Ground Control  V11-12

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Type:  Boulder, Alpine, 7 feet Consensus:  V11-12 [details] FA:  Christopher Schulte Submitted By:  Chip Phillips on Oct 15, 2009 You & This Route  |  Other Opinions (2) Your todo list: Your stars: Your rating: -none- [change] Your ticklist: [add new tick]

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The majority of these boulders are located within the Mt Evans Wilderness Area, which is regulated & patrolled by the US Forest Service. Climber MORE INFO >>> The majority of these boulders are located within the Mt Evans Wilderness Area, which is regulated & patrolled by the US Forest Service. Climbers should be on their best behavior, practice Leave No Trace, and please abide by these requirements: - Approach Areas A, B, & C via the Chicago Lakes trail (from Echo Lake). - Wilderness Permits are required for all visitors to any federal Wilderness Area. Permits are free and self-issued. A kiosk is located at the point where the Chicago Lakes Trail departs from the reservoir, at the entrance to the Wilderness Area. - Group size: travel in federal Wilderness Areas is limited to groups of 15 people or less. If you find yourself in an area, say around the Dali Boulder, where there are more than 15 people, please disperse. There are plenty of excellent boulders elsewhere. - Minimize creation of social trails. None of the trails surrounding the bouldering area are officially maintained by the USFS. Ample access trails currently exist, please stay on the existing trails, and do not create any more trails. - Do not destroy vegetation. This is a fragile alpine environment, with a short growing season. It can take vegetation decades to recover from damage. Place crash pads judiciously, and keep brushing to a minimum. Before adding new lines, considered the damage that may be caused by additional foot traffic, pad placement, etc. - Chalk is un-sightly to non-climbers. Please avoid chalking up boulder problems that are visible from the Chicago Lakes Trail, and in general, keep chalk use to a minimum. Brush all tick marks off after every sesssion. Use containers that prevent chalk spills. If you do spill your chalk, clean it up. - Stashing crash pads is expressly forbidden by the USFS. Any pads found by USFS personnel will be confiscated. - Noise: This is a wilderness area (did I mention that?) that is enjoyed by many, mostly non-climbers. The last thing passing hikers want to hear are your self-indulgent f-bombs, I-Pod speakers, grunting, etc. In fact, most other CLIMBERS don't want to hear any of these things either. The easiest way for us to loose access is to elicit complaints from other user groups. - Dogs must be leashed at all times. Consider others when deciding whether or not to bring your dog, specfically considering that dogs like to scare away wildlife, and most other users would prefer not to have the wildlife scared away. Obviously, clean up after your dog. Remember that we are guests in this area. Be respectful of other users and the USFS Rangers that manage this area. This information is a public crowdsourcing effort between the Access Fund, and Mountain Project. You should confirm closures, restrictions, and/or related dates. Keeping climbing areas open and conserving the climbing environment

Description 

Appropriately named ... due to its small stature and since the crux is avoiding hitting the ground or your pads. Begin from a sds matched on the left corner of the sloper rail under the low roof. Heel-toe cam on the sloper rail with your right foot, make a move with your left hand then bust directly out the roof to a good hold at the lip and surmount the bulge up onto the face. The crux is catching the lip, holding it and not invalidating your ascent by dragging your ass or feet on your pad. Be careful with the heel-toe cam, as it is powerful and a perfect way to tear your LCL.

If this problem were taller and finished with these moves, it would be worthy of more stars and people would fly across oceans to climb it. As it is, it is a lowball 5 foot tall problem with some cool gut-busting moves under a low roof that pulls out onto a slab ... something to try at the end of the day, on a spotty-weather day or while your friends get a few burns in on Bierstadt, etc. It's certainly hard and may be fun, it's just not much to look at and few will be inspired by it.

Location 

Ground Control is on the same boulder as The Ladder, but it's on the opposite side facing the willows and just right of a large rain shelter cave that is just right of Bierstadt. Armed with these directions, you can't miss it.

Protection 

An Organic pad or two to protect your back.