Saturday, July 19, 2008

The Mine Boulders

We finally received a clear and sunny late afternoon/early evening yesterday. Dasha, Noah and I took advantage of it by heading to the Mine Boulders. We haven't spent much time there this summer, choosing to go to the Ilium Boulders or The Cove instead, but this place really is incredible. Tucked high into a steep mountain valley, surrounded by waterfalls, are some of the best boulders in the Telluride area. This is the place to go for steep Telluride bouldering. Only one wall is crazy overhung- the nearly horizontal east face of the Gym Boulder- but almost every boulder has at least one gently overhanging side. The Mine Boulders are deceptively pumpy. Before you know it your forearms are burning, and your last bit of strength is gone.

The conditions yesterday were spectacular. We met a number of nice people who were enjoying the guidebook and the sunny weather. Dasha and Noah climbed a bunch of problems. Here are a few of them: 1-Dasha pulling through the hard starting moves of 'Broken Ankle' V1+. The crux comes early, the anxiety comes later. 2-Noah Sheedy spotting Dasha on the incredibly pumpy 'Jug Traverse' V0+ (sandbagged).

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