Climb With Tommy, Conrad, Jimmie, Eric and me!
For those of you who have been following the Layton Kor fundraiser since the beginning, we are finally at the big moment 🙂
We have raffled off big gear prizes every month, and there is another one coming in a week.
We are also going to announce the winners of the climbing days with Tommy Caldwell, Conrad Anker, Jimmie Dunn, Eric Horst, and me.
Thanks to those who have donated already, and this is the last week to get in the raffle, so don’t miss out!
Also, this is a great time to contribute to help Layton. He has been doing very well all winter, but is in the hospital right now for some complications with his dialysis treatment. The financial support from the climbing community has really helped him, and he is having a harder time at the moment. Please take this opportunity to rally as a community for the end of this fundraising effort and help.
The climbing days:
Tommy Caldwell is accomplished in all aspects of free climbing–from his many El Cap exploits, to first ascents on the Long’s Peak Diamond, in Patagonia, hard boulder problems and testpiece sport routes.
A native of Estes Park, Colorado, Tommy will climb the local Layton Kor classic, “Kor’s Flake” on Sundance Buttress at Lumpy Ridge with one giveaway winner.
Kor’s Flake is a 5 pitch 5.8 granite climb, with a beautiful hike to the base past all the other buttresses at Lumpy Ridge, and an easy walk down from the summit. The best time to climb at Lumpy is late spring to early fall.
Donate to Layton Kor, and be put in a hat to win a climbing day with Tommy. The more you donate, the better your luck! When you donate for a climbing day, you will also be put in the monthly hat to win a gear cache.
Conrad Anker is an American rock climber, mountaineer, and author famous for his challenging ascents in the high Himalaya and Antarctica. He is a member of The North Face climbing team and also works closely with Timex Expedition as brand ambassador. In 1999 he was a key member of the search team which located the remains of legendary British climber George Mallory on Mount Everest. He lives in Bozeman, Montana.
The winner of Conrad’s climb will join him in Yosemite Valley to climb the South Face of Washington’s Column. This is an 1100 foot climb, which can be done in 10 pitches. Because it involves some aid climbing, most parties climb it big wall style over two days. The South Face is the easiest big wall in Yosemite. The aid is straightforward and 80 percent of the route goes at 5.10a or easier, but almost every pitch can be aided if necessary. Though this route is relatively “easy” to other grade V walls, it has plenty of exposed and interesting pitches, such as the legendary Kor Roof. Dinner Ledge is one of the classic Yosemite bivy ledges. Layton Kor did the first ascent of this route in 1964.
Since this route is South Face, high summer is best avoided. It will stay warm even in late fall and very early spring.
Donate to Layton Kor, and be put in a hat to win a climbing day with Conrad. The more you donate, the better your luck! When you donate for a climbing day, you will also be put in the monthly hat to win a gear cache.
Jimmie Dunn is a climbing legend in his own right, notable for his many pioneering and cutting edge ascents in the Utah desert, Colorado, and Yosemite. Jimmie’s climbing day will be an all around legendary experience….
Jimmie, with Earl Wiggins, made the first free ascent of the Cruise in the Black Canyon, which Layton Kor established with Larry Dalke in 1964. When Jimmie and Earl went to take on the free ascent of this Grade V route, they brought a sandwich, a quart of water and a rain jacket each. Jimmie later free soloed the route.
The route starts by scrambling down the Cruise Gully into the bottom of the Black Canyon. The Cruise is 1700′ long, the final 1500 of which are dead vertical, usually done in around a dozen pitches–rates Grade V. Some highlights: 2-3 pitches of ultra-sustained, varied, but perfect 5.10 cracks in a row; 3 extremely exposed traverves on the upper half of the route, one of which is 5.10-; a crux pitch which includes an exciting traverse, a strenuous overhanging corner, perfect hands, and a squeeze chimney to top it off! The final highlight is when you reach the top, food, water and beer are only a 5 minute walk away…
Peak climbing season at the Black Canyon begins in mid-April and runs through the early part of June and then from mid-September through early November.
Eric Horst has been a cutting edge climber for the past 30 years while pursuing his vertical passion in relative seclusion in southeastern Pennsylvania, hardly a hot-bed of American climbing. Eric helped develop the New River Gorge in West Virginia in the 1980s and 1990s into a premier world-class climbing area. He started climbing at age 13 and by 1981 was regularly cranking 5.12 routes and in the mid-1980s did the first 5.13 climbs in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Eric has put up over 400 first ascents to date.
Besides his impressive rock resume, Eric is also a training for climbing guru. He’s written several best-selling books on climbing, including Training for Climbing, How to Climb 5.12, Learning to Climb Indoors, and the new Conditioning for Climbing. For more about Eric and his cool training tips, check out his website Trainingforclimbing.com.
Eric will guide one of our Climb With The Pros winners around the Shawangunks in New York for a day of climbing a lot of the classic routes that Layton Kor climbed back in the sixties on his trips back East. Routes include the great Gunks classics that Layton climbed back in the 1960s.
Donate to Layton Kor, and be put in a hat to win a climbing day with Eric. The more you donate, the better your luck! When you donate for a climbing day, you will also be put in the monthly hat to win a gear cache.
And last but not least, climb Castleton with me 🙂
Remember, if you want to be in on the final raffle, and a climbing day isn’t for you, you can still donate and be entered in the last gear raffle.
Thanks again to everyone for helping Layton Kor.
And I look forward to some great climbing stories when these climbing days happen!
