JayB

Hey Crazy T: That was actually my first day at Eldo, despite having moved here three years ago. I'd always heard that the place was such a zoo that I stuck closer to home (Colorado Springs) and hit the South Platte. I figured I had a good feel for what a hard 5.9 trad lead could throw at you after frequenting Turkey Rocks, but spanked me nonetheless. I wish I had visited Eldo sooner, as there's enough climbing to keep everyone happy despite the crowds. Doing what was essentially face climbing with gear for pro on a number of the pitches was pretty cool as well. I'd like to get on the Yellow Spur before I move back to WA, but my time is short and the tick list is long so I may not get to it before I leave as I'll probably be focusing on getting the most out of the ice here in CO before I return. Is Banks Lake still in in February/early March?

Hello All: I guess I'll use this post to introduce myself to the group. I grew up in Washington but moved to Colorado shortly after finishing up at UW in 1998. Although I love it here, I'll be moving back to Seattle in February and will be glad to climb with anyone from this forum when I get there On Sunday I spent a beautiful day pulling on the south facing limestone of the Cactus Cliff at Shelf Road this weekend. Beautiful. Not only is the rock superb and the scene cool (lots of good will and encouragement and very little attitude) but the scenery is amazing too. Red-rock, pinyon and juniper in the foreground, the Sangre De Christos rising like a line of canines in the background, and a Valley worthy of the Jolly Green Giant in between. I thought I'd mention this cliff in particular because after being developed in the 1980's it was closed to climbing by the landowner's decree until 1999, when the Access Fund successfully negotiated the purchase of the cliffs and a sliver of adjacent land from a developer who had aquired the property shortly before. Who to thank? Well, everyone who contributed to the AF of course, but especially Jon Krakauer, of whom the author of the guidebook says "His strong support was THE crucial link in making the acquisition of these crags happen." I heard somewhere that the AF aquired the property for about $140,000, most of which came from Jon's pocket. Sorry to bring up the topic in an unrelated thread but it seemed like the right thing to do after the thrashing he's received on this site recently. I also hit Eldo the day before, and climbed the "Green Spur," "Green Slab Direct," and "Darkness 'Till Dawn," which incidently, turned out to be a less than prudent choice for someone(me)looking for a "mellow" 5.10 trad climb to break into the grade with. The thing treated me to my first bona fide whipper on gear and ultimately left me whimpering in a corner after throwing everything from off-tips laybacks to frantic chicken-wing inducing off-widths at me. Anyway - good to be here and I'll be happy to pass along any info I can on climbing in CO if anyone's interested. -Jay