Longstanding Eldo Project Freed at Last
In November, Chris Weidner of Boulder made the first free ascent of Centaur (5.13c) on the Redgarden Wall in Eldorado Canyon, Colorado. “Centaur is a spectacular and varied route on the right side of the prow of Tower Two, which parallels the last pitches of the Naked Edge (5.11b, 6 pitches) and Diving Board (5.11a, 4 pitches),” wrote Weidner on Mountain Project.
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In November, Chris Weidner of Boulder made the first free ascent of Centaur (5.13c) on the Redgarden Wall in Eldorado Canyon, Colorado. “Centaur is a spectacular and varied route on the right side of the prow of Tower Two, which parallels the last pitches of the Naked Edge (5.11b, 6 pitches) and Diving Board (5.11a, 4 pitches),” wrote Weidner on Mountain Project.
The route was established in 1967 as an aid route (5.10d, A4) by Pat Ament, Tom Ruwitch and Roger Briggs. Christian Griffith freed the second pitch in 1986 at 5.12c.
“The crux [first] pitch took nine days of effort starting in late September, with an additional two or three days up there by myself finding holds, cleaning them, and just trying to decipher individual moves,” Weidner told National Geographic.
In an email to Rock and Ice, Weidner describes the day of the send with perfect temps, “freezing in the cold and warm in the sun.” He also said that this was the first attempt from the ground up and had yet to redpoint either of the final two pitches.
When asked what’s next for him, Weidner replied that he has many projects in mind. “But at the moment I’m enjoying just climbing: bouldering, sport, trad – whatever,” he wrote. “It’s very important for me to have chunks of time throughout the year when I’m not chained to a project, when I’m free to just have fun climbing.”