Location

This past Wednesday (February 10th, 2010), Both myself and my friend didn't have classes due to the impending snowstorm (that never happened). We came up with a novel idea; Winter Bouldering! There was up to 2" of snow on the ground in spots and there was a constant light snowfall which made for an almost surreal experience. We decided to climb on some boulders that we had scoped out earlier in the year. Even though the 2 problems we sent are only v1-v2, every hold was soaking wet and freezing. This forced us to forgo well-placed slopers, crimps and edges and use distant, awkward jugs. We also could not use any smears because our shoes quickly became drenched. This made both climbs much more dynamic and overly-dramatic. Hard slaps onto sharp holds that have never phased us before were now much more desperate due to frozen hands and the knowledge of imminent pain. These factors artificially increased the difficulty of these climbs by at least half a grade. In one case (on the "Slant" climb) we used a tarp to prevent my mat from sucking up moisture like a sponge. This combination of mat-on-top-of-tarp-on-top-of-snow resulted in a sled. When spotting, we had to fight gravity to keep our mat in place. We also discovered several potential difficult problems in the area which, due to the wetness, were unclimbable.
Climbing in the snow was amazing fun however and I would highly recommend it to everyone who does not mind every piece of gear one owns getting drenched. Also, your hands, brushes, shoes and mats will get very muddy. We have been cooped up inside for months though now and this outing was a portent of great climbs to come in the spring.