Author: D. Scott Clark

Early Season Wolf Creek Powder Day

It was one of my best powder days in a resort (sad I know, I need to get out more), and it was in mid November!

Saturday morning: “Wolf creek has more than 10″ and more is on the way! They’re expecting close to 20″! We’re heading down tonight if you want to go.”

Thomas doesn’t give me much of a choice. Eric Thomson and Patrick Shehan fill out the car. We camp just outside South Fork on BLM land which gets us less than 15 minutes from Wolf Creek Ski Area in the morning (instead of a 4.5 hour drive the morning of).

The snow conditions are great, but when we get on the lift we can hear the ski patrol is still blasting the backside for avalanches.

We’re in the first wave of skiers on the lift and our first several trips down the mountain give us great powder runs. But the backside remained closed and the frontside quickly gets cut up. We did have an advantage that Patrick lived in Durango for years and knows all the secret stashes of the mountain and took us on some great runs.

Skiing powder is magical. It feels like you’re floating, and it’s impossible to not have a shit-eating grin on your face the whole time. But when in-bounds powder gets chopped up, it makes for a very bouncy, unfriendly ride. Finally, just after noon we hear Alberta is running.

We rush past the newly opened gates eager to explore. The trees off of the Alberta lift give us fantastic fresh tracks every run.

Thomas Woodson slashing through the powder off of Alberta

Eric Thomson hitting a burm. 

The terrain on the backside is great and varied. The perfectly spaced trees get steep and then mellow out to really fun glades. The steeps have a line of cliffs that Patrick is psyched to jump.

Patrick Shehan hucking a cliff 

We hike from the top of the Alberta lift to Alberta peak, up past windblown trees plastered with ice in whiteout conditions. At the peak the sun moves in and out of the clouds.

White out conditions on the hike up Alberta Peak

At the peak
Even on this trip up Alberta Lift the ski patrol is still blasting around the mountain for avalanches. We look in vain to see where the blasts are located. When we traverse over from the peak of Alberta we hit an avalanche crown two feet deep that continues as far as I can see (which isn’t far in the near whiteout conditions). I make my way over the crown and ski tentatively across the debris field which takes me pretty much back to the cat track. That hike was not worth the effort. You win some, you lose some.
Thomas working his way over a two foot crown 

But overall the day was a great success. Thomson ends the day being ejected from his skis for no apparent reason and superman-ing into a snowbank. At least he got a portrait out of it.

Eric’s snow beard

I had skied Wolf Creek when I was in high school, with my dad, but I don’t remember the conditions. These conditions were incredible. Now, half a week later, I look at all the snow reports for Summit County and none of them even come close to the conditions we had at Wolf Creek, and in November! I’m looking forward to a great season. 

Quick Trip to Shelf Road

Climbing just after dark on the fun LaCholla Jackson, 5.9, at Cactus Cliff. 
Kevin and I had been wanting to take a trip to Shelf Road for a while. We’re always talking about doing it, for some reason or another it failed to materialize. Shelf Road is a popular climbing area in the colder months, just outside Cañon City, CO. The white walls in the desert seem to collect the sun, and the average temperature while climbing in the sun is well above that of the surrounding areas. Most of the one pitch routes up limestone cliffs tend to be vertical with sharp pockets but fun movement. 
Frank meets us at the Bank parking lot. For a beautiful Saturday in early November the parking lot is surprisingly unpacked. It’s a quick hike to reach the the Cactus Cliff area, one of the most popular in Shelf. There are a few people there, but not the climbing gym madness we were expecting. We warm up on the classic but stout Dihedrous, a dihedral crack that goes at 5.10c but I tend to climb it like it’s an 11b. Several more classics go down, and we end the night climbing by headlamp on a fantastic 5.9 called “LaCholla Jackson.” 
Frank and Kevin enjoying the campfire. Camping out under the stars is one of the best parts of going to Shelf

We go back to our favorite campsite on BLM land (read “Free”) and enjoy the rest of the night.

Some random lifestyle images

Kevin and Whiskey posing so heroically. 

Breakfast from a bag. 

Sunday morning we hike from our campsite in front of the Gallery to Menses Prow, a large cliffline between the Farside and Mural Wall that can be seen from miles away. In the morning it’s fully in the sun. We decide to warm up on The California Ethics Pinnacle, which offers some easy but very aesthetic climbs, and offers us welcome shade since we’d spent the entirety of the day before baking in the sun at Cactus Cliff.

Kevin flaking the rope before Frank climbs the Original Route (5.8) on the California Ethics Pinnacle just off Menses Prow. 

Some stemming action on The Original Route

The California Ethics Pinnacle is a very cool looking rock feature. 

Whiskey so properly keeping watch. 

Kevin climbs “Red Dog” 5.9 on the California Ethics Pinnacle. 

Frank looking contemplative. 

Frank took a photo of me climbing “Slender Fungus” an interesting 5.10c with a second pitch. I apparently didn’t continue reading in the guidebook to see that the second pitch goes at a very sandbagged 5.11b. Climbing it in one pitch, I would personally rate it 5.11d. It was stout.

View East from Menses Prow

Cactus at the base of “No Passion for Fashion” 5.11c
Kevin snapped a shot of me climbing “No Passion for Fashion”

We ended a great weekend with a fantastic climb, “No Passion for Fashion” 5.11c. It is definitely one of my favorite climbs at Shelf. With sustained great climbing on a long route, it tops my list.

As always, the weekend ends too early. I can’t wait to get back to shelf, and I look forward to uncomfortably warm days in the sun in February on those limestone cliffs. 

Low Wire Crag in Clear Creek Canyon

Sitting below the popular High Wire Crag and, one of my favorites, the Wall of Justice in Clear Creek Canyon is a new crag with some great lines called Low Wire. Kevin Capps bolted this area this summer and has been working on sending all of the routes. The last one is the hardest, a 5.13b?, in a very overhung cave with some big powerful moves.

Kevin Capps climbing The Grizz 5.13b

Two routes, a 5.12a/b and a 5.12c, are just above the river.

Matt Lloyd climbing Groove Town, a very hight-dependent 5.12a

There are routes that range from 5.9+ to 5.13 including a great 5.12a, “Fly Low”, which is my hardest flash (climbing a route from bottom to top without falling on your first attempt).

To get out of the area you have to climb a 5.4 slab. Right now there is a rope to assist in your ascent. Low Wire will be included in the new guidebook coming out soon!

Daniel Cornella climbing the 5.4 slab out of Low Wire

Skiing the Lambs Slide on Long’s Peak

The weekend before I had a 14 hour sufferfest on Long’s Peak climbing Dreamweaver, and I dreaded doing the approach again – I don’t know why I hate it so much. When Thomas Woodson and Joey Schusler invited me to ski the Lamb’s Slide I considered the approach for a second, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

Alpine starts are painful. Thomas raps on the window of my car at Oh’Dark Three AM. I’d been waiting for half an hour and fell asleep with my seat belt on. We throw my fatty powder skis in the ski rack on top of his Toyota FJ and take off into the pitch black canyon. It’s a surprise no one else is on the road.

Loading skis and boots onto my full backpack to carry for the 5 mile approach, preparing to gain 3,000 feet of elevation to the base of the climb,  I realized I need a different set up. Joey is in full Dynafit set up and carrying roughly 1/3 the weight that I am, with my fatty Bluehouse skis, Marker Barons, and Salomon Quest boots. Just to prove the point Joey does the entire approach in his new Dynafit TLT 6 boots, claiming that they are beyond comfortable the whole way.

Sunrise hits just as we breech the treeline. 

Sam Seeward on the approach

First sight of the Diamond

The sky is overcast and there are powerful wind gusts the whole hike in. We thought we might not get  the sun the at all during the day, but as we breech tree line the gold light of morning breaks through the clouds. We forget about the struggle for a minute to bask in the light and everyone pulls out there cameras.

I was impressed by Joey’s ability to climb in his Dynafit TLT 6’s. 

After debating whether to walk across the frozen Chasm we determine that it’s safe. But it’s still a bit scary hearing the ice shift underneath your weight. It doesn’t help that 50+ mile an hour winds blow us across the lake.

Thomas Woodson keeping himself upright through the high winds that whip around use, periodically engulfing us in almost whiteout conditions from the loose snow. 

Above Thomas you can see the Smear of Fear, an ice flow that’s particularly fat this year because of the floods. 

The week before, climbing Dreamweaver Couloir with only a little weight on my back the climb at 13,000 feet felt decently easy. The difference carrying a pack full of gear and skis, climbing Lambs Slide took a lot out of me. I reverted back to my technique I learned in Peru: One step, one breath. With this technique I can chug along. I picture myself as the tortoise slowly beating the hare. Except, in reality I don’t beat anyone. I hope I’m not holding the other guys back, who seem to be impossibly fit. They did, earlier this year, ride their bikes from Boulder, climb Longs Peak, and return to Boulder all in one day. Insane.

The climb up Lambs Slide, for most part, was in good condition, but parts of it were slogs through waist deep snow that just collapsed underneath you 

The wind passed largely over the couloir, but we still were blasted with huge gusts of wind carrying loose snow. 

The view of the diamond from the top of Lambs Slide Couloir

I reached the top of the couloir and was done. I could feel some nausea coming on from the altitude and wanted to take it easy. Sam, Thomas, and Joey wanted to continue to the peak of Meeker (13,900) which “is just over that ridge. It will be 20 minutes”. I decided to stay where I was and wait for them to come back. I huddled amongst the rocks trying to keep myself warm for well over an hour. I climbed down to our skis we’d left below and back up just to warm up.

Finally they appear over the ridge. The peak had been much further than they’d anticipated. I’m psyched to start skiing. My core temperature had dropped quite a bit from sitting still and I want to start moving again.

We figure out our route down and start carving. The snow is a little crusty on top but our skis cut in well, giving us some great turns.

Sam Seward getting in his first turns. 

After Joey Schusler figures out a binding issue he hits it hard. 

It’s impressive that Thomas Woodson is skiing in advanced terrain having never been on skis before last season! 

1500 feet of pure bliss, my first turns of the season were incredible. My legs burned, clearly not in skiing shape. I can’t wait to get out on more incredible terrain with these guys the rest of the season.

Thomas crossing Chasm lake.  Skiing across the lake was so much easier than walking. 

We hike the five miles back to the parking lot, everyone beyond tired. I can’t wait to get a lighter weight set up from Dynafit that won’t destroy my back on every hike. I was sore for days. I’m not psyched to do the approach to Longs anytime soon, but I’m excited to see what the Colorado backcountry has in store this year. Already, it’s shaping up to be a better season than last. 

Climbing the Dreamweaver Couloir

“Want to go do some mixed climbing in the Park (RMNP) Saturday?”
“For sure! When do we leave?” I say.
“2-3am?”
I have a Halloween party at my house Friday night…I can make it work. 
“Yeah! I can do that.”
When Tristan Hobson hit me up for an adventure I was psyched to get out with him. He had pretty grand plans for climbing Alexander’s Chimney, up through the Notch, and summiting Longs Peak. I was just down for an adventure. 
I sleep for roughly an hour and half after the party before meeting up with Tristan at 3am in the dark parking lot. I groggily grab my bag and jump in his Toyota truck. The road to Longs from Lyons was still closed from the floods so we had to take the Peak to Peak Highway through Nederland. Just as we got on the Peak to Peak I remembered I’d forgotten something crucial.
“You’re going to hate me…I forgot my harness in my car.” 
We sat for a little bit contemplating what to do, then drove the 30 minutes back to my car. 
“It’s almost 4am. Do you still want to go out?” 
“I’m up, I’m psyched to do something.”
Tristan didn’t think we had enough time to accomplish his original objective, so we decided to climb the Dreamweaver couloir on Mt Meeker, next to the Flying Buttress. 
Almost an hour later than we had planned we pull in to a full parking lot, as if it were still summer instead of a cold October morning. 

The five mile approach takes you from roughly 9,000 feet above sea level to 12,000 feet above sea level. We start in the dark with only the light of our headlamps leading us through the woods, but before long the sky starts to brighten with the first signs of the sun. The sunrise comes up over the city of Lyons, beyond a few peaks to the east, and filters through the trees just below tree line. The trees get much shorter and scragglier as we keep trudging up hill.

Finally the Diamond comes into view, soaking in the alpenglow.

  From the Chasm Junction, Dreamweaver looks to be in quite nicely. Ahead of us, the Smear of Fear is in pretty fat, but our original objective, the Notch, looks pretty thin.

I’m glad we picked to go up on Meeker, since you don’t have to do the traverse across a not-quite-frozen Chasm lake.

We finally reach the base of the Dreamweaver Couloir. The snow up to it was a little soft, but still firm enough to walk comfortably. But as we get higher into the couloir the snow gets softer and softer.

I start crossing into a small snow field below the first crux of the route and the snow seems a bit unstable, so we make an anchor and I tie in, just in case. The crux itself looks pretty easy, so I don’t plan on doing it as a lead, but as a free solo. I keep the rope on me so I can belay Tristan across the snowfield after I’m above the crux.

“Do you want some cams and nuts?” Tristan asks before I take off.
“Sure, I’ll use them to make an anchor at the top, just in case.”

In the constriction the snow just collapses beneath me, dropping me below my ice tools that are stuck in the rock. I manage to climb back up to my tools, just wallowing in the snow. I can’t count on any support for my feet from the snow at all. I pull myself up to my tools and press my crampons into nonexistent holds.

‹side note› One of the things I love about ice climbing is when you sink your tools you know without a shadow of a doubt, because of the combination of sight, sound, and feel, that they are going to stick and be able to support your weight. Dry tooling (using your ice tools on dry rock), on the other hand, is incredibly unstable. Never does a placement feel 100% secure; anything could pop at any moment. You pull up praying that each tool holds long enough for you to place the next one. Your crampon-ed feet scrape their way up the rock face, alway potentially slipping. You would give anything to be using the sticky rubber of rock climbing shoes that will stick on the smallest pebble. ‹/side note›

With my feet pressuring off opposite sides of the constriction and my tools finding whatever small crack to pull on I inch my way up, miraculously finding a frozen fixed sling left by someone else for protection. I quickly clip in, incredibly thankful to have some form of protection on this unexpectedly hard climb. Though, I was only using one 7.8mm rope that are meant to be used in pairs. The route had looked easy so because snow filled up the constriction, but now the snow offered absolutely no assistance in my climb and was more of an enemy of forward movement. With every move I had to use one tool to clear off the foot of powder that hid the rock below. Each time I reached above another rock I tried desperately to stick my tool blindly into what lay beneath the snow, mostly to no avail. I would either hit featureless slab and my tool would just scrape down or small loose rocks. The only firm holds I had were generally on my left in a small crack system. And my feet felt as if they were dangling helplessly below me.

As I cleared off more of the powder I uncover two more slings spaced out every ten feet or so, each time temporarily boosting my confidence. I ran out the pitch a ways before coming to the last bit of the crux section. I find a small crack that I’m able to fit a nut into and clip in. I pull on it, and it feels to be quite secure. Two moves later I bump the stem of the nut with my knee and the draw + nut go zipping down the rope. But I can see the relief! Only one more hard move till the constriction opens up and I can stand up on slightly lower angle snow. Instead of wasting more time trying to find another placement I pull over the last bulge and make an anchor. I had unintentionally lead my first “mixed” pitch, and it was scary as hell.

Tristan blindly searches through the snow for a purchase on the last bulge of the first crux. 

Wallowing in waist deep powder the ice tools do little more than put useless holes in the snow. 

Climbing on lower angle, more featured rock is way easier than wallowing in snow and/or climbing vertical rock with no feet. 

The last crux section had much better feet and tool placement options.

We free soloed the rest of the route, trying to avoid wallowing in the powder as much as possible. Thankfully there was lower angle rock with lots of features on the right side of the couloir. The last crux of the lower have of Dreamweaver went much more smoothly than the first. I was able to use the constriction more like a chimney and pressure both feet off of the opposing walls and there were many more solid tool placements for both hands.

We reached the top of the buttress, the end of the first half of Dreamweaver. The second half that takes you close to the summit of Meeker looked to be more of the same powdered mess that we just had come up, and it was getting late in the day so we decided to cut the climb short. We ate some food then down climbed to the Dark Star couloir which provided us an easier way down.

When we reached the basin floor my body decides it was time to shut down. It doesn’t care that I have a five mile hike ahead of me. Maybe for epics on Longs I should get more than an hour and half of sleep. I’ll keep that in mind for next time. Besides terrible climbing conditions, it was an incredible day adventuring. You always forget the pain and remember the awesome. 

Mad Rock at Primo Wall

Being a climbing photographer is hard, but it’s even harder when you break your back. In March I received a compression fracture from a climbing fall, and for a month and half I wore a back brace. But I still continued to get out with climbers.

Mad Rock asked me to get out with two of their athletes in, Zach Lerner and Megan Mascarenas, to the Primo Wall in April. To do so I had to cross a tyrolean traverse, a means of getting across the river using ropes attached to both sides. You pull yourself onto the ropes, connect a long quickdraw that connects your harness to the ropes, and pull yourself across the river. Without a broken back it can be tiring.

We start out shooting in Nomad’s Cave. Easy enough. The cave opens up inside allowing me to position a reflector and shoot a flash into the reflector, lighting the scene. Meghan, Tiffany Hensley, and Zach work on the one of the boulder problem that exits the cave.

Then we move over to Shine, a 5.14a sport route that Zach and Meghan work on. Zach puts up a fixed line for me to jug up. Hanging from a rope, even sitting on my bosun’s chair, with my back brace is very difficult. Leaning out to get the shots really engages your core, which causes your back muscles to tighten. Unhappy broken back… A well, to get the shot, right?

But in the end, I survived. Now, well over six months after my fall I am 100%. I’m climbing full strength and rarely feel any impact from my fall, other than an increased attention to detail. 

Adidas Terrex Solo Approach Shoe

Adidas has been breaking into the outdoor adventure world with their Terrex brand, bringing on world class athletes like Jon Cardwell and Sasha DiGiulian to represent the brand. I have a pair of their
GoreTex hiking boot, which are great (and sticky). The Solo comes with the Traxion rubber, feels like a runner with a bit of a stiffer sole. You can trust Adidas to make a good, quality shoe. These are no exception. 

Photo-A-Day 5: Durango

So I might skip weekends. This is work.

This weekend I went on a much needed adventure to Durango, CO. I’ve been feeling stuck in Boulder for a while and needed to get out. It’s a six and half hour drive to Durango, and it’s a shame it’s not closer. It was beautiful. I slept in my car at the Hermosa Creek Trailhead (Free Camping!) and when I came down the road in the morning I saw this:

It’s looking down the valley towards Durango. The leaves are in full fall colors. It was spectacular.

I spent the weekend with Chris Schulte, shooting some bouldering and mountain biking. I hadn’t done any downhill mountain biking for over year. It was good to get out again. Another thing that I would love to get into more…but it’s one.more.thing.

It was a great weekend. 

The Flood in Four Mile Canyon

Boulder County received its entire year’s share of water over a week period early in September. The damage the flash flooding caused was devastating for too many people. The typically small creek that runs along Four Mile Canyon rose up and destroyed houses, bridges, cars, and added to Boulder Creek, which flooded much of the City of Boulder. Last week Boulder Canyon Road was finally opened and I went up with a friend to see some of the damage to her house and the road. 

This bridge was hardly damaged compared to many of the bridges along this creek, including most of my friend’s neighbors’. But massive amounts of water and debris pounded this bridge during the storms. It used to be straight.

We drove up the road to check out more of the damage and see where the road had been completely washed away and saw this scene. I talked with the neighbor who was using the stones in the creek to rebuild his driveway. The guy that owns these classic cars, his yard used to run pretty much to the sandbar you see on the right. That sandbar used to be where the creek ran. The flood deposited so much debris it redirected the creek through the guy’s yard and took the land right out from under the cars.

This classic truck sits wrecked by the flood just a quarter mile down the road from the other vehicles. The flood carried it all that way inflicting a massive amount of damage. As you can see.

There’s a lot worse damage in places such as Jamestown. This was just barely scratching the surface. It’s amazing how fast and with how much force the water came racing down these canyons. Hopefully, it will be another 100 years before we get another like it. 

Photo-A-Day 3: Shadows

Ah! I missed a day already. Not good. 
In Rome, I met a group of Australians who really wanted to go see the Pope speak in St. Peter’s Basilica. A large crowd waits for hours to hear the Pope offer a blessing in their own language. Standing around, I was…antsy. I started taking photos of the people around me, but many gave me unpleasant looks. I pointed my camera at the ground. I love the result. Also, side note. I love the winter sun that sits low in the sky all day making beautiful light. This was shot at nearly noon. 

Day 2: Photo-A-Day

I think when a lot of people take do a photo-a-day blog they try and take a photo a day. While this is a great exercise and one that I hope to incorporate into this, the last few weeks have been incredibly busy and I sometimes don’t have time to break out my camera. So…I post photos from my past that I love but haven’t necessarily gotten a lot of attention.

In 2009 I took a whirlwind tour around Europe. This provided me with a TON of photography material. Some of my favorite shots from my trip were random details. This fountain sits in front of the Pantheon in Rome (one of my favorite places in Europe). I had the shot framed and the second before I took the photo this pigeon hopped up the back of the statue’s head. I loved that.

I don’t get out enough and just shoot. I need that inspiration again. Katie Collins…I need your inspiration again. Till next time, do as I say, not as I do. Get out and shoot everything! 

Photo A Day Challenge?

Your mom is usually your biggest fan no matter what you do. Well, my mom just challenged me to start doing a photo a day on here. So lets see how this goes.

In my work I take a lot of photos, and I don’t always know what to do with all of them. Sometimes they just don’t fit into any category, but you still love them. There’s no real place for them on your website, you don’t want to just post to Facebook. ok. Photo-A-Day is a great way to show off some of this work.

I love this photo, but have never found a place for it. I took it during the Ice&Fog series on my website, but I love the orange rim in color. 
And thus starts my Photo-A-Day challenge on my blog. I’d love to hear your thoughts.