A Few More From Eider Creek

Damon Johnston, Jim Hurst, Daiva Chesonis and I headed out to Eider Creek again yesterday to climb some more problems and explore a little bit more. Jim found some incredible new boulders just a few minutes uphill from the Tree House. The new route potential here is amazing. We're all super excited to spend more time here this fall. Here's Jim and Damon on two of the great new problems in the area.

Telluride Bouldering Guide

I wanted to take a moment to be selfishly promotional and tell you about the new Telluride bouldering guide. This is the first time that anyone has documented the bouldering in the Telluride & West End areas. Detailed information is provided for a lot of the well known spots like Ilium, the Mine Boulders and Atomic Energy. There are also many new excellent locations that are revealed for the first time.

The book is available in Telluride at Paragon Sports, Jagged Edge and Between The Covers. It is available regionally in the Four Corners area at all climbing shops and many other outdoor/book stores. It is also available at climbing shops in the Salt Lake City and Denver/Boulder areas. You can buy it online here.

So, thanks for your support! It's good to keep in mind that most of us local guidebook authors are not becoming wealthy from the sales. If anything, we use the minimal amount of money that we make to continue to develop new climbing areas. Your support helps us provide more climbing for you! I hope that all of you who purchase the book thoroughly enjoy it! Feel free to give me feedback regarding the book- grades, star ratings, directions, overall enjoyment, etc.

The Eider Creek Boulders

It's been a wonderful last few weeks for Telluride bouldering. First, the discovery of the South Fork Boulders and now development has begun on the Eider Creek Boulders. This new area is outstanding. Amazing problems on amazing rock. You will be hearing a whole lot more about this area over the next few weeks.

In addition to developing these two new areas, I am continuing to explore some other promising spots, namely the east end of the Telluride valley, and some locations around Ophir. The bouldering in the Telluride area is anything but tapped out.

Here's some pictures from the Tree House Boulders at Eider Creek. Damon Johnston climbing a great line on an amazing boulder.

New Telluride Bouldering- The South Fork Boulders

Damon, Daiva and I spent yesterday afternoon at the South Fork Boulders cleaning and climbing new problems. This is just one of several new bouldering areas currently being developed in the Telluride area. Damon nabbed some first ascents but was stymied on this short, but powerful sit start on a large boulder that Daiva has nicknamed 'The Whale'.

The South Fork Boulders

The South Fork Boulders are Telluride's newest bouldering area. I discovered these boulders about three weeks ago on an exploratory hike in the Ilium Valley. Since then, Dasha and I have been developing them- clearing and marking trails, scrubbing lichen, and cleaning loose rock. The new area is shaping up nicely.

This spot isn't going to supplant Ilium or the Mine Boulders as the bouldering area of choice for most locals. But hopefully, once it is fully developed, it will provide an alternative to those areas for people looking for something new. I am putting together a topo for the area that I will post for free at some point in the coming weeks. Here's what I can tell you now.

This area is located very close to Ilium. There is convenient parking and easy approaches for all of the boulders. There are three distinct clusters of boulders. The first area- the Eight Week Boulders- has about two dozen problems, mostly in the V0-V3 range, but there will be some harder problems as well. The second area- the Strawberry Patch- contains about a dozen problems in the V0-V2 range. The third area- the Golden Boulders- is the largest, containing about three dozen problems. The rock quality is similar to Ilium. The boulders are generally not as tall as Ilium, but the best ones are in the same range of height. There are going to be some outstanding problems at this new area, particularly at the third set of boulders. I will post more pictures as I get them. Here are a few photos of one of the boulders in the Golden Boulders area. Dasha likes to call this boulder the Fish Boulder.

So Long For Now

Dasha left today to head back to New Jersey where she'll have a couple of weeks to take care of things before she begins her PhD program at Rockefeller University. I'll be staying here in Telluride until mid September to do some distribution and promotional work with the guidebook.

It was sad seeing Dasha leave. She has been a wonderful and amazing part of my life for the last two years. I know that we will continue to be a large part of each other's life for a long time, but it's always sad when time moves faster than perhaps you're prepared for it to.

I'm looking forward to Fall climbing in the Gunks, watching Dasha move beautifully over quartz conglomerate. Until then, here are some pictures of her finally climbing one of her longest standing projects- the 'Flat Top Left Arete' V3+, The Cove.

Another Day At The Mine Boulders

We finally had a nice day on Wednesday (well, at least until it started pouring at around 5pm) and Dasha and I took advantage of it by heading to the Mine Boulders so that she could try to dispatch some lingering projects before she leaves for New York on Saturday. For those of you who don't know, Dasha will be starting a PhD program in Microbiology at the prestigious Rockefeller University in New York City in September. So, she's been on a mission to climb a lot of her favorite problems as well as a few longstanding projects (for her).

While at the Mine Boulders, we ran into a group of guys from Wisconsin who were enjoying the climbing with the help of my guidebook. Dasha and I had them join in with us and we gave them a tour of some of the best problems. Here's two of the guys on one of the Mine Boulders' best problems- 'Gravity's Rainbow' V2+. Intricate beta and powerful bear hugging make this classic a full body workout. (Note to the Wisconsin crew: get in touch with me and I'll send you the rest of the pics!)

Back At The Ilium Boulders

Dasha and I have been spending a lot of our time developing a new bouldering area just outside of Telluride, located very close to the Ilium Boulders. There are some excellent boulders there, with the rock quality being very comparable to Ilium. There will be more information on these boulders as we get further along in the development.

Yesterday, we spent a few hours at Ilium clearing some trails in the Shire and Rivendell area, as well as a trail to the Dark Side boulder. We also cleaned up 'Snake Hole', a hard V2 in the North End Boulders. This problem is short, but stout and quite fun. If you're in the area and looking for something off the beaten path, give it a go! It's located about a 100 feet left of 'Itsy Bitsy Spider'.

Here are two pictures. 1-Dasha Zamolodchikov using the mono beta on 'Snake Hole' (hard V2). 2-Dasha sticking the final hard move. It's all jugs from here.

An Afternoon Bouldering At The Cove

Dasha and I got together with some friends on Sunday afternoon for an afternoon of bouldering. It was raining in Telluride, so we headed twenty minutes down valley to The Cove where we were greeted by sunshine and pleasant temps.

Here are some pics from our time there: 1-Noah Sheedy working the sit start to 'Pine Tree Right Arete' (V2). 2-Noah's friend Nikki moving through the juggy middle section of 'Pine Tree Right Arete' (V2). Heel hook, bump, match, repeat. 3-Dasha Zamolodchikov blinded by the strain of the 'Flat Top Left Arete' (V3+). 4-Noah Sheedy demonstrating his ups on the 'Flat Top Right Arete' (V2). 5-Dasha remembering to 'Choss Twice Daily' (V0+).