6-28-12: Goldilocks

Raza on the first ascent of Goldilocks [v9]

Here is a blast from the past.  I got the FA in May of 2009.  This is a problem in Bridalveil facing the Meat & Potatoes wall.  Not many holds, but just enough to get you by.  (You can say that about many Yosemite boulder problems, though)  It all boils down to a dyno to a decent edge, but you have to grab the hold just right, hence the name: Goldilocks.



Here is Randy Puro on the second ascent.


-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

1-5-09: Barrel of Laughs

Scott Chandler on Barrel of Laughs [v6]

Here's another cool problem to check out after the snows melt and things dry up. Barrel of Laughs is up the hill from the main Bridalveil boulder and was put up by Noah Kaufman last spring.

Also Happy New Years from BetaBase. Let's hope that 2009 is a great year for climbing. May everyone send their projects!

-Raza

12-22-08: Ataturk

Lyn Verinsky on Ataturk [v5]

Hidden on the far end of the main Bridalveil boulder, is a cool traverse (not always an oxymoron). It starts on underclings at the bottom of an unnamed seam problem (#6 on page 37 in new guide) but heads left on good holds and finishes on the v0.

Ataturk was named after Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey. I'm not sure why that popped into my head, but he is a pretty amazing man.


As many of you all know, the valley is currently blanketed by a good layer of snow. It looks like it might be time to start heading to Bishop, or farther south if things don't start to melt soon. I guess it is a testament to how much I like the valley, when I won't totally give up on the season when the web cam looks like this!



-Raza

11-24-08: Orange Face

The Orange Face, located at the Bridalveil boulders, is a new line that I climbed last weekend. Monica and I cleaned it earlier in the year and originally thought it would be a moderate. Haha...after trying it for the first time I realized it was in fact going to be quite difficult. The climb is short and powerful followed by a somewhat delicate slopey topout.

Directions: From "Barrel of Laughs" just turn around and you'll see it! From "French Quarter" walk southwest about a hundred yards; it's on the south face of a really large boulder and its orange!

Enjoy!

-Junior

9-30-08: Seasonal and There Goes the Neighborhood

The first two problems I've established this fall season are not difficult but are both quite fun. They add to the warm up circuit around the Bridalveil Falls area. Pictured is Seasonal [v2], to the left is There Goes the Neighborhood [v2]. Both names are inspired by a less than neighborly exchange I had recently with one of the law enforcement rangers that lives across the street from me. Anyway, there is more soon to come!

-Justin

5-5-08: French Quarter

Brian Hedrick with the FA of French Quarter [v7?].


Scott Chandler sticking the crux move.


Last year while exploring around the Bridalveil Falls area, I stumbled across an incredible boulder. It was not until this spring (just a couple of weeks ago) that I actually got around to inspecting it further and cleaning off the holds. The boulder is probably close to 30 feet tall, although the second half of the problem is very easy climbing. Here's how it goes down: Stand on a rock under the roof and start on a blocky jug. Climb up to a sloper on the arete, grab another sloper and throw for a crimp out on the face. Proceed to the top without falling. Brian Hedrick nabbed the FA and dubbed it French Quarter and we both thought v7 was a fair estimate for a grade. The approach is fairly simple: From the main Bridalveil boulder (the really big one near the parking lot) walk up the hill on a climber's trail. When the trail starts to flatten a little you'll see a large decomposing tree on the ground to your left. Walk along the tree and you'll see the boulder straight ahead. Bring your pads for this one and have fun!

4-17-08: Wall to Wall Carpet

Paul Barraza on Wall to Wall Carpet [v9?]

It's getting warmer these days so the other day we sought refuge by warming up at the main Bridalveil boulder. The guidebook lists many projects on the boulder and we got interested in a line facing the parking lot - but one that didn't quite match any of the described projects in the book. The bottom had obviously been tried but the top was very dirty. I managed to pull out the first ascent after discovering a decent edge out left. The rest is history.

To find the problem, park at the main Bridalveil Falls parking lot and hike to the big obvious boulder that you can see for the bathrooms. Wall to Wall Carpet is facing the parking lot.

-Raza

3-13-08: Retrofit & others

Another two problems that were discovered, cleaned and climbed in short order are located on an unnamed boulder about 100 meters up from the Bridalveil Falls parking lot. Their discovery begs the question, "how many climbs have been found while searching for a good place to pee?" The first problem to go down sit starts in the obvious dihedral and climbs right with much awkwardness onto positive holds. Not to sound like sour grapes (since I was never able to escape out of the damn dihedral), but folks with a good arm span have a SERIOUS advantage here. In all fairness, tall folks in our group still used a tiny and rather heinously sharp crimp to gain the better holds out right, so it isn't all sunshine and roses being 5'10" and up on this problem. Paul named this line "Escape from Alcatraz" and Scott suggested a grade of v4, which besides hurting my ego, seems a bit sandbagged. Here's a video of Scott making it look at least v5.




The arete to the left is the problem that actually drew us to the boulder in the first place. The line is aesthetic and there are some obvious start holds. The one drawback is the tree directly to the left of the start, but by careful body placement, it doesn't get in the way too much nor pose a hazard in the fall. Here's a video of Paul on the attempt before his send. The move that he falls on appears to be the crux. The grade for "Retrofit" is in the ballpark of v7.