www.lovechclimbing.com | Bouldering, Sport Climbing, Lifestyle Photos & Videos by Ivo Penchev

Alpine Fever – The Bouldering Movie • Part One RMNP

Ivo — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:54:24 +0000

Last year in 2011 John Gass and I had decided to start working on short movie series about the alpine bouldering in Colorado. We have managed to record huge amount of the climbing as well as some new first ascents that are to follow in the next few video parts that we are going to publish. You could expect bouldering problems starting at V0 and some much more difficult boulders up to V14. There will be climbing footage of areas such as “Area A” and “Lincoln Lake” both located in Mount Evans, CO.

Feel free to follow my website or our Vimeo accounts for the rest of the movie:

http://vimeo.com/ivopenchev

http://vimeo.com/johngass

John & I have were also able to get climbing videos of climbers such as:
Jimmy Webb
Brion Voges
Brad Weaver
Rob D’Anastasio
Jamie Emerson
Alex Manikowski
Thomas Betterton

Thank you for visiting & come back for more!

Winter trip to Joe’s Valley

Ivo — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 17:16:46 +0000

Couple of weeks ago Rob D’Anastasio and I made a trip to Joe’s Valley in Utah. We could only spend about 11 days there. The climbing during the first week was amazing, sunny days with mid 40’s and cold nights. We managed to climb and try bunch of good boulders. The weather got a bit worse after it snowed one night. There was barely any snow, maybe half of an inch, but the temps got to below 30 so the snow did not melt on the shady sides at all. The motivation to stay warm and climb hard was not as easy anymore so some of us were barely even climbing. During my stay I had some time to take video and photos of the trip. Check them out below!

Sara Penchev climbing “Killed by Numbers V5″ at Joes Valley Utah

Rob D Anastasio on “Black Dahlia” V10 at Joe’s Valley Utah

Sam Johnson climbing Finger Hut V10 at Joe’s Valley Utah

Minko Nikolov on “Beyond Life” V10 at Joe’s Valley Utah

Ben on “Beyond Life” V10 at Joe’s Valley Utah

Dustin on “Beyond Life” V10 at Joe’s Valley Utah

Sam Johnson climbing “Battletoads” V10 at Joes Valley Utah

Brad on “Beyond Life” V10 at Joe’s Valley Utah

Dustin on “Beyond Life” V10 at Joe’s Valley Utah

Ben on “Beyond Life” V10 at Joe’s Valley Utah

Rob D Anastasio on “Black Dahlia” V10 at Joe’s Valley Utah

Joe’s Valley, Utah – “Sling Blade” V4 & “Lactation Station” V10

Ivo — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 21:47:02 +0000

Another weekend at Joe’s Valley. I really like this problem so I went back to climb it. I was hoping for a colder weekend but waking up and climbing at 8am was good enough to get some friction. Lactation Station V10 is located in Dairy Canyon on right fork. The rock is a bit different from the rest and these top-outs reminded me a bit of climbing down south. Can’t wait to go back there when its snowing and cold again.

Joe’s Valley, Utah – Bouldering at Dairy Canyon & Raiden

Ivo — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:32:10 +0000

Fall season for Joe’s is finally here and this past weekend my wife Sara, Mercedes Pollmeier and I decided to go and check out some areas we have not climbed at in the past. I have been following Scott Hall on his Vimeo account crushing sandstone boulders all summer. That got me very motivated to try some new problems.

We arrived at Joe’s around 11:00pm on Friday and the plan for the next day was to go to Dairy Canyon for a whole day. The area was snowed in when we went to check it out, mostly wet. We decided to head towards the Raiden are in left fork, which I have not climbed at in the past. There is this amazing boulder called “Taking The Stairs V9″ which I ended up doing on my second go and another V10 up the hill called “Dunkin Donut’s” which went 2nd go as well.

The next day on Sunday we had a little time to climb since we got lost in the search for Dairy Canyon’s correct left turn… I have to mention that this could have been described as easy as explaining that its the SECOND LEFT AFTER THE “INDIAN CANYON LODGE” sign driving uphill on right fork. The road you make a left on was pretty bad so I do not recommend driving on it if you don’t have good clearance or 4×4 in your car! It is a short distance from the road to the boulders for Dairy Canyon, so if your car is not gonna handle it, park somewhere on the side of the road before taking the left turn.

I managed to get some video of just few climbs. Hoping to get back there soon before it gets completely snowed in and get more of the amazing boulders there on video.

Photo above: Mercedes Pollmeier climbing on Raiden – Joe’s Valley, Utah. October 2011

New boulders at Lincoln Lake

Ivo — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 16:45:24 +0000

It has been awhile since I’ve updated the blog. This weekend John Gass and I headed out to Mount Evans for some climbing. We hiked down toward the “Powder Keg” boulder and spotted what turned to be a new climbing wall. We put up some really easy warm-ups on it, which I find to be amazing. No pads needed for them as well v0-V1. Just 10 feet left on the same wall John G. cleaned this really perfect climb called “The West Side” V9. It starts on a cracked jug and moves to small crimps and a sloper pinch, to a committing top-out. We got a video of the climb that is going to be included in our upcoming alpine movie. I managed to take some photos as well while John was working on the beta. To get to these climbs just hike past the “powder keg” boulder and 50 feet after it go down hill and right. You will see an obvious crack wall (that has all the warm-ups), and the V9 will be on the left side of the same wall. Below are some photos, enjoy!

photo above: John Gass climbing on “Hi-Five” V1, FA by Ivo Penchev • Lincoln Lake, Mt Evans 2011

John on “Hi-Five” V1

Starting holds on “Hi-Five” are the big ledge below John’s right foot (photo above)

John Gass on his F.A. of “The West Side” V9 • Lincoln Lake, Mt Evans, CO.

John Gass topping out “The West Side” V9 • Lincoln Lake, Mt Evans, CO

Below are some photos I took when we hiked up

Summit of Mount Evans, Colorado (photo above)

Baby goat at Mount Evans, Colorado.

More updates coming soon. Have a nice week!

Mount Evans Bouldering – Lincoln Lake

Ivo — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 16:03:30 +0000

The past month has been quite warm for climbing here in Colorado’s alpine areas. We still manage to keep the motivation going by switching the bouldering areas. Projects are coming back as well as the good weather is almost here. I have been able to tick off some of my climbing projects this year like; “Honey Badger V11″, “Phobos V11″, “Fire Ball V10 at RMNP”, “The Guillutine V10″, “Riddles in the Dark V10 at RMNP”, “Triple Threat Arete V10 at RMNP”, “Unshackled Sit V10/11″, “Bierstadt V10 at Area A mt evans”, Whispers of Wisdom V10 at RMNP”, and some other moderates.

Recently I was hiking at Lincoln Lake with John Gass and I stumbled upon a new cave area near “Rebellion”, where we put up two new lines. The one is called “Life of Arete V8″ and the other one is “The Odyssey V9″, both were FA’d by John Gass and I managed to do the second ascents. I love developing new boulders and still look forward for the rest of the alpine season hoping to send some more difficult lines.

Below are some photos I took over the past month. Enjoy!

John Gass climbing “Fist Full of Dollars” V8, FA by Justin Jaeger. Located at Mt Evans-Lincoln Lake, CO

John Gass on a recently new line “Ram Skull” V9. Mt Evans-Lincoln Lake, CO

Jeff Sillcox on “Ram Skull” V9. Mt Evans-Lincoln Lake, CO

John Gass finding the crux of “Group Therapy” V7. Mt Evans-Lincoln Lake, CO

New Boulders at Mt Evans

Ivo — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 16:22:29 +0000

Lincoln lake has seen a lot of new boulders development during this season. I have been hiking around trying to find some new lines. On Saturday John Gass, Jimmy Webb and I did some new additions to the area. Jimmy put up a new V7/8 called K.O. (photo below) as well as another difficult compression boulder called “Now nudda” V11 located right of the “Jamie Emerson” boulder problem. I was able to add a new line called “Group Therapy” V7 on Saturday, and also grabbed the “Group Therapy Sit” V8 on Sunday. These new lines are all in the lower section of Lincoln lake across from each other. John also did the first ascent of a cool compression line (V5-ish) above the “Group Therapy” boulder (no name & photos yet). The summer alpine bouldering continues and I am looking forward to adding some more climbs to the area! Enjoy!

Paul Nadler working on “Group Therapy” V7

Justin one move into “Group Therapy” stand start

Sam sticking the first move on the Sit start of “Group Therapy”

Ivo on the first (crux) move of Jimmy Webb’s new line called “K.O.” V8

Colorado’s Alpine Bouldering Season

Ivo — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 17:27:43 +0000

Couple of weeks have passed since my last blog. Some friends from the east are visiting me as well so it has been a busy month climbing outside. Rest was needed and as bad as it sounds, luckily it rained the past two days. Below are some photos I have taken over the past month, enjoy!

photo above: Thomas Betterton on “Mind Matters” V12 at Guanella Pass, CO

photo above: John Gass on “Child Star” V12/13 at Mt Evans, CO

photo above: Stephen Meinhold on Phobos V10/11 at Mt Evans, CO

photo above: John Gass on his new problem at Mt Evans, CO called “The Green Hornet” V8

photo above: Chris Schulte on “Purple is not a color” V10 at Mt Evans

photo above: Paul Nadler on “Lincoln Pinch” V6/7 at Mt Evans