One of the best things that can happen to me when someone asks:
“Hey Chuck, how would you like a tour of this new area?”
My answer is always, of course, hell yes!
Last Friday, my good friend Justin Jaeger took a day off from his high-pressure law office job to go climbing in a new area he’s been developing called Newlin Creek.
Located west of Pueblo, Colorado, it’s a pretty long drive from my home in Golden, so we got an early start.
As we finally started hiking to the boulders, I could tell a good day was in the making.
A new area, fall colors on the branches and cold air pumping in and out of my lungs … it all reminded me why I love climbing so much.
After warming up on some smaller rocks, we stopped at a problem called the Nickness. I thought it was very difficult, but I was able to do it on my first try (yeah, training!). I love giving hard problems a good first effort, especially when it’s successful!
We then packed up our stuff and hiked further up the valley to a new boulder that Justin had cleaned the previous weekend. I spotted a line that went all the way from the lowest point of the boulder and contoured up the steep rounded bulge in a beautiful straight line that followed the profile of the hillside. I was able to do the first ascent of the line after about an hour of work, naming it Everybody’s a Victim.
We bouldered until the darkness made seeing the rock difficult, and climbing it nearly impossible. We hiked out in the dark, worked and grinning. On the way home, we ate greasy burgers.
What a life.

Cloudveil ambassador Chuck Fryberger is a climber and videographer from Golden, Colorado. His work can be seen at www.momentumvm.com.