What made you love climbing this week?

The longer I’ve been in the sport, the more my favorite thing about it has been watching the joy it brings others. So how did it bring you joy this week?

A few years ago, I put bolted my first route I could remember being truly, individually proud of. It was a feature that had caught my eye the first time I ever scouted out the massive region that came to be known as “Wonderland” here in CO, and I knew it was going to be hard. Up to this point, Wonderland had been quite a party-of-one and I was hoping to find someone else to get stoked on it. I managed to hook a sucker to come check this line out with me, and he was pretty immediately psyched on projecting it for the FA. For the next few weeks, I’d go out there and develop and would link up with him to see how the projecting was going. He went to war a bit with the route, it was awesome to see. Overall I think he ended up sending on the fourth or fifth session, which happened to be the first weekend I had managed to convince a group of people to come down to camp out. Spending that weekend out there with a bunch of barely-not-strangers, developing new routes and projecting the lines we’d spent a few months developing, having a bonfire at night, etc - was one of the few times I’d ever felt like I was truly in the “community”.

Years later now, I hear from everyone that the guy who was projecting that route still tells everyone about it whenever he finds out they either know about me or Wonderland, and has genuinely become a real friend (shout out Joe love you brother). This past weekend, I managed to con someone else into getting on the line, and it brought back all of those memories. In a time where I’ve been experiencing quite a bit of burnout with the sport lately, it was exactly the type of return on investment that just reset my stoke for the work.

I always dig watching the kids in the gym. Just playing and having fun be it on a route or w/e the game is.

lol lil' monkeys.

This week? That's tough since I'm battling some climbers elbow. Still had a great scramble a few days ago though, and will get up there tomorrow and Sunday! Just touching rock my local mountains brings me joy. 

However, the happiest day of my climbing life, and maybe my entire life, was also on a route that also I named Wonderland! Very different story from yours but I love to share it so here goes. 

I stumbled upon 20 feet of out of character jugs on a low angle piece of rock in the Sandias, I scrambled up a bit and suspected that the jugs might continue to the top. I couldn't get it out of my mind. Every moment my mind could wonder it went back to maybe the best 5.4 in the Sandias!

So I did what any normal person would do: I grabbed my rack, rope, a handful of shrooms, and went out for my first lead rope solo. It was a beautiful calm fall day and the Aspens were dripping in gold. I started climbing jugs and digging out gear placements. P1 was short and sweet up to a big tree. I turned an arete at the start of p2, looked up, and just giggled and giggled. Above me was a system of dikes that ran up the entire wall.  Behind me a forest speckled with gold and red and a rugged ridge blocking my view of the city. All around me everything was breathing with me, the rock, the trees, the lichen, the air. The oxygen outside of me was the same as the oxygen inside me. I felt a deep joy and contentment in every move and gratitude for every feature I saw and used. I've had a lot of moments of flow and oneness, but never like that. 

I wondered up, climbing up and down and left and right finding the best path with the most quality rock. P2 was 45 meters of jugs with just a little spice — incredible! P3 had a little more wondering than p2 lots poking around but I figured out an acceptable path. P4 was throw away. I later came back and found a better finish. I named it Wonderland (3 pitch 5.6). Partly because of how much you can wonder around on the dikes, partly the obvious Alice in wonderland hallucinogenic reference. 

It was such a good climb at the grade that I wanted to open it up more folks just getting into the sandias, so I added a couple bolts and a bolted anchor that made both p1 and p2 wonderful long pitches. Now it's three excellent 5.6 pitches of super fun and out of character climbing for the area. 300 feet of jugs. I honestly can't believe it went unnoticed. Everyone I've talked to has a different favorite pitch, which shows me how special it is. I hope many more people make wonderful memories wondering up Wonderland.

Thanks for bringing back some of my best climbing memories. Wonderland is a great name for a route. 

Nick Goldsmith posted some sweet ice climbing photos.

Oh right, you can't / won't see those

Trouble Twrote:

Nick Goldsmith posted some sweet ice climbing photos.

Oh right, you can't / won't see those

This feels in pretty poor taste, as it’s both beating a dead horse and like you brought the pot back in the room just to stir it. Tal gave a respectable, reasonable, and polite response to having ignored a particular user, something every user has the right to do. Also, on a post that is about fostering joy, of all things. No need to make things weird bc someone’s undies are still in a wad, just let it be.

EDIT: and to my best understanding, I don’t have Nick ignored, which leads me to conclude that he didn’t even respond to this thread, you just slapped his name on it. So this is actually twice as weird behavior as I initially thought.

I’ve been finding quite a bit of joy in recent months, this past week included, showing the ropes to a newer climber. This friend is a native to Colorado, and has long done every 14er, but is new to the world of more technical rock climbing, so it’s awesome to hear him express that it feels like he just unlocked another dimension to enjoying life outdoors. Recently went up another classic with him in which he got to see some sandstone box work for the first time ever, and was floored by it, just as I was my first time(and every time, for that matter). Not having much in the way of mentorship in my early climbing life, it always bring me joy when finding appropriate moments/relationships that allow me to bring someone else to cool experiences sooner than I found myself doing so. 

This past week I climbed with my first climbing partner, some 52 years after we first roped up. Nothing but easy routes and huge smiles. 

My dad used to climb and i fell in love from the few times i followed

This past week me and my wife of 12 years ditched the kids and got out for a day of climbing alone. 

We both climbed our hardest grade ever, an on again off again long term low pressure "project" (the same route).

 But what made it really great was the relax and ease of the day. The quiet, the stillness, the crisp air, the budding flowers, and soft breeze. You know, those things that keep us all coming back to this place. 

Was the grade soft, probably...but maybe, just maybe it was the energy of years of partnership that allowed us to send. 

Thanks for asking. 

In the same week I led my first 5.12c in the gym, a pretty spicy 5.5 on gear, and started learning how to aid, and all three felt equally rewarding. It’s awesome to have a sport with so many dimensions to grow into and a bottomless pit of learning to be done. Any time you run into a wall in one aspect of the sport you can start focusing on another and find all kinds of things to stay stoked about.

This week the temps in New England are finally beginning to swing. After a pretty damn good ice/ride&ski season my wife and I finally realized this week that all this is going to melt! Now we get to start thinking about all the rock projects we have in line. Always a great feeling over here when we get a pretty decent winter for a change!

Spraying on the gram about all my hard sends, then counting the likes of course.

A close second was updating my 8a.nu scorecard and seeing who I was better than

It was 45 degrees outside today in my neck of the woods… decided to post hole up to the local crag and get a couple pitches in. After like 6 straight weeks of below freezing temps, it was unbelievably nice to feel the sun and rock. I brought my friend there for the first time and he was able to onsight some really fun routes; nothing beats the feeling of share that with someone for their first time.

Joe is the man and has mentioned on more than one occasion to hit up wonderland at some point! Keep up the good work Tal, your routes are very much being enjoyed.

Got my campsite booked at City of Rocks for early June! And, made the decision to camp in town (City of Rocks RV, super nice folks), in September, since that one is also my artists' group meetup, and those peeps will be at the Almo inn, mostly.

Knowing, no matter what, soon enough I'll get to spend time with my tribe. That, is always a huge plus.

Nice topic!

Helen

Wesley Kwrote:

This past week me and my wife of 12 years ditched the kids and got out for a day of climbing alone. 

We both climbed our hardest grade ever, an on again off again long term low pressure "project" (the same route).

 But what made it really great was the relax and ease of the day. The quiet, the stillness, the crisp air, the budding flowers, and soft breeze. You know, those things that keep us all coming back to this place. 

Was the grade soft, probably...but maybe, just maybe it was the energy of years of partnership that allowed us to send. 

Thanks for asking. 

You two rock!!

exploring a 30 foot boulder on TR and unearthing a 4-star V2 was the highlight from yesterday

Yesterday I got to close out the season climbing several Cathedral  Spires, I also spent some time coaching a new partner on desperate slab I didn’t have to lead. It was a perfect Birthday!

Unexpectedly bumping into friends at the crag.  Deep conversations tucked in a very private part of Clear Creek.  Sun on my face and wind in my hair.  

Doing a long flowy warmup, I've done many times and realizing that It was just as fun and rewarding as sending my project:

Having the epiphany that I love climbing for the sake of climbing and not for the sake of achievement or progress. 

First climbing “fall” for our 3 year old. Top rope and in winter boots, carrying his “superpower stick” he found on the hike in. This stuff is good clean fun for all ages. 

I got excited by a boulder at the gym for the first time in quite a while. I sent it first try yesterday after two full working sessions.

Seeing new/newish climbers learn and try something new, and the enjoyment that both climbing and just being outside with good people bring others, is always a point of joy for me. Specifically, this week, watching my partner on her first ever multi-pitch and seeing the look of amazement and pride of achievement at both the belay stations and at the top before we walked off.