The Weekend to End All Weekends

The Adopt-A-Crag weekend has come and gone. What a weekend it was though! Ben and Mary went out of their way to ensure that everyone had a great time. They sacrificed their time, money, and energy to make this event happen. Essentially it boils down to this: Ben and Mary are just good people.

This weekend really started coming together months ago. Ben and Mary had a vision for an event that would not only promote continued climbing access at the Lake, but also better the environment there, and introduce more people to the climbing experience at the Lake. They worked hard in the weeks leading up to the Adopt-A-Crag, gathering sponsors, cutting brush, putting together prizes for participants, finding a cook for Saturday night...the list goes on and on.

Colter and I arrived on Friday afternoon, and began to help Ben (who had been working since 7:30 am) start hauling off loads of brush. We worked for a few hours, and then bouldered for a few more. Colter was eyeing the third ascent of Burlfest, but fell off the last move three times on Friday! Worn out, we retired to Ben and Mary's house, ate pizza, and watched Dosage V.


(Colter on Burlfest on a previous trip)

On Saturday morning, more troops showed up and we continued to haul off brush and collect trash. In the end we cleared around 10 trailer loads, and 3 truck fulls of brush (all cut by Ben). On top of that, bag-fulls of trash were collected. I've never seen the lake looking so good.

After lunch we started climbing. Colter slipped off, laced up below Burlfest and crushed it! Well done Colter. I knew it was only a matter of time. By my count, this is the third ascent of the boulder.

The Chapmans then rolled in from Camp Eagle, and Scott began to systematically destroy every difficult problem and project at the lake. He nabbed the fourth ascent of Burlfest, and then FA'ed the arete on the opposite end of the boulder. Its a tough, holdless, compression arete, and now goes by Little Annie.

We then collected pads and returned to Smooth Sailing, which I had top-roped on our last trip to the Lake. We padded the landing, making it as manageable as possible...though it was still pretty lousy. I went for it and the send went smoothly. Scott followed, flashing it. Colter followed, sending it first go. I think the consensus was that the problem is awesome.






Well, while the pads were there, Scott decided to tempt the impossible (improbable)--the direct finish to Jagged Edge. A little history on the boulder: This is the most aesthetic line at the lake. Its a brilliant overhanging face, with an obvious starting jug, two medium-difficulty set-up moves, then nothing for 4-5 feet. And then a sloper. All over a terrible landing.

Jagged Edge avoids the "nothingness" by veering right to the arete. Even on top-rope no one had ever stuck the mandatory dyno on the direct version. But for some reason, Scott thought we should boulder it. We arranged a landing pad and went for it. Sure enough, Scott sent after 5-6 tries, naming it Jack in the Box. I was getting close, but couldn't latch the sloper, even after 15-20 tries.

We moved on to other things, but Scott encouraged me to go back and give it another go. After 5 more tries, I stuck the dyno and held on for the desperate send. Jarrod happened to catch a video of the send (I think someone has video of Scott's send--send that to me so I can make a proper video please!)

Short Commentary: So I'm pretty excited in the video (as you will be able to tell). I've looked at this route every time I've been to the lake for the last 4 years. It really was the Great Undone Line at the Lake. It may not be the hardest there, but all the elements- purity, quality of moves, sketchy landing, lack of top-rope success, history- all made it an unimaginable project.

Its almost bittersweet that its been climbed. But watching Scott realize the vision for the line, and following his lead with an ascent, was a really great experience for me.

All in all, a great weekend. One that wouldn't have happened without Ben and Mary. Thanks again for your commitment to preserving the access and climbing experience at the Lake.