Bouldering

Coronet Peak is closed. We had a few days of warm weather and a big rainstorm, which turned the slope conditions from bad to unbearable, so they shut the mountain down. Bummer to the MAX! I got in two fun days of riding last week, but now we'll all have to wait for the temperatures to drop before we can get back out there. Warm weather isn't all bad, though. You can climb in warm weather.


Andrew and I had both heard murmurings about a bouldering area southeast of Queenstown, so two days ago we threw a crash pad in the back of his station wagon and set out to find it. After driving around and scouting the landscape we finally encountered a gate with a gravel road leading off towards some large rocks. The car is an unintentional low-rider, so we scraped up the undercarriage pretty good on the bumpy road, but sure enough we had found it. There are at least 6 enormous boulders there, each of which is loaded with tons of different problems (ie routes). There was one other climber already kickin' it, an older English chap named Tony, who we had actually met at the indoor wall the previous week. Tony is the man. He must be at least 50, but he is a really, really strong and precise climber. He was like a tour guide that day, taking us around to the boulders and showing us the fun climbs, then kindly offering beta (advice) whenever we were stumped. Nice weather, amazing scenery, and good company. Eventually a group of young British kids rolled in, followed by a bunch of Israelis, and they were all nice. Once again, another successful outdoor adventure! Here's a pic of Andrew getting wicked: