NC Boy Sends the Crew in Rifle

DPM: What did you do over the winter leading up to going to rifle?

Adam: My girlfriend, Rachel, and I have been traveling since last August. We spent the first three months of this year bouldering in Hueco Tanks. When the season was over we moved to Joe’s Valley and Salt Lake to do some more bouldering before the sport climbing season was in. We then spent a month and a half at Cathedral and Maple to get into route shape, and from there we went to Rifle.

DPM: How was your season in Rifle, the people, weather, scene?

Adam: Overall I had a lot of fun in Rifle, mainly because it’s much different than any climbing I had done before. On a more specific level, the routes were chossy and ugly, but most of them climbed very well. There were a lot of nice people, but there were also a lot of unfriendly people on an ego trip (but this seemed to be typical for the west). Some of the bolts were very poorly placed, and the weather just didn’t seem to be on my side. So I have mixed opinions of Rifle, and after spending so much time in the Red River Gorge, it definitely wasn’t on par with my expectations.

DPM: Did you go to Rifle with the Crew in mind?

Adam: Before going to Rifle I had never heard of the route, so I certainly didn’t go to Rifle because of it. I was told climbing in Rifle is much harder than most places (although I believe once you figure the rock out, climbing there is easier) , so I worked my way up the grades and did most of the stuff I wanted to do fairly quickly and so the next step was to get on one of the harder routes there.

DPM: Can you tell us more about the Crew, the FA, broken holds and what makes it different?

Adam: The Crew is a full pitch of sustained climbing separated by a few kneebars, with a 6 bolt crux down low and two crux sections up high. I believe it was first sent by Chris Knuth, not sure when though.

One day while working it I broke the right crux under-cling in half, making it a shallow half pad two finger pocket instead of a good three finger full pad hold. Then at a later date someone broke two holds at the end, one was a good pinch, and the other a half pad crimper which I was clipping the anchor from. The later hold became nothing more than a piece of crap nubbin (which I wouldn’t dream of clipping the anchor from), and you have to throw to it from a lower worse pinch. Before, I considered the route to be rather hard for its original grade, and I believe this pushed it to the next level, although I wasn’t taking full advantage of the kneebars. Comparing it to Zulu, the route to its right (which I was told to be very solid at 14a), increasing its original grade by a letter makes plenty of since, simply because it would be absurd to call it just one letter harder than Zulu. Also, comparing it to Golden and Divine Fury, two 14b’s I have been on recently, although briefly, it is certainly harder.

DPM: Was this the first ascent in its current state?

Adam: I suppose it was, although Jon Cardwell also did the route recently.

DPM: What was the process of working on it like? Did it go down easy?

Adam: When I first started working it I thought it was going to go without much effort, but that changed really quickly with hot weather and broken holds, and because the route just never gives up. It didn’t go easy.

DPM: How is RMNP (Rocky Mountain National Park) treating you? Any big sends?

Adam: RMNP was second only to Hueco, I really want to spend more time there since there is so much left for me to do. I don’t recall finding a single problem less than 4 stars there. My best send was The Automator, which was high on my to-do list. With the warm weather I really didn’t think I was going to do it, but getting out there two hours before the sun rose really helped, along with a ton of rubbing alcohol. Hands down, my favorite route was Eternia.

DPM: What are your plans for the future?

Adam: Right now I am back east and plan on working in Lexington, KY, so climbing will be halted a bit for the next year, although I hope to be able to train and stay in shape, and to get to Europe ASAP.