10 miles & 25 pitches

-or-
Making Virtue of Necessity

Beautiful day in Colorado today. Alas, my car was in the shop, and a few calls to some regular climbing partners turned up nothing. Waste a gorgeous winter day like this? No way.

So I decided to go on foot. I do need to get in shape for long endurance days, so this fit perfectly. I left the house around 1 with a light backpack and the ipod on shuffle. Two hours, and about 10 miles of snowy trails later, I arrived in the canyon. Despite the snow and ice on nearly every cliff and peak, the sunny South faces appear to be warm and dry.

I had a great time on the solo circuit, hitting up Calypso, Reggae, Wind Ridge, the Bulge, Ruper, and the first half of Yellow Spur. Since the normal descents involve snowy gullies, I opt to downclimb most of the routes. Counting downclimbing, it all adds up to about 25 pitches. Not bad for half a day of climbing.

Here's a few quick video clips, shot on my ipod.


Running to Eldo I from Scott Bennett on Vimeo.


Running to Eldo II from Scott Bennett on Vimeo.


Running to Eldo III from Scott Bennett on Vimeo.

Luckily I didn't half to hoof it back in the dark, as my friend Lisa was in the canyon, and graciously gave me a ride home.