Summer Solstice  V7

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Type:  Boulder, Alpine, 20 feet Consensus:  V7 [details] FA:  New Route:  Yes Submitted By:  COEveryman on Jun 30, 2010 You & This Route  |  Other Opinions (1) Your todo list: Your stars: Your rating: -none- [change] Your ticklist: [add new tick]

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The majority of these boulders are located within the Mt Evans Wilderness Area, which is regulated & patrolled by the US Forest Service. Climber MORE INFO >>> The majority of these boulders are located within the Mt Evans Wilderness Area, which is regulated & patrolled by the US Forest Service. Climbers should be on their best behavior, practice Leave No Trace, and please abide by these requirements: - Approach Areas A, B, & C via the Chicago Lakes trail (from Echo Lake). - Wilderness Permits are required for all visitors to any federal Wilderness Area. Permits are free and self-issued. A kiosk is located at the point where the Chicago Lakes Trail departs from the reservoir, at the entrance to the Wilderness Area. - Group size: travel in federal Wilderness Areas is limited to groups of 15 people or less. If you find yourself in an area, say around the Dali Boulder, where there are more than 15 people, please disperse. There are plenty of excellent boulders elsewhere. - Minimize creation of social trails. None of the trails surrounding the bouldering area are officially maintained by the USFS. Ample access trails currently exist, please stay on the existing trails, and do not create any more trails. - Do not destroy vegetation. This is a fragile alpine environment, with a short growing season. It can take vegetation decades to recover from damage. Place crash pads judiciously, and keep brushing to a minimum. Before adding new lines, considered the damage that may be caused by additional foot traffic, pad placement, etc. - Chalk is un-sightly to non-climbers. Please avoid chalking up boulder problems that are visible from the Chicago Lakes Trail, and in general, keep chalk use to a minimum. Brush all tick marks off after every sesssion. Use containers that prevent chalk spills. If you do spill your chalk, clean it up. - Stashing crash pads is expressly forbidden by the USFS. Any pads found by USFS personnel will be confiscated. - Noise: This is a wilderness area (did I mention that?) that is enjoyed by many, mostly non-climbers. The last thing passing hikers want to hear are your self-indulgent f-bombs, I-Pod speakers, grunting, etc. In fact, most other CLIMBERS don't want to hear any of these things either. The easiest way for us to loose access is to elicit complaints from other user groups. - Dogs must be leashed at all times. Consider others when deciding whether or not to bring your dog, specfically considering that dogs like to scare away wildlife, and most other users would prefer not to have the wildlife scared away. Obviously, clean up after your dog. Remember that we are guests in this area. Be respectful of other users and the USFS Rangers that manage this area. This information is a public crowdsourcing effort between the Access Fund, and Mountain Project. You should confirm closures, restrictions, and/or related dates. Keeping climbing areas open and conserving the climbing environment

Description 

Start down and left of the small boulder at the base of the climb. Navigate up and right through a tricky sequence of crimps until you get yourself established on and okay crimp rail. From here, work up to either the lone crimp up and left or try to milk a fingertips lieback slot in the bottom of the crack. Some careful footwork will help you reach the lip which is a monster jug a the highest point.

An absolutely superb, crimpy, slab problem in an unbeatable setting at the base of the breathtaking, alpine slabs.

Location 

This boulder is ten feet off the base of the alpine slabs and can be accessed in a short 3 minute walk from either the Dali Boulder or the French Kiss Boulder. Approach from the French Kiss boulder is a bit more straight forward.

DESCRIPTION: The boulder itself is white-ish in color with an obvious, leftward-trending, quartz band on its lower left side. The crack near the top of the center of the boulder is the end of the problem which starts down and left on crimps.

OPTION A: From "French Kiss" walk twenty yards up towards the slabs and then turn left and follow grassy slopes about 200 meters to the base of the boulder.

OPTION B: From the Dali Boulder, scramble across house-sized boulders essentially straight uphill, aiming for the alpine slabs. Once you reach the slabs, look for the white-ish boulder described above.

Protection 

VERY IMPORTANT. A folded pad needs to be placed up against the bolder to the left of the small boulder at the base and then have TWO pads on top of the boulder and the folded pad. The reason for this being that a fall from the crux can send you straight into the small hole formed between the folded pad and the boulder--so two pads on top will help lessen the possibility of a twisted ankle. If you only have three pads, the one protecting the starting moves can be moved on top once the climber has moved a body length up and to the right on the problem. This is a safe problem if padded correctly.