Greatest Show on Earth

Nice work on posting this Remo. The problem does look sick! I wants to climbs it! May 19, 2009

Did you get on it remo?? May 19, 2009

I tried the opening moves, and it seems doable. But man, this thing is soooo dirty, and the top-out is a carpet of moss. Needs a lot of cleaning. I think this is my new found love project, beautiful boulder! May 19, 2009

How did the rock seem? May 20, 2009

I somehow smelled this semi-highball from the East Bluff trail and found some cats watching a guy try the low moves. I joined in and have been back a few times. The first move will test your micro-pinch strength on quartzite pebbles in the sandstone. If you get past there you're likely to peel off soon (which is probably for the best!). A few more micro-pebble pinches get you into the middle. One can only do these micro-pinches for a while before your hands can take no more. The middle moves get more interesting and are all about the sandstone huecos. The upper moves appear to be there but are really sketchy! I broke out the short rope and gave them a try. Project City.

The photo does not convey the 15 degree overhang. Aug 21, 2009

Negative, not clean. Pick a day and I can meet you there with a crew. Oct 25, 2009

Steve and Nic gave this rig a good cleaning and now she is in prime form. Nic sent very quickly and Steve and I played on it but the sends will have to wait for another day. Mar 21, 2010

sweet guys! great job nicoli! Any thought on the grade? Mar 22, 2010

What's with all the V grades on the WI site with either "+" or "-" attached to them? Is the V scale not specific enough? Why not just call this V9? Or a V10? Be bold; take a stance.

Of all the rating scales, I think the V scale is the most subject to variables (such as height, reach, strength, etc.), so that splitting hairs beyond the specific number is meaningless. Mar 22, 2010

thats true Jay. By saying V7 you are saying it is in the grade of 7 which has a spectrum in itself. I suppose the + and - is just kind of help spell it out to where exactly it falls in the spectrum.

Nicoli, thanks for the work you guys did. looks like fun and im psyched to get on it. is that arete a project? did you try it? Mar 22, 2010

Good points Jay and Sweaty. The spectrum can be huge for one grade. I figured since MP lists + and - it was ok to use them. But I agree, I'm not a fan. MP should just do away with it. Mar 22, 2010

Sure it is ok to use the "-" and "+", but I was making the point that maybe it is a bit too rampant on the WI site. You guys are pulling really hard out there. You should give yourself the credit you deserve. Upgrades for everything! Mar 22, 2010

So now it's a V8+?

I'm confused. Mar 22, 2010

nicoli,

thank you for taking video. everyone should do so from now on for everything. that is a new rule.

do you have any intention on trying the straight up version?

I vote for your jug haul ending to be called 'the lamest show on earth'

that is all.
love.
sweaty Mar 23, 2010

p.s. you made the thing look like piss. Mar 23, 2010

Sick video, thanks for posting it up. Nice job. I see Eric Z has joined and posted up some photos, so maybe he can comment on the line he took, although leaving something to the imagination has value as well IMO. I am sure both lines are damn hard, even if the direct would be somewhat contrived.

Oh and I agree about the split grades, though I think in some cases it's useful to say that something would be easier if you were tall, or whatever. Not that I am any type of expert heh. Mar 23, 2010

Aaron came real close to sending yesterday...Next time for sure Mar 29, 2010

Time to go scrub this thing down. In the words of EZ "Get on it!" Sep 12, 2010

This thing still untouched for 2011? It didn't even look that dirty when I saw it in early June. Aug 26, 2011

Just a quick set of thoughts in regard to this boulder. In regard to the problem that I sent,.. it is my sense, that it is slightly to the right of the described problem. As I recall ( Will see if I can locate some old slides to jostle the memory banks in a definitive way ), it utilized the right arete of the face at a certain point. So in a nutshell,... the center problem was sent by someone else. Though,... mostly an exercise in semantics,... clarity, if nothing else,.. can be informing..... This stated,... my general feeling ( with hindsight as a helpful partner ), is that I should have resisted the temptation to clean the top as extensively as I did. Sometimes,... our passions can blind us to the grander subtleties of the Earth. Happy trails.... Dec 4, 2013

Wow - thanks for the info, Eric. While hanging out at this boulder a bit this autumn I looked at the arete and wondered if any of y'all had checked it out. Sounds like you sort of split the difference between what's described here / and the arete. Just the arete seems to have a fairly obvious sit start and a heinous HP40 style topout.

Lots to do on this boulder. Classic Devil's Lake! Dec 5, 2013