Telluride Bouldering Beta- Ilium

I thought it would be fun to share a little info on some of Ilium's classic problems. I have also listed the page number that this problem can be found on in the guidebook. Check out "A Bouldering Guide To The Telluride & West End Areas" by Christian Prellwitz for more information. The guide can be found locally at Between the Covers, Paragon Sports and Jagged Edge. It can also be found online at Bent Gate, as well as many other retailers.

(All pics courtesy of Erika Curry-Elrod)

'Pinch' (v4) p.66

Given v3 in the book, this powerful prow probably falls more in the v4 range (maybe even hard v4?). Start sitting below the obvious prow with your left hand in a good undercling and your right on any one of an assortment of holds. Many people use a pinch (hence the name). I personally prefer a tiny crimp, located right above the pinch. Hard, burly moves ensue. This is one of my favorite problems at Ilium. But, you have to try hard!

'Itsy Bitsy Spider' (v7/8) p.75

The testpiece of the area. Thin crimps on a slightly overhanging face. Beautiful and pure. Start on the two obvious low crimps/edges. Make a hard move right to more crimps. Set your feet for the crux deadpoint to another sloping edge, just below the top. Snag this and then the top. Be ready for a tricky mantle. Pine needles often accumulate on the top of this boulder. Definitely brush the top before attempting. It would suck to fall after all the hard moves are over because of a few pine needles! It's important to note that 'Itsy Bitsy' does not use the good crimp further right. It seems plausible as a variation and is probably quite a bit easier (I haven't tried it yet). This crimp is also part of the 'Itsy Bitsy Arete' (v1+).

Spidey Sense (v4) p.75

Around the corner from 'Itsy Bitsy', this vertical face really boils down to the starting move. From a sit start, match hands on an obvious diagonal edge on the left side of the face. Choose from a selection of small feet. Pull hard and stick the slopey edge at 8.5 feet. Easy moves follow. Beware of the dirty top out.

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.

Back From Mt. Hood

I'm back in Telluride- a month early. I severely fractured my thumb running GS and will most likely need to have surgery on it. As I wait to see how long I'll be out of commission, I thought I'd share some more photos of bouldering in the Telluride area. Some of these were featured in my book A Guide To Bouldering In The Telluride & West End Areas. This spring I wrote mainly about the new development going on at Ilium, but there are new problems going up at other areas as well. The Cove, located in San Miguel Canyon, has seen several new problems put up on high quality blocks in the past year. The east end of the Telluride valley, home to the Mine Boulders, is littered with dozens more beautiful boulders and will be the focal point of Telluride bouldering development in the coming years.

1-Scotty cruising up 'Itsy Bitsy Spider' (V7), one of the benchmark Telluride boulder problems. 2-Leah Boelman on 'Karma' (V3+) at the Mine Boulders.
3-Catherine Gilb looking smooth on 'Sometimes I Still Feel The Bruise' (V0).

Hidden Gems

Went to Ilium again today. Seems to be an ongoing theme. It's not that I'm avoiding the Mine Boulders or other areas, I just have been having a fun time cleaning and climbing new problems at Ilium and spending time in some of the more obscure areas. Today, Dasha and I climbed all of the problems at Rivendell and some problems in the North End. Here are the photos.

(above) Me on the sit start to 'Bilbo Baggins', a hard V3.
(below) Dasha midway through the sit start to 'Shadowfax' (V1+).
(bottom photo) Here is me again, this time on 'Heroine' (V2+). The left hand edge of the sit start has broken, so this now starts standing, as shown. Right hand on original low pinch, left on bad pocket, finish straight up. The grade is pretty much the same.

The Latest

Mountainfilm came to Telluride this past weekend. It was a fun event. I didn't go to that many films- just 'King Lines' and 'Fitzroy' (as part of the Chuck Kroger Tribute). 'King Lines' ended up winning the Charlie Fowler Award for Best Climbing Film. It was a really enjoyable film that showed how much fun climbing can be when we forget about grades and all the other stuff and just go climb.

On Sunday, I did a book signing as part of the Reading Frenzy. It went well. I sold a few books, met some cool people, and got a chance to catch up with Ginny Fowler Hicks (Charlie's sister). We didn't know each other well while Charlie was still alive, so it gave me a chance to express how much Charlie meant to me and I was able to show her the dedication to Charlie in the book, and give her a copy. She was there signing copies of 'Mountain Star', which is a children's book about how to draw a star using the story of Charlie Fowler's life. Look for it in your local bookstore!

In addition to all of that, we've also been doing some climbing. I ran into some guys from Phoenix yesterday, and they complimented me on the book. They were giving 'Pinch' (V3) on The Premier all of their effort. I comforted them by telling them the grade was rather sandbagged. It's probably closer to hard V4, but the local hardmen say V3. I'm happy to say they pushed hard and completed the problem, sending in good style.

Anyhow, here are some pics from the last few days. First, Damon Johnston sending the proud direct start to 'Beams of Light'. This problem is listed in the guidebook at V2+ and goes at that grade if you head slightly more right and then up. This new variation moves from the undercling to crimps for the right and left, and then to a hard to hit sidepull. Pull the feet up and throw for the rail! I would say the grade of this is closer to hard V3 or easy V4. Though Damon made it look pretty easy by sending it in only a few tries.

My last photo is of Scotty Nichols climbing one of the last projects for the area- the hard arete of The Shire boulder. Scotty nailed the stand starting with a left hand undercling/pinch low on the vertical rail on the right side of the overhang, and his right hand above that on a cool vertical pinch. Foot trickery and a big throw lead to some campusing and a hard finish on crimps and a good edge. The grade is probably somewhere in the V5 range. The sit start is still a project. Here is 'Headlights Like Diamonds'.

New Problems From Ilium

Dasha and I spent yesterday cleaning problems and climbing at the Disappointment Boulders at Ilium. This rarely climbed area is actually starting to clean up quite nicely and offering more climbs than originally thought. All of the problems are short and trend towards the easier side of the V-scale, but most of them are fairly fun, and there are a couple of harder problems that will be quite good once we finish cleaning them.

Pics: 1-Dasha cruising up the super fun 'Slavic Slab' V0. 2-Dasha pressing out the crux mantel of 'Short Circuit' V0+. 3-The improbable starting crimps of 'Pumpkin' V0-one hard pull leads to a very easy finish. 4-A bad left crimp and a shallow pocket for the right lead to jugs, a dynamic move for the lip, and a satisfying mantel- Christian begins 'Le Grand Champignon' V0+.