Chains of Love 

Time cover: Sept 6, 1999 (for story "Why We Take Risks")you can check it out at:www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,991894,00.html (at least until they change their web site)

kind of ironic that the Time magazine article is about risk, and the picture shows a guy climbing a bolted route.

The fashion risk, on the other hand, is extreme.

There is nothing quite like a good pumpy lip encounter.

I agree with Matt. This route is super fun. I easily did it in one pitch. The route looks imposing, from the ground, but it is all there. It has been a long time since I did this classic, but I remember the crux being a killer cross-over move from an undercling into good holds, then a sprint up the headwall. Just when you start to get pumped, the wall eases up to vertical, and finishes on small, positive edges.

A couple of thoughts on Chains of Love:

- We did this climb as one long pitch and a 60 meter rope did NOT get me to the ground. Even though our rope had been chopped about 5 feet, I was still about 10 - 15 feet from the bottom when we ran out of rope. The belayer worked his way up to the first bolt to get me down.Lower slowly and be sure to tie a knot at the end of your rope!

- There are two cracks to choose from on the first trad section.We chose the right hand one(which looked like the most direct line) and this felt like 5.10 to me. Not all that easy, but good gear.

-This route is fantastic and true [Flatirons] classic. Very nice steep climbing on cool crimps, jugs and pockets. Great setting. The trad pitch is fun too, and a good warmup for what waits above.

Sounds like Lanzano may have chopped MORE than 5 feet off his rope thus necessating having his belayer climb up to the first bolt. Lesson learned: use a 70 M rope on this route or retire your old, worn out ropes....

Just after they did the photo shoot I was up there hiking and I saw this dude named Roland Thompson free solo this route.

He did the same sick hang that Colin did, only without a rope.

That dude was crazy - is he dead yet?

Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner?

Matt Samet and I replaced all eight bolts plus the top and middle anchors today with beefy 1/2" stainless bolts from the Anchor Replacement Initiative (ARI). Please support them if you don't already. Most of the old bolts were mismatched sizes and quality ranging from decently rusty and thick to sketchy skinny and loose. Three old bolts were a unique size that we did not have a wrench that worked for and so they are still in the rock next to the new bolts. We hope to return next weekend to remove them, sorry. The route is super safe and classic as ever though, so get on it. In my opinion, a top 10 sport route in Boulder.

A worthy days effort on Labor Day. Thanks for all the hard work rebolting these routes.

Chains of Love: I did the first ascent of this route on June 17, 1989. Greg Robinson did the second ascent the next day. Paul Pomeroy did the third shortly thereafter. Greg and Paul were there from the get-go also working the route and hanging out in Fern Canyon, a fun place to hide from the sun and the heat under the dense pine canopy that summer of 1989. We had lots of good times, found lots of new routes and had a lot of good laughs. I did this route (on a rest day) while I was working on the second ascent of Verve which I did four days later. The picture on the cover of Time Magazine was shot on August 6, 1989 from a photo session with Beth Wald. Photographers were always bugging you to wear bright colors for a photo shoot back then. At the time, I would have done almost anything to get my picture in Climbing Magazine. Little did I know... The Time Magazine cover came out ten years later. Evidently, from talking to Beth, Time called when she was out of the country. One of her staff pulled some stock photography to fullfil their request for photos showing "risky" outdoor activities like rock climbing. I am not sure Beth would have selected that picture as there is a bolt right next to my hip - yeah, not too risky at all. I'd often ask, "Did you see my picture on the cover of Time?". The quick witted reply, "Yes I did, but who is the climber?", was perfect. Got that one a bunch, i.e., I'm the monkey so who is the climber? I was also working on the first ascent of Violator during the same period. Wow, looking back at my log that was such a great time. I was working for Greenpeace part-time canvassing in the evenings and I was climbing almost every day. My Social Security statements tell me that my annual income was $3,314 that year. I had no money and was the happiest I've ever been because all I had to do every day was focus on what I loved to do, climb. Thank you Jason, Matt and the ARI for replacing the bolts on this route. We didn't have a lot of money for bolts back then and we used whatever we could find at McGuckin Hardware.

I bolted this route the day before the first ascent. I hiked to the top alone and got freaked out by a big swarm of bees hovering in the trees below the slab that leads up the backside of the route. As I started climbing up the slab the swarm of bees lifted, en masse, and started following me up the 100 yard slab. I started sprinting up the slab and just as I got to the top the swarm descended on top of me. Super freaked out now, I squeezed under a big potato chip of a boulder on the summit and waited it out. After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably less than a minute, the swarm pulled away and flew back down the slab into the pine forest. I never got stung even though the bees where crawling all over me as I tried to burrow farther underneath the boulder. It took a few minutes to regain my composure but eventually I drilled the anchor and then rappelled and down-aided the roof placing the bolts in reverse. It was just one of those moments in life that get etched into your memory. I don't think I'll ever forget that day. This route just exuded quality from the start. The cliche was "instant classic", but this one really felt that way. The position, the movement, the rock quality, it was all four star. One of the best at the grade in the Flatirons in my opinion. By the way, we had fixed pins on the first pitch for protection, but over the years they have all been removed.