What was your best climbing day of the decade?

Greetings all,

Another decade is winding down. What was your best climbing day of the 2010s? I'd love to hear stories from climbers of all experience and skill levels. Trad, sport, ice, mountaineering, bouldering, buildering, gym, anything counts. No great day of climbing is too small.

For my part, it was the day in 2011 when I topped out on the Bastille Crag three times. Bastille Crack, XM/Outer Space, and West Buttress in that order. Fortunately, I was climbing with an amazing rope gun who casually led most of the pitches (thanks mike c!) . I had only one fall on the 5.10 variation of West Buttress. What a day...

On a side note, there is still a couple of weeks left. It's not too late to add to your story of this decade.  

Cheers!

Probably topping out Playing Hooky with a visiting friend, not long after moving to Denver. Not a super hard route, I just really like things that are more than Reimer's height. We'd only climbed in the gym together before, so I was getting to host a treasured friend.

jan 2018 summitted aconcagua via the polish traverse with a buddy.

Probably climbing the N Face of the Grand with my son and his girlfriend. It had been on my bucket list for 40+ years.  Conditions weren't perfect - too much snow still - and I was far from perfect - not acclimated in part but honestly a bit too old (66 at the time) but fortunately my son is good enough to compensate for all that.

Whatever the last project I finished was. The euphoria wears off shortly thereafter and it's time for something harder and new. 

Finally got to climb in RMNP and learned how out of shape I am

The "Dunn Route" on Moses Tower(got destroyed on the dihedral, I swear that pitch is 12c!). Then an incredible BASE jump from the summit with the Wifey!

Maybe LBC on North Six back in 2011.  Did it with a couple college buddies and we had the tower to ourselves that day.  Carefree spring days in the desert before everyone got jobs were the best.

T-First - all the days I climbed outside

I did a V13 highball crack which is one of the prettiest climbs of its grade anywhere. I am extra proud because I got it done in one season while working 50-60 hrs a week. I had many bluebird days working it, but the day it went down was in November, after winter had started, on a day with constant 20-30mph winds with gusts up to 50+mph, and a blanket of snow all over the ground. The coolest day working it was in the fall when I ran into a bull moose sleeping just off the path I took to get there. It woke up, stood up, looked at me for a bit, then (thankfully) when I held up my walking stick in a threatening manner it ran away. Since it was less than 100 yards away with nothing between us, I was really glad it did not charge.

2015, Road tripped from GA to WV with a buddy for a week at the NRG and Seneca, best day was second day at seneca, knocked out a bunch of classics and shared some beers, whiskey and good food with a few other climbers back at camp.

I’d say doing my first climb in Colorado, Otto’s Route, before the bolts where replaced on the last pitch. Not a hard climb but fun and a little nerve wracking at the last roof. 

The time I summited the Plumbers Crack in Red Rock.  Such an epic.  What made it really special was the Instagram photo my famished and dehydrated friend took.  The crux was making it my Facebook profile pic later that evening from the hotel. 

 SE buttress route on Cathedral Peak on a perfect bluebird day in Tuolumne, June 2017.

The last day of the season, this year. It was calm and beautiful, and I got a bunch of satisfying routes done. The first big snow of the season was pending that would shut the crag down, and that made everything high energy.
Just one of those just right days.

Torment-Forbidden Traverse in a day, with perfect weather.  Awesome!

wow, so glad I discovered Roy, NM

This newly discovered place has something for everyone

#purevida #blessed

The Grand Central Couloir on Sacajawea with one of my best friends. I'll remember this pitch forever.

Last year I finally said fuck it, left Flatland, USA and moved out west.I could name over 40 different days in just this past year alone that each would have qualified as "decade-bests".

Previously, I would spend 355 days out of the year cubicle-dreaming of my one real vacation. Not only can I now do that shit every weekend, I'm doing it at a higher level than I ever thought possible - no way would I have even considered doing the whole Exum car-to-car after flying in from sea-level. But when you can spend every single weekend of August in the Tetons, suddenly the world opens up.

All a question of perspective. I hope yours is in a good place, dear reader. Worthy thoughts for the next decade.

40 routes in a day on my 40th birthday. Spending that day with my wife, kid, and a few close friends who followed me around belaying, cleaning routes, and keeping the psyche high despite it being a cloudy November Wednesday with a high of 45 degrees was definitely one of the highlights of my life.

It’s hard to pick one for the decade, but this year was probably banging out the Castle Valley Triple Nipple in a day via North Face, Ministry and Honeymoon Chimney.