Ah, Colorado! While folks were backcountry skiing (see previous blog post), we headed down to Rifle, Colorado yesterday for rock climbing with a crew that included old friends friends Molly and Larry Bruce. Some of you climbers out there might remember your climbing history and know that Molly did the first all woman ascent of El Capitan, along with Barb Eastman in 1977. Molly is still climbing, and doing it well, leading 5.10 after more than 30 years on the rock! Larry was a very active climber in the 70s and 80s, known to many Boulder and Aspen, Colorado climbers as a friendly and skilled alpinist who traveled widely (or wildly). He’s still on the rock as well. My theory: rock climbing keeps you healthy.
Most excellent events of the day were when two of our younger contingent did their first lead climbs, congratulations Jake and Louie — thanks goes to Hayden Kennedy for the inspiration.
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.
