What was your most proud climbing moment 2010?

Mark Nelson wrote:When Monty took his shirt off for me at the crag, I knew it was a 2010 Brokeback moment.... I just was lucky to get out when I could. Climbing that is, get out climbing.

Looking back now... not one of my more proud moments of 2010... but on the second hand you know you liked it! ;)

I would have to say that my Climbing Highlight for 2010 would be seeing the Yosemite for the first time last summer. Magical. Also would be Climbing the East Buttress of Middle Cathedral in November with a good friend, 2 days before he moved to Colorado, we got rained on as soon as we topped out. Descending through waterfalls was AWESOME. Another hard to Beat was The Joshua Tree Thanksgiving Blast. 9 days of Awesome rock and good friends...its been a good 2010.

My daughter climbing, and enjoying herself, for the first time.
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rob.calm.is.rad. he also has the coolest name on here, took me a second to get it.

Crushing an impressive number of routes in a limited number of days at the T-Wall. Great fun. Great people. Amazing movements on eclectic rock.

rob.calm wrote:A few years back the late Daniel Schorr , the veteran reporter and news analyst, was interviewed by NPR on the occasion of his 90th birthday. The interviewer told Schorr that he was a walking encyclopedia. Schorr said he was most proud that he was still walking. I turned 80 this summer, and like Schorr, I'm most proud that I’m still walking (and still climbing). The climbing went well this year. As I’ve gotten older, the goals have become more modest but achieving any of them is more satisfying. Every now and then, there’s a thread where someone asks how he should train to get beyond the plateau he’s stuck on. I’d like to know how to train to remain stuck on the plateau. For me, it’s a good year if I climb as strongly at the end of the year as I did at the beginning. I had 52 days of outside climbing this year, mostly on the Front Range along with a week at Joshua Tree. One of the high points of the season was finally climbing Nun’s Buttress in Rocky Mt. NP something I’ve wanted to do for decades. I’ve described the endeavor at (my comments are near the bottom of the list). mountainproject.com/v/color… A couple of pictures from my 80th birthday party, hosted by my wife and four daughters-in-law, and of my climbing this year are at (including pictures from an annual wide-crack class I teach in the fall for a local club). s793.photobucket.com/albums… At Vedauwoo, I participated in a number of first ascents (5.7-5.10a) Here’s a description of the route Ben Boykin and I established on Midsummer Wall (we also thought Shortest Night was a first ascent, but later found out it had been climbed earlier). mountainproject.com/v/wyomi… And here are some on the Old Folks’ Wall: mountainproject.com/v/wyomi… A new route on Holdout at Vedauwoo with an interesting name: Morning Sickness. One of my partners experienced this malady on pitch 2. mountainproject.com/v/wyomi… A new route on Nautilus mountainproject.com/v/wyomi… Since I’m not climbing as hard as I used to, it’s fun to seek out moderate first ascents, which often leads to adventures seldom encountered on established routes. As the weather turned cold in the middle of November, I stopped climbing. I had lost several pounds during the climbing season and am now seriously weight lifting (squats, dead-lifts, power cleans and robust eating) to regain the lost weight. So far 5 lb. in 6 weeks. A couple of more pounds to go, and I might even consider going to a climbing gym while I wait for the weather to warm up and the beginning of another season. Cheers, Rob.calm

Rob, since I was with you more than a few times, I hope to be invited along this year as well. I don't think it matters what grade one climbs at, I believe it matters more that you are climbing. Rachel would agree (Rachel's had their baby, William Waite [surname escapes me, humblest apologies to her awesome river-guide husband!]. Our experience on "Morning Sickness" will be legend.

Thank you!

Sobering up and staying sober, climbing is the easy part.

Hank Caylor wrote:Sobering up and staying sober, climbing is the easy part.

I was able to wake up this morning and climb out of bed!

leading spiral in vail!

Squamish Buttress was the highlight of 2010 for me. Did the Sonnie Trotter variation at the top, quality 5.9.

The Casual Route

Hank Caylor wrote:Sobering up and staying sober, climbing is the easy part.

I was thinking of posting something, but your accomplishment makes onsighting a "hard" route pretty petty in comparison. Congrats man.

Finally added pitches 2,3&4 of T2 to my repertoire.

First Ascent of Elephante, 5.8- around pinnacle peak park on thanksgiving day.

2010 is when I started outdoor climbing, so there were many firsts. My first lead, first multipitch, and first trad lead occurred within a couple months. My favorite climbing moment in 2010 was my first climb in Boulder, which happened to be a free solo of the third flatiron. It was my first (and last, so far) freesolo, and it was a good experience because now I have little to no fear when when leading with runouts.

working my .12a project and good, good times in the great outdoors with my friends

erikwellborn wrote:Getting laid. A bunch. Oh yeah, I managed to get the crack clean at the rock gym in Colorado Springs. That was kinda cool!

You got the crack! Holy crap! That is awesome.
My best moment was not dying on a death route at Garden of the Gods...

I began climbing in 2010 so my best moment would have to be my first lead climb. "pay it forward" at the new.

CJ Oels wrote:I would have to say that my most proud climbing moment in 2010 was not on Sierra granite but Andean ice! I ventured South of the Equator on my first trip to South America to visit Peru, Bolivia and Chile. After an amazing visit to Machu Picchu and the Northern end of Lake Titicaca in Peru, I crossed into Bolivia to pursue high altitude mountaineering climbs. After successful ascents of Pomerape, Parinacota and Bolivia's highest peak, Sajama at 21,522 feet I ventured to Chile for some time on the beach! Upon my return to La Paz, Bolivia I grew restless with a desire to climb again during my final week in the country. Back in the States, I had watched a video of Bolvian guide Eduardo Mamani free soloing up the South-East face of the beautiful Andean pyramid Pequeno Alpamayo...now, I found myself in this beautiful country with a little more than a weekend left and this video came back to my mind and I decided I would repeat his effort and climb, "La Ruta Directa" I set up my logistics and transportation to Lago Tuni and then enjoyed a fun Friday night in La Paz with friends. My driver arrived early in the morning Saturday and it was not long before we pulled into the tiny village of Tuni below the lake. After nearly an hour of conversation with a few local boys, I shouldered my pack and departed the village on my way to base camp. The Bolivian countryside near Condoriri is nothing short of spectacular! After a few hours, I arrived at Chiar Kota the most amazing basecamp I have ever seen! After setting up camp and getting some dinner, I made an unsuccessful attempt at sleeping, too amped on adrenaline to sleep. I had spoken to several people about the mountain and ultimately decided to abandon my attempt at the Direct Face route in favor of the easier Ridge Route due to my inability to find a partner and having only a general mountaineering axe instead of a pair of technical ice axes. I awoke early the next morning at set off up the trail towards the Tarija glacier, watching several streams of headlamps on the glacier above me. Just before dawn I reached the foot of the glacier and paused just long enough to put on my crampons and pull out my ice axe. Being solo on a glacier can be a little nerve racking at times but the crevasses were wide open and easy to traverse around for the most part. I passed three rope teams heading up the glacier, drawing questions from some and disapproving headshakes from others. I made my way to the top of Punta Tarija without issue before gaining my first views of Pequeno Alpamayo. Despite initial hesitations, I couldn't keep my eyes off the South-East face! As I descended from Tarija to the base of the Ridge route, my mind swirled with thoughts of what to do! After taking a food break I spoke with a local guide and his two clients and very impulsively decided to, against all advice, attempt the Direct Route. As I crossed the snowfield towards the bergschrund at the base of the face, I felt incredibly alone despite the crowds of people on the ridge to my left. The South-East face consists of steep, hard snow and ice at nearly an 80-degree angle for nearly 2,500 feet. I set out on the lefthand side of a corner and followed it up the route for about 2/3's of the route before crossing the "gully" to the right side. I paused briefly, thinking I was imagining voices in some sort of strange altitude related issue. I turned to look back towards Tarija to find a group of people gathered there and watching, cheering me on! Another, smaller group had gathered at the base of the Ridge Route to watch. I laughed it off and continued up the route. I found myself only two-hundered and fifty feet from the top of the pyramid with a long section of hard water ice above me and a rockband and 2,150 feet or so of air below me. I started up, making several moves up very steep, hard ice when I swung my axe down on the ice, driving it into the ice but it created an odd sound! I attempted a second placement but heard the same sound! In trying to make a third placement, my left crampon let go and I began to slide/fall down the nearly 80-degree slope. I remember looking down in between my legs at the approaching rock band and the hard snow just above that point! I tried to keep myself calm as I slid further and faster down the mountain! I counted in my head: 1 - 2 - 3 - NOW and swung my ice axe hard down into the snow and just like that, I was stopped!!! I immediately started back up the route, climbing just right of my initial line and feeling more confident in my placements! I quickly raced to the lip of the snow/ice and then over the crest onto barren rock! I turned to hear the sounds of whistles and cheers from the two groups of spectators, I raised my axe to respond to them before making the final steps to the summit of Pequeno Alpamayo! After about a half hour on the summit to catch my breath, take a few pictures and eat some food, I descended the Ridge Route back down to the base of Punta Tarija and then up to where the crowd had gathered. My watch registered an ascent time of one hour and thirty-five minutes...no record like Senor Mamani but I was proud. After receiving congratulatory hand shakes and answering various questions from other climbers, I sat down to finally reflect on what I had just done! One guide had informed me that in all his years guiding (16 so far) he never thought he would see such an ascent in real life! That's when it finally hit me...what I had just done! I quickly descended from Tarija and then down the glacier to base camp, where I intended to stay one final night before returning to La Paz. In camp I continued to receive praise and questions from various groups who were in camp or passing by. The next day I returned to Villa Tuni and then La Paz to spend my final days and nights with friends... This is my most proud climbing of 2010 and my entire life so far...

Props!!!! Takes some balls to kick it solo.

Stopped drinking after about 20 years of it, which led quickly to:

Hardest boulder problem flash to date.

Ran back to back w/no rest training laps x 4 on a pitch I couldn't even get up clean a few years ago.

Hardest onsight free solo to date.

First time up several boulder problems that had bouted me many, many times in the past, then ran laps on them on several occasions the rest of the winter. Really feels good to be able to easily lap something you couldn't even hang the opening holds on a few years ago.

Hardest sport redpoint I've done in about 12 years.

All those stick out in memory, but just being able to support a really strong climber by belaying his projects and then seeing him do 2nd or 3rd ascents of some of the hardest things in our local area that haven't been done in 20+ years, that was pretty cool too.