Fun de chichuune

Yesterday I managed to do something I've been dreaming of trying since 2007 when I first saw it. I climbed the mega line of the Grande Grotta, Fun de chichuune 8a. The route is 40m long and it's essentially a roof for most of its length. As you can see in the photos below, you climb through blobs and stalactites, interspersed with scary blank sections. 

It is #8 on this topo. 

There were tons of kneebars and other creative rests along the way. I spent most of the time hanging upside down by my knees. The weight of the quickdraws felt like it might pull my harness off. There are 28 clips.

It was a hot day so I was sweating heaps and the tufas were often damp or outright dripping with water. I managed to remove my shirt on one of the rests at halfway and use it as a towel. Later, towards the end, I had to thoroughly chalk up my forehead. That's a first.

Most of these pics are in the first third when it's not so steep (!)

 

Not even halfway yet!

 

Can you spot me here? I'm at about the 3/4 point. 

And the best part, it was onsight. The first try. Meaning I thankfully didn't have to try the whole enormous beast for a second time, which would be crushing. You might cry.

Route pics © C Vaillancourt 2010

El Cap Day in the Black Part 2

Mike B was trying out the new CAMP Stratos harness. I heard no complaints on the many hanging belays that we were subjected to on this day.

CAMP NANO biners and draws, the lightest and the best on the market. I didn't even know that I had them on my Arcteryx R-320 harness. So light and easy to use.

The second rap to the bottom of the Cruise Gully.

Looking down the Cruise Gully.

The arrowhead was found by Lee after climbing on Saturday. Matt (on the left and he are friends from Golden that happened to be climbing this weekend).

I am really glad that you have visited my blog.

Thanks and I hope to see and hear from you soon.

Rob Pizem

And last but not least, don't forget to check out my favorite sites:

http://www.scarpa.net/ http://www.arcteryx.com/ http://camp-usa.com/ http://sterlingrope.com/ http://coloradomountainjournal.com/ http://www.wunderground.com/ http://climbing.com/ http://rockandice.com/ http://deadpointmag.com/ http://urbanclimbermag.com/ http://andrewburr.com/ http://ladzinski.com/

Slide Shows

Slide show for the folks at the Lakewood Link! Great job competing this year!

Venue in Eugene, OR at Backcountrygear.com

Flowers on my bike ride in Eugene.

Founder of Eugene, OR.

Skinner Rock in downtown Eugene.

I am really glad that you have visited my blog. Thanks and I hope to see and hear from you soon. Rob Pizem

And last but not least, don't forget to check out my favorite sites: http://www.scarpa.net/ http://www.arcteryx.com/ http://camp-usa.com/ http://sterlingrope.com/ http://coloradomountainjournal.com/ http://www.wunderground.com/ http://climbing.com/ http://rockandice.com/ http://deadpointmag.com/ http://urbanclimbermag.com/ http://andrewburr.com%20http//ladzinski.com

USA summer sport climbing - we're comin'!

A quick shout out to our USA readers. I'm going to be in your part of the world for July-August 2010. Flying into Denver late Jun. No rack, so forget trad unless I can borrow yours. Vague plans include Maple Canyon and Rifle. But I'm psyched for any beta and suggestions for good summer areas. Leave a comment, email me, Facebook, whatever. Look forward to seeing you and your sights...

Fruita and House Hunting

Jane and I in the back of some ones pickup after we got a flat tire while mountain biking in Fruita, Colorado. Of course there was a storm coming, we had no flat repair kit and we were as far as we could have possibly been from the truck! Oh well folks are nice and we got a ride back to town. : )

Looking at Colorado National Monument. There is plenty of rock climbing to be done here!

A cool house that is buried in the sand in Fruita!

Me and mike the chicken who survived for days without his head. They have a festival in Fruita every year to celebrate. I had to join in!

The goofy slide show set up for the kids at Rockn Jamn South Gym. I had to dim the light otherwise the projector wouldn't show up on the screen. So I built a tarped cave in a corner and it worked out perfectly! The kids loved it and we had a great time.

I am really glad that you have visited my blog. Thanks and I hope to see and hear from you soon. Rob Pizem

And last but not least, don't forget to check out my favorite sites:http://www.scarpa.net http://www.arcteryx.com/ http://camp-usa.com/ http://sterlingrope.com/ http://coloradomountainjournal.com/ http://www.wunderground.com/ http://climbing.com/ http://rockandice.com/ http://deadpointmag.com/ http://urbanclimbermag.com/ http://andrewburr.com/ http://ladzinski.com

Weekend Fun

Keith and Co snapping photos and video of Steph Davis.

My and the desert flowers!

Me in Keiths sweet shirt.

Steph taking on the desert crack and Lauren on belay.

Lauren Lee, pre crack.

I am really glad that you have visited my blog.

Thanks and I hope to see and hear from you soon.

Rob Pizem

And last but not least, don't forget to check out my favorite sites:http://www.scarpa.net

http://www.arcteryx.com/

http://camp-usa.com/

http://sterlingrope.com/

http://coloradomountainjournal.com/

http://www.wunderground.com/

http://climbing.com/

http://rockandice.com

http://deadpointmag.com/

http://urbanclimbermag.com/

http://andrewburr.com/

http://ladzinski.com/

Busy Time. Infection??

Been super busy and running around for a while. Stay tuned for some big news!
Plus I have a staff infection in my right knee. How it came is a question for me too. The doc said that they since we always are car ring around bacteria in our bodies, that sometimes it just finds a nice place to breed and so it does. Any way my knee has been the size of a baseball and painful to use for a few. At least my meds are working and the swelling has just gone down a bit.

I will post some photos of climbing at the Quarry Wall at Table Mountain in Golden soon. What a nice crag. Not too busy, the routes are dirty, somewhat poorly cleaned but are fun. There is a couple of great clean cracks and the rest of the routes are fluff to give you something to do if a party is on the good climbs. Nice views and if you want to take some of the precut quarried stone you could carry it back to your home and make a nice fireplace or stone wall too!

Finally, I will be in Eugene, Oregon this friday night giving a slide show. Anyone around come down for a good time! Cuba Norway and Utah first free ascents are the name of the game.

Get out and rock climb!!
piz : )

I am really glad that you have visited my blog.Thanks and I hope to see and hear from you soon.
Rob Pizem
And last but not least, don't forget to check out my favorite sites: http://www.scarpa.nethttp: //www.arcteryx.comhttp: //camp-usa.com http://sterlingrope.com http://ColoradoMountainJournal.com http://www.wunderground.com http://climbing.com http://rockandice.comhttp://deadpointmag.com http://urbanclimbermag.com http://andrewburr.com http://ladzinski.com