The outdoor climbing season in Vermont in dwindling.  There is frost on the ground almost every morning and the mountains (where the boulders live) are getting snow, ice and/or rain a few times a week.  I am sad to say the season seems to be coming to an end, for this part of Northern VT anyway.  I do, however, hope to get some chances to test the winter bouldering, sans topouts and with snowshoe approaches.

The past month has been a good one here. I sent a testy little (or not so little at about 30ft) project that gave me a harder time than expected. Also, an amazing boulder was discovered close-by in Bolton, VT (see pictures). This boulder was tracked down by two good friends, Kiel and Pat, and saw hours of laborious "landscaping" done by them. Thanks!

The boulder, so called the 8th Grade Boulder (thanks to its numerous problems of the 8a grade and beyond), is amazing. I was fortunate to put up two new lines including a slab that goes at V8 on the far left side and a one-move double clutch V10 (or V11?) in the middle.  There are many more (3, 4, 5?) lines to be done and the harder ones will likely be beyond what I will ever climb.  My friend, Jake List, just managed the hardest to date, a V12 yet to be named.  The line starts on the right side and traverses through some difficult moves on pinches with footwork that requires a lot of body tension.  This leads to the final move which is a dyno up and left that I have yet to stick.  I am very psyched on this problem and hope to send it in the future.

With Vermont weather fading I look forward to more trips to New England locales south of here. I have lots of projects and hope to see more of them sent in the not-too-distant future.