8-2-09: Leo the Lion

Randy Puro on the first ascent of Leo the Lion [v9]

Here is another cool line on the Orion Boulder. This is just on the left side of that same face. This post will be brief because I am in South Africa right now - enjoy the video!

-Raza

7-5-09: One Inch Punch

Randy Puro on the first ascent of One Inch Punch [v9]

Here is another cool problem near Orion on the Horse Trail. It is called One Inch Punch because the crux is a move where your hand only has to move a few inches! It is still the crux though.

-Raza

6-4-09: Orion

Cole Zuelke climbing Orion [v8]

Back in the beginning of the spring season when the snows were starting to melt - Scott Chandler took me out to a cool new boulder that he found right off of the Horse Trail to Mirror Lake. Although Scott got the first ascent by himself and only one pad, I would suggest bringing a few pads and a few friends. The top isn't hard, but you are pretty high up by then.

-Raza

P.S. My original video of Scott Chandler was so terrible, I had to change it out.  I hope Cole doesn't mind!!

5-23-09: Kudra

Lyn Verinsky on Kudra [v6]

It is Memorial Day weekend and the hordes have invaded Yosemite Valley. No, not just the hordes of tourists, but the hordes of mosquitoes as well! It is time to catch up on some posts from the spring valley season - so stay tuned!

Kudra is a cool arete up in Candyland that Matt Wilder put up a few years back. It has a scary tiered landing, but that is more of a mental crux than anything else since I have never seen anyone land on the upper tier of the landing. The climb culminates with a commiting move to a good jug a few feet below the lip.

-Raza

5-16-09: Orange Face- Revisited

Randy Puro nabs the second ascent of the Orange Face [v10] at the Bridalveil boulders. Nice job Randy! See a previous post on Orange Face.

-Scott

5-6-09: Fluffy White Clouds

Justin Alarcon on the FA of Fluffy White Clouds, v6

Not a highball? Some Yosemite regulars would call this blasphemy. Others point to such fine problems as 'Tap Dance' [v10], 'Chocolate Bunny' [v6], and the 'Bear-Hug Mantel' [v4] as examples of how pleasant a little lowball action can be. To this end, I submit 'Fluffy White Clouds' [v5-7] for the community's approval. While it may not be as classic as the previously mentioned lines, it should be a nice addition to the Yosemite lowball circuit.

This problem is located on the small boulder adjacent to the 'Panic Room'[v9] boulder.

-Justin

4-15-09: Supervillain

Last fall I cleaned a project on the same big boulder that hosts 'Diesel Power' [v10] in the Crystals area. I was able to manage a high start off of the adjacent boulder, which became 'Villain' [v4], but the full line remained a project. Yesterday, amidst some random April snow flurries, Randy established the full line in a last-go-of-the-day effort. Serious kudos!

Disclaimer: I am not a professional film maker and I didn't behave like one while recording the ascent, so please forgive the language, unnecessary commentary, and shaky footage.

In case you can't tell from the video, the landing on this problem leaves much to be desired. The most difficult part can be made reasonably safe with several pads but a fall from the upper section would result in hitting the granite slab and then tumbling into the log filled moat below.

-Justin

4-9-09: Skelton Problem

Randy wondering, "what are we doing?"

Kind of a misnomer really, it should be 'Skelton Solo'. This problem was rediscovered, so to speak, on a pleasant morning last fall.

While a group of us were descending from soloing the classic 'Oak Tree Flake' [5.6] I mentioned to the group that there was a problem nearby listed in the old Don Reid guidebook as a [v8 X]. I was curious about the problem but I couldn't remember much of the details. I mistakenly thought it was called the 'Skeleton Problem' or 'Skull Problem,' but I new it was on the western end of the Swan Slabs. Unfortunately, the Swan Slabs area was omitted from the newest bouldering guide to Yosemite. Fortunately, there are a lot of fun warm-ups and technical faces to play on there so its worth a visit.



When the group returned to the base Tim and Randy returned to a tall slab that they'd been eyeing prior to my arrival. When I saw it I was certain that it was the enigmatic problem we'd discussed only minutes before. Clearly this wasn't a problem that saw regular traffic, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if it hadn't had a second ascent. Moss and lichen had grown over many of the holds (and non-holds) but there was clearly a line to be climbed.

The 'Skelton Problem' is basically three boulder problems in one. The first obstacle to overcome is establishing on the climb. The first "hold" is approximately 9 feet up the slab and once reached must be mantled without the assistance of any other holds. This is solved with a run-up-the-wall and jump method followed by a bit of grunting. The second mini-problem is a difficult slab section to another knob, this is probably the crux. The final bit isn't as difficult, but it is quite insecure and one finds their self quite height at this point, this is the mental crux.

Randy was the first to stick the jump and commit to the territory above. I think he chalked and re-chalked for a good five minutes contemplating the final slab while Tim frantically cleaned holds from above with a long bubba brush. Tim, Kevin, and I followed suit each managing to scare ourselves a bit despite the security of Randy's coattails.

Yours truly, preparing for the mental crux.

Randy executing, Tim cleaning.

The problem is named after a long time local climber by the name of Ron Skelton, 67. Ron and his wife Liz operate the Blue Butterfly Inn in El Portal, just outside the park. He was recently featured in Climbing Magazine No. 272 for being a cancer survivor with aspirations to climb 'Astroman' on the Rostrum this spring or summer. I recently asked Ron about the history of this climb and here's what he had to say:

"...a number of people had worked on that problem before I tried it, Dale Bard, Ron Kauk, and several others come to mind. No one was willing to go for it! They would do the mantle and look at the face and jump off. I had to clean it as I climbed, also I remember several loose edges that broke off as well. The hardest part for me was the mantle as I am 6'4" the face was in the 5.11 range I thought, but I don't know what others might think. I don't know much about the new rating system for bouldering."

His height would explain how he managed to reach the start of this problem with just a cheater stone. Of course Ron's height wouldn't have helped him much in the event of a fall from the top. I wouldn't want to take that fall with a stack of bouldering pads, he didn't have a single one!

As to the grade of this one...its a little irrelevant if you ask me. Its not [v8]. I think a Yosemite grade of [5.11 R/X] is probably more appropriate, but I wouldn't try this if you can't do 'Blue Sued Shoes' [v5]. The bottom line is; if you are looking for something a little more obscure and a lot spicy, check this one out. Just don't blame Betabase if you hurt yourself.

Photos courtesy of John Vallejo

-Justin

3-23-09: Raising Arizona

Lyn Verinsky on Raising Arizona [v8]

A couple of weekends ago we had really good temps in the valley. The snow had mostly melted out, but it hadn't gotten hot yet either.

I climbed at the Arizona Avenue boulder in Camp 4 for the first time and put up a sit start to Spanish Flies,v3. It starts squeezing a slopey arete and transitions into the spicy top out of Spanish Flies. Scott Chandler and Lyn Verinsky got quick ascents right afterward, check out the video of Lyn's send above.

-Raza

3-16-09: Two Bolts or Not to Be

Randy Puro on Two Bolts or Not to Be [v10]

There are a few lines in the valley that we have found that would be under the "maybe someday" category. A line that you think about, but seems too out of reach to actually drag a crew down to try. Two Sundays agoand two years after first cleaning and scoping the line, we headed down to attempt to boulder a short Ron Kauk route down by the highway 140 entrance. I believe he did the first ascent in the mid-nineties, long before the era of big pads, but exact details are unclear.

The first part of the climb is a very technical arete which leads into a steep roof, the crux being sticking a dyno to a sloper and crossing to a good pinch. The last move wouldn't be very hard if the move was a few feet off the ground, but becomes very committing when when you have to heel hook at hand height (making you totally horizontal). At that point your back is about 18 feet above the pads.

The climb was still a little wet from the melting snow, but Randy stuck with it and by the end of the day it had pretty much dried out. More impressive, his heel flew out at the crux and he took a screamer of a fall, but he kept trying, culminating with the send captured above.

-Raza