Bouldering at Coopers - Jan 7-8

Saturday: Drove 4.5 hours to Coopers on my own. There was more snow than I expected from the weather forecast, and the sky was overcast. The gate at Coopers was closed, so it was another hour of hike in to get to the boulders. It was already 1:30 pm by the time I unfolded the crashpad and started working on Woody's Arete (V4). It was cold and windy, but the friction was very good, so after 4 or 5 tries I was able to finally get this problem. Sweeet!! Then I walked over to Helicopter (V5) and worked on the crux move pulling out from the overhang. I figured out a good sequence, but it's pretty powerful, and right at the limit of my reach. I tried a few times to link up all the moves from the beginning, but always fell right at the crux. Maybe tomorrow.


Doing the Helicopter (V5)

Sunday: I spent the night camped at Chestnut Creek campground on the other side of I-68, I was the only person in the campground. After catching up on some much needed sleep, I drove over to Coopers and made the long hike in. I decided to get on Helicopter right away, hoping to link up all the moves. Unfortunately I still couldn't latch the crux move. I took a break around 11 am, to wait for some climbers from the DCORC group. Alyce and David showed up, but the rest of the climbers bailed. They warmed up on the Warmup Boulders, while I gave Helicopter a few more unsuccessful tries. We played around on four other problems, by 3 pm we were all pretty beat. We made the long hike back, said our goodbyes, and went our separate ways.

Working on Helicopter (V5)