EDITOR’S NOTE I’ve climbed the route New Era, in the Garden of the Gods, more than any other. It’s not hard to formulate a reason––the route is transporting. In maybe twenty minutes, one can go from sitting in class to racking up at the route’s base. Whenever the protection isn’t there, the heavily featured face is. A 15’ stretch of splitter crack is reminiscent of a dustier version of some desert classic, and despite the signs of the hundreds of swallows that inhabit the route, pulling out of the dark corner and onto the airy, final face always makes everything drop away. Though the Garden is far from an alpine environment, with the cars circling below or people stopping to point and take photos, the final section of New Era has always inspired a similar sense of remoteness. I imagine that this sense of remoteness would be even more powerful if our modern protection was relented for the headspace between each of the weathered angle pitons that CC alumni Harvey Carter (’56) used to complete the first ascent of the route in 1959. I never met Harvey, but it’s impossible to avoid his influence on the sport. This is especially true belonging to the Colorado College climbing community because of his heavy hand in establishing so many of the climbs that make up our training and stomping grounds.
In his sixty-plus years as a climber, Harvey completed over 5,000 first ascents, with each one recorded in a stack of notebooks. This number contains the first ascents of many routes in the Garden of the Gods, three of the Fisher Towers’ summits, the Priest, and many other routes throughout Colorado and the Desert Southwest. His other accomplishments include creating the first “sport climbs” in the Garden of the Gods using drilled angle pitons, the organization of the first bouldering competition in 1956 (also in the Garden), and the establishment of Climbing Magazine in 1970. Harvey’s impact on climbing culture and the Colorado College climbing community is so widespread that we have dedicated this edition of the CCAJ to his life and legacy. We encourage you all to learn more about the man who has paved the way for so many of our adventures and inspired many more beyond these areas that we all call home. Many of these adventures are documented within the following pages––from climbing here in the Garden of the Gods, to the Utah desert, and beyond. We hope that the 2012 edition of the Colorado College Alpine Journal helps bring you there. —Nielsen Davis (‘15)
[This page] Alex Hager (‘15) leads the final section of New Era. Nielsen Davis [Facing page] Erik Rieger (‘12) and Cole Kennedy (‘13) climbing “somewhere above Cheyenne Canyon.” You’ll have to ask them for the specifics. Photo courtesy of Trask Bradburry 10
CCAJ