10-29-09: 601

Paul Barraza on the FA of 601 [v8]

The El Cap Boulder is a solitary boulder found near the parking at the "Devil's Elbow" along Northside Drive. The established problems on this boulder are tall, crimpy, and of very high quality. This past weekend a new problem, which had somehow lain dormant all this time, was added to the boulder. Paul and I cleaned the obvious arete to the left of Zodiac [v10] thinking a compression problem would be a nice contrast to all of the crimping on the boulder. It turns out 601 is more of a complimentary piece than a contrast.

As usual these days, Paul was the first to make his way to the top with Scott and myself close on his heels. Thanks to Scott for providing the video. In regard to the grade, [v8] seems to be fair, though it may feel a touch easier or harder depending on your height (typical).

-Justin

10-17-09: Do-bop

Hey everyone! Do-bop is a great problem (one of the more interesting for the grade in the valley) located directly below Lower Cathedral Rock. This area doesn't get a lot of traffic but is easily accessible and has some very interesting rock. Check out pg. 38 of the Yosemite Bouldering guidebook for approach and problem description. There are several other lines in the immediate zone, the highlight of which is a hard to describe slopey lip traverse/ arete/ overhang called Squirrel [v6] that Jacob Copeland cleaned and climbed a couple years back. Stellar moves with amazing rock! Without further ado, here is a video of Natasha climbing Do-bop. Enjoy!
-scott