Enter The Dragon (M4), RMNP

My climbing partner Enrico Calvanese just finished editing this video of a mixed ice and rock climb we did in Rocky Mountain National Park this March. This was my first climb coming off of having Covid – I was smoked!!! It was fun to pair up with someone dedicated to the videography as I usually neglect documentation in favor of focusing on the climbing.

Enjoy the video! It should be available with Italian subtitles as well. Enrico has other great mountaineering videos on his channel too – check it out!

It might not be the last time I make an appearance on there…

2020 in Climbs

Normally I write a “year in places” post, but with the COVID-19 pandemic, I spent much of this year at home, in Colorado and other states of the American West (WY, UT, CA). A look back on the year thus involves a bit less horizontal distance, and a lot more vertical!

Most of these climbs involve 5-10 miles of hiking in addition to the technical climbing. This isn’t Europe, and you can’t ride the telepherique to your objective. Here, you gotta walk.

These are the major climbs of the year.

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Crowds, Covid, and the Casual Route

Alpenglow on the Diamond face, Longs Peak

“Dr. Tony Fauci would be so pissed if he could see us,” the climber to my left says. He imitates the USA’s top Coronavirus expert, a well known figure in recent days: “‘You’re all the way out there, on the side of a mountain, and you fuckers still can’t stay six feet apart!?’”

All three of us at the anchor laugh.

We’re in tight proximity, for sure. Me, my climbing partner, and a stranger are in what’s called a “hanging belay”: literally hanging off the side of the Diamond, a huge alpine wall in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. There is no ground below us — just thousands of feet of air.

A few pieces of climbing gear stuck into cracks in the rock and some short nylon tethers are all that keep us from dropping to the glacier below. We aren’t all attached to the same gear — but our anchors are built around each other, at the only possible stance. The wall is too smooth and vertical to spread out much.

We are climbing the same route, chasing each other up. There are two climbing parties in front of us, and one behind. It *is* a bit ironic: we are more remote than most people will ever get in their lives, and yet… our new acquaintance is right. Dr. Fauci would not approve.

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What’s it like to climb Mount Everest?

It’s April, which means for climbers (and the world’s ultra-wealthy), it’s Everest season!

Throughout April and May, while the hordes descend (or rather ascend) on Everest, there are bound to be an endless number of news stories about successful summits, tragedies, and plenty of puff pieces about the logistics of the whole thing.

Want to learn a bit more authentically about what goes on up there?

You should watch this Joe Rogan podcast with Jeff Evans and Bud Brutsman, two guys who discuss their experiences climbing Mount Everest and managing rescue operations on the mountain in super-fascinating levels of detail. It’s two hours long, but compelling all the way through.

Check it out beyond the jump.

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Escalada de Colorado, USA

[English here / ingles aca]

Este fin de semana, fuimos por una escalada grande en Eldorado Canyon, un parque estatal de Colorado, muy cerca de mi ciudad, Boulder.

Eldo es un lugar muy especial para mi. Es el hogar de muchos recuerdos buenos, y la escalada de una forma para olvidar recuerdos malos y cosas malas o dificiles. A este momento, tengo dificultades en mi vida y en mi corazon (ya te lo sabes si has leyido mis entradas de ‘Keeping it Light‘). Cuando aquellos problemas aparacen en la vida… La cuerda siempre te esperará.  Tuvé una dia buenisimo en el cañon. Me gustaría decir que pasaba el dia solamente pensando de la escalada… pero este no es la verdad.

Paso a paso.

Nosotros escalamos una ruta se llama “Ruper”, con un grado de 5b+ (5.8+). Es una clasica grande, alguna de las rutas mas populares en Eldo. Tiene seis largas (pitches) en dos secciones distintias — mitad abajo, y mitad arriba, con una rampa grande en pendiente hacia abajo en el medio.

La ruta sube el “Redgarden Wall” (pared jardin roja) a la cima. Redgarden es enorme — contiene miles de rutas, la gran mayoridad de tres o mas largas. Es un lugar espectacular para subir, con posiciones increyible y colores vivantes de rojos, verdes, y amarillos.

El clima de Colorado es muy agradable, con mucho soledad en todas las temporadas. Dicen que recibamos 300 dias del sol cada año — y yo lo creo. A la causa de eso, es possible escalar roca afuera en el invierno, incluso al disnivel alto en las montañas. Tuvimos 15 grados y un cielo mayoramente nublado. Usabamos chaquetas de plumas para estar calento en las largas arribas, pero estaba mas o menos, totalmente comodo.

Que buen forma de pasar un dia de invierno, no?

Colorado: Un paraíso. (No le digas a nadie, okay?)

Fotos de la escalada abajo.

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