Ladies take on the Sad Boulders

It's finally getting cool enough to boulder on the Tableland again, and the crowds are beginning to flock to the Happies and the Sads. And with such a large amount of cool steep climbing, who can blame them? Two fine ladies recently had a go at such Sad classics as Anti-Hero and French Press, and I snapped the pics.

Angie on Maximum Relaxum v3

Angie on Maximum Relaxum v3

Angie topping out Maximum Relaxum v3

Lauren on Maximum Relaxum v3

Lauren on Maximum Relaxum v3

Angie on Anti-Hero v5

Beehive near French Press

Angie on French Press v6

Lauren on French Press v6

Lauren on French Press v6

Lauren on French Press v6

Beautiful Rock Creek

Fall is in full swing, and the aspens at Rock Creek have all turned gold and orange. The colorful leaves now carpet the forest floor. The air is crisp and cool, and the rock feels sticky. These perfect conditions will not last long, so get up there before the place gets snowed under!

Osama v6

Groove and Arete v4



A Boy Named Sue v7




Blood Brothers v7



Fall in Flagstaff

Fall seems to be the optimal time for climbing anywhere, but especially in Flagstaff. On a long weekend in October, we managed to visit several classic areas: the Super Roof near Mountainaire, the sandstone slopers of Kelly Canyon, and the famous Priest Draw. Check it out!

Lauren on Super Roof v5

Sato on Dope Lounge v5 at Kelly Canyon

Matt on Tin Ho v4 at the Draw

Tin Ho

Matt on Stinky Ass v7

Lauren on Bad Ass v5

Last Light at the Sad Boulders

The Prozac Nation Bluffs at the Sad Boulders face pretty much due west. As such, they catch the last rays of winter sun on any given day. This fact, as well as the collection of twenty or so moderately graded (v1-v5) and moderately tall (10-18 feet) boulder problems, makes the Prozac Nation Bluffs the ideal spot for a quick after-work burn on a winter evening. It was just such a session the other day when I happened to snap this shot of Patrick running a lap on the namesake boulder problem Prozac Nation (v2). Check it out:

Fall Color at Rock Creek

Last week, just before the first fall storm, Ken and I had an evening session at the Rock Creek Boulders. Between intermittent rain and snow flurries, I managed to send my summer project (Clearcut) and I snapped a few photos of Ken crushing at the Boy Named Sue boulder.

Ken on Groove and Arete v4

Ken on Blood Brothers v7

Ken works Dude v9

Way Lake

I finally have gotten a bit of a tour of Way Lake. Although I think I have only seen about 10% of what is there, I must say, I like it. First off we headed up to Way Lake proper to have a warm up at the Way Lake Boulder. This boulder is found in the talus on the southeast side of the lake and has four problems v1-v4. Next we rolled over to the Meadows Roof to try the namesake problem (v8) and have a go at Shortness of Breath (v5 left, v6 right). We finished on the excellent highball Morpheus (v5), about a five minute walk to the south.

Way Lake from the Way Lake Boulder

Eric on the Way Lake Boulder

Brian on Shortness of Breath (v5)



Bryant on Meadows Roof (v8)

George on Shortness of Breath (v5)

Brian on Shortness of Breath (v5)

Bryant on Morpheus (v5)

Hall of Mirrors

Another forgotten but not lost area of the Buttermilks is the Hall of Mirrors. This area lies in a narrow canyon in between Dale's Camp and the Bardini Boulders. This cool spot is home to several classic v6 problems, such as Approaching Silence, Silvia Plath, and the Bell Jar. We did the first two of these, but did not locate the last. Anyone have a clue as to where it might be?

Looking uphill from Approaching Silence

Looking downhill from Silvia Plath

Ken on Approaching Silence

Ken on Silvia Plath

Ken on Silvia Plath

Sherman Acres

Last week Ken and I spent a couple of evenings bouldering up at Sherman Acres. This is the highest elevation area at the Buttermilks, and temps were generally good after the sun went behind the mountains. It seems as though this stellar area has been forgotten about, as there was no chalk on anything. Though there are directions in the guidebook, they are misleading. The guide implies that you must walk ~1 hour to reach the boulders. This is not true. If you have 4x4 you can drive right up to the rocks. There is no topo, so we didn't know any of the names or grades of anything. That, and no chalk, gave the impression that we were discovering the area anew, even though I am sure most of the problems we did had been done before. Probably by the Vermin himself.