August, '02   A 'Casual' day on the Diamond  with Guillaume

     It's good to have friends...

    Living in Fort Collins and working in Loveland means that I get to drive down 287 every morning and every evening. This has been my routine for 5 years. In all that time, I don't think there has been one trip when I didn't look over to catch a glimpse of the Diamond. It pervades my thoughts with the predictability of the sunrise. None-the-less, it has taken me a long time to feel up the challenge of actually climbing it. This past winter, I rationalized that there was only one way to find out if I was up the challenge. Plans were made and Lisa and I were all set to climb a route called D7. We had intended to aid the hard sections, but in the end, we were forced to abandon the trip due to Lisa's work schedule. I was quite bummed to not be getting my chance after months of planning but that's the way it goes sometimes. And other times, a good friend takes pity on you and offers go up there and climb the thing even though they have done the same route only two weeks before. Even cooler than that, sometimes they don't even get mad at you when you manage to ruin all the pictures of them on the climb!!!

    It's good to have friends...

    Thanks Guillaume!

Morning alpenglow on Broadway. The scariest part of the day has just ended. (i.e. A solo/simu-climb of  Field's Chimney (5.7) in the dark by headlamp.	A wide angle shot of the traverse on the 2nd pitch. The wall I am climbing is much steeper than it appears in this shot. (look at the next picture)	Nearing the end of the 2nd pitch traverse.
Starting the third pitch. If you look at the next picture (which I took on another day), I have drawn a circle around a climber who is in the same spot as me in the above shot. It's a BIG wall. :)	I took this picture after a solo outing on Kiener's Route. You can read about that day here.	This is me arriving at the top of the 4th pitch. The Estes Park valley and Lumpy Ridge are visible over my right sholder.
Starting the final traverse across Table Ledge. Oh yea... we're going to make it!