today. Blake, a friend from Indian Creek, and I, climbed at the Wall of Justice in Clear Creek Canyon. I attached a iPhone photo.

I stayed the last two nights with high school friends, Natalie and Dave, and their three month old son in Lakewood, CO.

Blake offered his place through the weekend. A few roommates are our of town, so there is room for me. He lives in a house in a nice Neighborhood in South Denver.

I am going to be climbing some and studying lots until my test Monday. One big plan, weather permitting, Blake and I are going to climb all the routes at Little Eiger in Clear Creek on Friday. There are 28 routes, 5.10-5.12, single pitch, mostly sport. Hopefully the weather will let us make a run at it. I'll take the camera.

Catch you later.

Todd

Vedauwoo

2009-06-01T14:09:00.001-07:00

Hi!

I just returned to Golden from Vedauwoo.

Cody and I left Boulder last Thursday after walking the First Flatiron. Cody's girldriend's brother lives in Fort Collins, so we drove there for the day. Cody, the brother, some roommates, and I toured the New Belgium and Odell Breweries. We played some beer games at the house for the early evening, then went to a local bar. The bar had a $1 microbrew pint special for the night. It was awesome.

The next day Cody and I drove to Vedauwoo, between Laramie and Cheyenne, in Wyoming. I was instantly psyched...the rocks looked awesome, the landscape was beautiful, and we got an awesome no-fee campsite. It was sooo much nicer than the previous week in the parking lot of a Boulder hotel.

Awesome Tentsite

Vedauwoo is comprised of a few lumpy granite formations which host lots of splitter cracks. Vedauwoo is especially known for wide cracks; offwidths and chimneys.

Some Rocks (and Clouds)

Cody and I climbed as many routes as we could Saturday and Sunday, before seeking shelter each day from afternoon thunderstorms. We intended to climb today, Monday, but the weather was questionable, even in the morning.

The climb of the visit was Horn's Mother, a 5.11a offwidth/fist/hand crack. It was awesome. I struggled up it in two pitches on lead with one fall and one hang. As we walked down, an Alex Honnold (not sure if it was him) looking character topped out the route on free-solo...ego bust for sure. Anyways, it was fun.

Cody and I on Horn's Mother (5.11a)

I am having dinner tonight at the house of a high school friend. I have to take my National Registry Paramedic test in Denver next Monday. So, for the next few days I am going to climb with a guy from Denver and study. I'll let you know how it goes.

Casey moves in to the Golden area sometime next week. I am psyched...a place to stay and a baller climbing partner. Should be good.

Vadauwoo!

2009-05-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

I just rolled into Vadauwoo, near Laramie, Wyoming. Cody should be
here soon. I have some reception, so I can post a quick one.

This place is awesome. Sick looking rocks with mean looking cracks.
Easy free camping. Beautiful landscape.

We'll be here through Monday. Should be awesome.

Check put this photo of my awesome campsite! There is
another great rock that's houses our fire pit.

Psyched!

Eldorado Canyon

2009-05-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

Cody and I climbed in Eldorado Canyon today. When planning my visit towards Colorado, I was told that Eldo was a must. Turns out...it's mostly a choss pile. Cody and I climbed a few routes. Bastille Crack, the 5.7 namesake of one of the major formations, is described in our guidebook as the 'most climbed route in Colorado.' It wasn't all that great... We also climbed Rosy Crucifixion, a 5.10a R, which was recommended to us. It was good, different in style, and heady, but not great. As per the recent norm, we got rained off the summit of our last climb. Anyways, at least we got to climb in the sun most of the day...

We didn't take any climbing photos, but here are a few of the formations

The Bastille

The Wind Tower

Redgarden Wall

Flatirons

2009-05-26T16:32:00.001-07:00

I managed to sneak in a bit of climbing this afternoon. I climbed the
First Flatiron again, a bit different route than yesterday, from the
base to the summit. Here is a photo from the First Flatiron of the
Third Flatiron.

Estes Park

2009-05-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

It's been over a week since my last full post, but frustratingly, I don't have much climbing to report.

I left Golden last Tuesday morning and drove up to explore Boulder. Cody had an internet date with his girlfriend and Tricia was in the Rocky Mountain NP backcountry with Mike, so I didn't have anyone to climb with. I called a few people that I have met, but came up dry.

Boulder is an interesting town. 'Ten square miles, surrounded by reality', I have heard it called. I ran and worked out along the river, checked out the library, and killed time for most of the day. Late in the day, I got a call from Tricia, she and Mike bailed from the backcountry due to weather and snow conditions near their climb. I drove up to meet them for the night in Estes Park.

I climbed in the Estes Park area for four days with Tricia, Mike, Cody, Jess, and Gwen. I met Jess a month ago in The Creek. He is a climbing ranger in RMNP and lives in a sweet park service owned house with his girlfriend, Gwen. We got to stay a few nights at their place a few nights and spent a few more camping in the national forest and sleeping in the cars in a hotel parking lot. We climbed a three days on Lumpy Ridge, an awesome formation which lies just behind Jess' house. Mid afternoon thunderstorms forced us to end most climbing days early, but we did do a few sweet climbs. Most notably, I got on FEMP (5.9, 3 pitches) and J Crack (5.11c, 3 pitches), but I didn't get any photos. We did a few other short climbs on Lumpy. Here is a video of Cody on a wide one...

Cody on Yosemite Crack (5.?) from Todd Bartlow on Vimeo.

Tricia had to leave town after Lumpy, day three. She started work Saturday in Laramie, Wyoming, guiding a group of Army dudes in the woods for NOLS. She's post-holing with them in the Wind River's for almost a month. I might climb with her a bit more when she's done there.

Our forth day in Estes was predicted to get wet early, so Jess suggested a different crag. Jurassic Park is a small sport crag outside of Estes on Hwy 7 near Lily Lake. As expected, our day was cut short by the weather, but not before a few climbs. Here are some photos.

Jess on Dynamometer (5.11b)

Me on Edge of Time (5.9)

After climbing at Jurassic Park Saturday morning, Jess, Cody, and I spent the day in town. Cody and I celebrated my birthday fully and stayed the night in our cars at the Holiday Inn. The next morning, we left Estes for Boulder, planning to climb in El Dorado Canyon and on the Flatirons.

Deterred from paying $7 to access ElDo with impending rain, we climbed shortly Sunday in Boulder Canyon at a formation called The Dome. We did a quick, but fun, two pitch 5.7 before retreating from the weather. Here is a photo.

The Dome

Yesterday morning we woke up to dry rock, and hustled to gather our gear for a climb. We went to the Flatirons and simul-climbed the First, summitting as the day's first thunder rang out. We did a single rappel as the rain started and hiked down in a powerful hailing thunderstorm.

Luckily, this weekend has been fun in Boulder, despite the weather. Bolder Boulder, a foot race and extensive park fair kept the town lively for Memorial Day weekend. There were a number of booths with interesting displays, items for sale, and giveaways. There were also three stages throughout town with public concerts and performances. Not bad entertainment after getting rained off the rocks. Cody and I hit the happy hours for a while yesterday. He taught me how to play Cricket with darts. Tons of fun...

There is no free camping near Boulder, so Cody and I have been staying in our cars in the back of the Millennium House hotel parking lot. Believe it or not, it's nice...it's easy to poach the hot tub, pool, or a shower and there don't seem to be security patrols in the parking lot, so no one has bothered us. I've got my bike, so the car stays there for the day while I explore town and local crags. Only bummer...it's really hard to keep everything dry.

Anyways, it rained all night. If it drys out a bit better this afternoon I might climb the First Flatiron again. The weather is supposed to break for a few days, starting tomorrow, so hopefully I will have more productive climbing to report on my next dispatch.

Rock on.

Todd

Weather v Climbing

2009-05-25T16:32:00.001-07:00

Four days in Estes Park and two days in Boulder...early afternoon
thunderstorms have shut down the climbing every day. Stories and
photos to come when I can access the Boulder Public Library computers
tomorrow sometime.

Booze on...

Todd

Golden

2009-05-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

Alright...rest day. I am hanging out in Golden today. Cody and I drove into town this morning from the South Platte area. We are going to check out a few museums, tour the Coors brewery, and hit a happy hour on the main drag.

I have latitudinally traversed most of Colorado during the last week or so. After leaving Moab, I drove to Rifle, in Colorado, to meet and climb with Tricia. I arrived in the evening, the day before Tricia was going to be there. So, I explored the small park and surrounding roads to figure out possibilities for avoiding camping and vehicle fees. I left the car just outside the park and took and few beers on a bike ride through the climbing area. I met a few dudes who had just set up a campsite and were doing a route or two before it got dark. Casey and Zane had just graduated from Western Colorado at Gunnison and Thatcher was here to visit them. They invited me to their campsite for the night. They had lots of firewood, so I brought some whiskey and beer. We were joined later that night by John and Autumn, and the next night by Bobby and Catherine, two couples, also from Gunnison, who were starting climbing road trips. I climbed and partied with their group for three days.

After a day or two I was joined by Tricia and Cody, two friends of mine from The Creek. The whole lot of us did a bunch of fun routes. Rifle was beautiful. The ground was green and the trees were all blooming. The creek was running high and cold. The rock is limestone, and becomes very polished on heavily trafficked routes. Tricia and I decided to go off the beaten path and try an interesting looking dihedral that hangs over the top of The Wasteland Cave, despite the guidebook giving it no stars. Done as one pitch Cappucino was 21 bolts and 150 feet...a sport climbing adventure! The cave at the base was the crux, but it's rock was solid. The dihedral above was a tricky stem-fest and was often quite loose. I did lots of gardening and rock moving during my ascent...

Here are some photos from Rifle.

Rifle

Tricia, Cody, Catherine, and Bobby

Unknown (5.11c)

Feline (5.11a)

I left Rifle Friday and drove to Colorado Springs to take care of some errands. I walked around downtown and had the previously described funny encounter at 'The Worlds Smallest Bar'. That night Tricia and Cody met me at Turkey Rocks. The three of us climbed together Saturday, and Cody and I climbed yesterday.

Turkey Rocks is granite, which was great to climb on after three weeks on sandstone and a few days on limestone. On Sunday, the crag was busy, so Cody and I jumped on a cool-looking crack system which wasn't in any guidebooks. We topped out in three pitches without too much difficulty and had a great time exploring unknown terrain. I lead the third pitch, which was an interesting chimney tunnel-through that put us on the summit. While at Turkey Rocks I was also psyched to onsight Quiver and Quill (5.10c) and Great White Crime (5.11b), two interesting single pitch crack systems.

Quiver and Quill (5.10c)

So...I hope all is well with you. I am likely heading North towards Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park, and maybe Vedauwoo with Cody and others for the next few weeks. Catch you next time.

Todd

Turkey Rocks

2009-05-16T19:23:00.000-07:00

Hi.

I am climbed today and will again tomorrow at Turkey Rocks. Turkey
Rocks is one of many climbing destinations in an area called South
Platt, deep in the hills above Colorado Springs.

I drove to Colorado Springs from Rifle Friday. I restocked a bunch of
food items at Costco and referenced some climbing material at REI. I
also tried to go to the library to use the internet and post some
photos, but they were closed for the evening.

Instead of hanging at the library, I decided to explore downtown
before heading back to the hills for the night. Colorado Springs is a
cool town. On the way back to the car I wandered the main nightlife
drag, which was just getting started for a big Friday night. I
stopped for a drink at the smallest bar in the world. The bar had
just four stools as was something like 30sqft. The bar gives a fun
shirt to anyone who buys a round. So, a weird dude bought a round of
shots for me, the other two patrons, and the bartender. It was
interesting.

Tricia and Cody climbed for a while in Rifle on Friday and met me at
Turkey Rocks that evening.

Tricia left this afternoon climbing to meet a friend in Denver. Cody
and I drove into the nearby redneck town for a bit this evening to
make a phone call or two.

I've got more stories and lots of photos next time I use a computer.

Bye!

Todd

Slickrock!

2009-05-11T09:06:00.000-07:00

Hello!

I am still in Moab. I left Indian Creek Saturday and came to Moab to do some chores. I decided I couldn't pass through with my mountain bike on the roof of my car without going for a ride or two.

After getting laundry and things done Saturday, I decided to take a cruise up to the Slickrock trail. I only planned to do the Practice Loop, as it was late in the afternoon. The Practice Loop was strenuous and extremely technical, but the sun was still high, so I continued on the Main Loop. I was able to ride the whole thing, about 11 miles, plus another 4 to and from town, about 15 miles total.

I haven't been riding much, so the trail was pretty strenuous for me. I was also surprised at the extreme technical ascending and descending that the trail required. I had to dismount my bike on multiple occasions because I felt incapable of negotiating the terrain. Once, I fell at low speeds while trying to ascend a hill, and twice, I slipped and almost fell while walking my bike.

I forgot to take the camera, but here is a photo I shot with my phone.

I planned on resting yesterday in order to get a few things done around town. As I was getting moving in the morning, I ran into two climbers that I know from The Creek. They were planning a short day of climbing in Arches National Park, just outside of Moab. Their plans seemed better than mine, so I joined them for the day. We did two single pitch cracks and it started getting pretty hot. I grabbed my book and spent the afternoon in the shade while they climbed a Argon Tower.

I was hoping to ride the bike again today. Multiple friends recommended the Porcupine Rim Trail, which I was going to do as a ~30 mile loop from car to car. Frustratingly, I woke up this morning with a sore right ankle. I don't know if it is from the climbing, hiking, or cycling, or a combination of it all, but I need to give it a rest. No Porcupine Trial for me.

I am going to Rifle, in Colorado tonight. I am meeting Tricia, who I climbed and camped with in The Creek, tonight or tomorrow. I think we'll climb in Rifle for a day or two then head to Denver or Boulder.

Other than the sore ankle, all is well.

Catch you next time.

Todd

Moving On

2009-05-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

It's getting too hot in Indian Creek.

After our short venture into Colorado to avoid desert rain, Anneka, Tricia, and I returned to The Creek for more climbing. We rejoined Peggy and Jess in the Bridger Jacks campground and put in two long days. In order to stay in the shade, we did double crag days: southwest facing in the morning and northeast facing in the afternoon.

I climbed a few more classics that I had wanted to get on, struggled on some projects, and played with some offwidths and chimneys.

We climbed with Jess, who I met for a day before our Colorado jaunt. Jess works summers as a climbing ranger in Rocky Mountain National Park and winters as ski patrol in Breckenridge. He starts work in RMNP in a week. I'll likely climb with him again and bum the couch at his place in Estes Park.

Jess suggested Critics Choice Wall on the first afternoon. He wanted to try Belly Full of Bad Berries, which he had wrestled with once before. Belly Full is a incredible looking 5.13- overhanging offwidth splitter that runs up the left underside of a huge arch system. It starts at #1 Camalots and quickly widens to #4s, continuing to #5s or a #6 just before the anchor. It is unlike any offwidth I have ever seen and requires a climbing technique that heightens the novelty.

As the crack widens to fist jams, the climber is forced to invert, placing their feet in front of and above their hands to make forward progress. By jamming your feet together, you switch to hand stacks then hand-fists to up-side-down inch worm your way to the anchors.

After watching Jess battle for a while, I had to give it a try. I got through the lower crack and inverted at the fists. I figured out a foot technique by which I could go hands-free. It was so awesome we went back the next afternoon to try again.

Sadly, after two long hot days in The Creek, it is time to move on. I am getting stuff done in Moab today. I took my third shower in three weeks, shaved for the second time, and am about to do my first load of laundry. I am also contacting climbers that I have met to make plans for climbing in Colorado.

I am going to stay in Moab for another day or two. I figure I can't pass through without riding a few of the legendary mountain bike trails.

By the middle of next week, I imagine I will be climbing in Boulder or the surrounding areas.

I hope everyone is doing well.

Enjoy the photos!

Todd

3am Crack (5.10)

Anneka on Coyne Crack (5.11+), Tricia on the belay

Belly Full of Bad Berries from Todd Bartlow on Vimeo.

Jess on Belly Full of Bad Berries (5.13-)

Me on Belly Full

Tricia tries Belly Full

Mill Creek

2009-05-06T14:00:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody.

We only got shut down by the weather for one day. Yesterday, we climbed at Unaweep, CO. Today, we put in a short one at Mill Creek, UT. And this afternoon we're on our way back to Indian Creek for a few more days.

There might be some bad weather this weekend in Indian Creek...it also might keep getting hotter...too hot. So, I don't know how long I'll stay. It's likely that I'll head on to new crags further East in Colorado next week.

Here are some photos!

Todd

Weather at Indian Creek, UT.

Unaweep, CO.

Mill Creek, UT.

Livingston

2009-05-05T15:30:00.000-07:00

So, it turns out, I can climb hard after drinking 1.5L on Livington's
finest Cab Sav the night before. I wouldn't have believed it till I
tried.

We got a great day of climbing today at Unaweep. We did a cool three
pitch route that topped out Sunday Wall and played on a few slabby
lines.

Now we're back on the road, enroute Mill Creek for a day of sport
climbing. We'll make a quick stop in Moab tomorrow afternoon for
supplies, then we're returning to Indian Creek for a few more days
until some weather moves in this weekend.

I'll post more photos and such next time I have computer access.

Todd

Rain

2009-05-04T10:03:00.000-07:00

More rain. The rock is wet, so we're spending the day hiking at
Coloado National Monument. Hopefully we can climb tomorrow at Unaweep.

Unaweep!

2009-05-03T11:42:00.001-07:00

I'm on the move!

It rained a fair amount in The Creek yesterday and last night. Some
people are still climbing, but the sandstone is a bit wet. Sandstone
can be dangerous for climbers when wet and climbing on it can damage
the rock. So, we're going to give it a few days to dry.

I left my car in our campsite and am rolling with Anneka and Tricia.
We're meeting Mike this afternoon in Grand Junction and going to climb
at Unaweep for a few days. The rock is granite, so we're hoping for
better conditoins. Pictures later!

Todd

Bruised

2009-05-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

Well, I am back in Moab again. I planned on taking a rest day today, but not in Moab. I was hoping to take a sweet bike ride in Canyonlands NP which traverses from the Visitor Center to the edge of the Colorado River. The end of the trail overlooks the Colorado at a spot called 'The Bend' where the river makes a cool huge S turn. I don't get to ride today though, because I am limping around from a good fall yesterday.

I was on 4x4 (5.11) at 4x4 wall, a hand crack in a dihedral that widens to baggy hands/small fists out a decent roof. The anchors are about eight feet after the roof. I had just pulled the roof and was trying to establish myself in the crack above when I cut loose. It wasn't a huge whipper, but I hit the arete to the right of the dihedral with my leg during the catch. It's not too bad, just some bruising, as you see in the picture...but enough to keep me off the bike today.

Other than a minor injury everything is going well. My friend Max left last week, so I am now climbing with people I have never known before. It's great.

Max knew a group of climbers through a Wylie. Wylie is from the East Coast, but has spent the past few years climbing and working seasonal jobs for the Park Service. He was most recently in Joshua Tree and starts a new job next week in Lone Pine. Wylie left yesterday to visit family before the new job starts.

Wylie was here climbing with Mike and Tricia. Mike left a week or so ago to start a Park Service job in Dinosaur, CO. We might climb with him again in the next few weeks.

Tricia is Austrian, but has been in the States since she was 18. She works for NOLS as a climbing and hiking guide. She guides all over, but has lived primarily in Bishop for the past three years. She is going to be climbing in the area until mid May, so I will probably climb with her in Indian Creek and CO for the next few weeks.

Prior to my arrival, Tricia, Mike, and Wylie met Anneka. Anneka is from outside of Telluride, CO. She has spent the past six years in the mountains working many jobs while climbing and skiing. She blew out a knee last January, so she is trying to focus on climbing for a while. She is also planning to climb till mid May, so Tricia and I will likely climb with her more too.

We also met Peggy. Peggy is about 50 years old. She's a former professional skateboarder from SoCal. She was featured in a few movies which documented the origins of skateboarding. She is now a painter, climber, and surfer. She's been in Indian Creek for a few weeks and also plans to stay till mid May. She is awesome.

We're all camped near each other in the Bridger Jacks, a free campground down a bumpy dirt road with no amenities. The weather has generally been warm/hot in the sun and nice in the shade. We had a few days of really strong wind, which was miserable. The wind blows the desert sand everywhere. It's so fine in grain that it penetrates everything. Before I learned how to build a good wind wall with rocks, the sand had blown under my rain fly and into my tent, covering everything. We got an hour of rain one night, but otherwise it's been dry. They're predicting a bit more rain in the next few days. If the rain amounts to much it will shut down our climbing in this area. The sandstone becomes dangerous to climb when it's wet, so you have to let it dry for a few days after each rain.

The climbing has been great. I've onsighted lots of the 5.10 classics, including Generic Crack, Supercrack (aka Luxury Liner), Incredible Hand Crack, and a bunch more. I have got a few good 5.11s and .12s and am working on a lot more. I especially need to get Scarface, Rock Lobster, Annunaki, Big Guy, and now 4x4, the bruiser.

The plans are in the air at this point. I will likely continue to climb with Tricia and Anneka for a few more weeks, and we might meet up with Mike. But, due to the weather I don't know where we'll be. It's possible we'll stick it out in The Creek. It's also possible that we will leave the desert for more dependable rock in Colorado.

I hope everyone is doing well. Enjoy the photos.

Todd

Wylie

Anneka

Indian Creek

Annunaki (5.12-)

Big Guy (5.11)

Pics!

2009-04-28T11:19:00.001-07:00

I hitched a ride with some friends to Moab for the afternoon. I was planning on going on a bike ride in Canyonlands NP for my climbing rest day, but the option of restaurant food and internet access was too enticing.

Here are a few more photos. My friend Max is climbing some heinous wide cracks in a few, another is of Wylie drinking JD, the rest are me.

Good times.

Todd

Quickie

2009-04-26T16:38:00.001-07:00

Well...we climbed two more days since my last post. I took Max to the
train station in Grand Junction and am in Moab for the afternoon. I
have a bunch of photos and videos to post, but the library is closed
on Sundays (crazy Utah). I'll post a bunch of fun stuff next time I'm
in town. I'm off to get groceries and ice for the cooler then back to
Indian Creek to climb with new friends. Photos and stuff next time!

Photos!

2009-04-23T14:17:00.001-07:00

Alright! I got my photos to work at the library. I am still having trouble with Max's camera...he's got some cool videos that I'll put up once I get it to work.

The Beginning

2009-04-23T11:17:00.000-07:00

Three days of climbing down, so it's time for a rest day.

Max and I are hanging out in Moab for the day. We had a cheap all-you-can-eat breakfast and are now working on a pitcher at McStiff's. I can't get the photos to work right now...but there will be plenty of them next time.

We rolled into The Creek late Sunday night after about 16 hours of driving. We almost ran our of gas when I missed out planned stop in Nevada, luckily we rolled into Lovelock on fumes. The rest of the drive was uneventful and boring.

I've got my rack, Max has his, and he borrowed two more from Davis friends. So, we have enough gear to climb anything without borrowing. It's awesome. We've got a few great photos and a video of our cams all lined up. I'll post them once I figure out how to make it work. We must have almost 100 pieces...It's rad.

We split the days Monday and Tuesday climbing between two different walls each day, hitting all the classics. We were both pleasantly surprised to walk most 5.10s and do okay on the 11s. Yesterday we climbed the Pratt-Robinson on North Six Shooter, which was adventurous....to say the least.

Anyways, all is well. Photos next time.

Todd

Anticipation

2009-04-12T23:08:00.000-07:00

A rock climbing road trip. If you're not a climber you might ask, what are cracks and crimps? From rockclimbing.com:

Crack - n. An inwards split or break in a rock face.

Crack climbing - n. the act of climbing continuous cracks in the rock often requiring specific techniques and protection methods.
Crimp - vb. to grip in a way such that fingertips contact the hold with knuckles raised slightly.

Crimper - n. a small edged hold which is conducive to crimping.

The first stop, Davis, but not for climbing. Saturday is Picnic Day at UC Davis.

The real climbing road trip starts Sunday. Max, a college friend, and I depart for Indian Creek, in Utah. Indian Creek is known as one of the best crack climbing locations in the world. Max plans to stay for one week. I plan to be on the road for four months. Here is a map with a few anticipated destinations.

View Cracks and Crimps in a larger map.

Stay tuned for more short posts and lots of photos.

Todd