Seven Pitches at Lost City

Sunday, Margaret and I got out for the afternoon to do some top-roping at Lost City. When we got to the parking lot we saw some fellow climbing buddies and we decided we would climb together, sharing top-ropes. This of course, facilitated many pitches and easy setups.

The beauty of the TRs in Lost City is that they are generally in the shade. The area we went to called the Chasm is particularly shady, as it is, as the name suggests, a chasm -- i.e., all day shade. We started the day with Texas Flake, a stellar 5.10c on an overhanging wall with a long reach for a crux. Margaret went first and with only the slightest of hesitations, crushed it. I followed and left the rope up for our buddies.

We then moved over to the left and climbed Golden Streaks (5.11a) and Caffeine and Nicotine (5.12b). Caffeine and Nicotine is a superb climb. Very very crimpy with multiple hard sections. I only hung once on my on-sight TR attempt! Woot woot.

After that we moved back into the chasm and climbed the steep and relentless Forbidden Zone (5.11b). It's another awesome awesome awesome route that starts with some hard crimpy moves, and just stays on for the next 70 feet. It's good enough to do twice...which is exactly what I did.

After cleaning up that route, we moved over to the right and did Black Crack (5.10d), which our buddies had set up. I'd done it a couple of months ago, and it's also quite good -- deceptively steep and deceptively hard.

To finish out the day I did one final lap on Brave New World (5.11a), just to make sure I was good and pumped, which I most definitely was.

In terms of a fitness day, you couldn't really ask for anything better.

Millbrook

Alright, so, maybe you've heard: Millbrook has an approach. But, as it turns out, I like approaches. It gives you time to get psyched on what you are about to do, and in that sense it's a bit like foreplay. But it also "feels" more appropriate to have to hike in to a cliff. I mean, it's rock climbing. This is serious hardcore stuff, man. Sure, it's convenient to walk two minutes to the climbing, but it's most definitely not eXtreme.

The mileage to Millbrook is somewhere between 3.5 and 4 miles each way and it takes close to an hour. But it really is a great approach. It is relatively flat with a third of it being on a fat carriage road. Then you wind your way through tall pines, crossing some streams along the way. Eventually you pop out in a patch of seemingly endless mountain laurel and when you do leave the mountain laurel you end up on flat rock littered with dwarf pitch pine. Just a little bit of up hill after that and you're at the cliff, simply titillated.

Mountain laurel approach.

The most common approach to climbing at Millbrook is to hike to the Westerward Ha! (which is the classic 5.7 of the cliff) rappel station and then rappel down to the "death ledge." The ledge sits atop a mostly chossy bottom third of the cliff and all of the climbs start there. You can carefully scramble left or right from there to whatever climb you'd like. But, if you have the right beta or can interpret topos really well the better option is to rappel the route you want to climb, avoiding death ledge.

I've been to Millbrook several times now and have never been let down. I have really only done done a handful of routes out there, including Westward Ha! (5.7), Cruise Control (5.9), Realm of the Fifth Class Climber (5.9), Time Eraser (5.10a), and Cuckoo Man (5.10b/c). But there is one other route that I've been on too: Square Meal.

Square Meal, which has been called 5.10d, is probably somewhere in the 5.11a/b range and it is perhaps one the most impressive lines in all the Gunks. I'm just going to go ahead and say it right now: It is the best climb in the Gunks. Rock quality, gear, movement, exposure, and fun factor all get 5 stars. After starting on the first pitch of Schlemeil (5.10b/c) you build an anchor on a small ledge in a corner. (Here to the right, you can see Matt working his way into the crux section of Schlemiel, with the top of Square Meal just barely visible.) From the anchor you move right on a good horizontal and make a few hard moves up to a small overhang. From there you plug in some good nuts, muster some courage while chalking up, and make some desperate moves to the right to a jug. One more cruxy section that includes a bomber mono pocket and it's hero climbing up a corner. To top it all off, the final 20 feet traverses out a horizontal jug rail on an overhanging face with massive exposure. (Check this photo out.)

This route and I have had "a history" together. Basically it has thwarted me, hard, twice before. On attempt number one, Matt and I had difficulty with route finding. We built the anchor in the wrong place, and then ended up traversing underneath the crux, climbing a bit of either Nectar Vector or New Frontier. From there we got up to the easier crux, couldn't pull it and ended up getting rescued with a rope from buddies at the top. Attempt number two was a little better but Devin and I still got shut down pretty hard. Built the anchor in the right spot that time and climbed both cruxes without falling. But I traversed a lower horizontal and ended up on Nectar Vector, again, this time in unprotected 5.11 territory. Luckily, we got a rescue from above from some friends, again.

So obviously, I had a vendetta. Matt and I were by ourselves this time, so there would be no help from above. We knew exactly where the top was, so we rappelled the route, building the anchor (in the correct spot) for the first pitch on the way down. Matt led the first pitch, getting a little worked and even taking a nice whip. After reassessing beta, he climbed it no problem, and I followed cleanly. After racking up at the belay, I moved out and up. After some minor hesitations at the first crux I moved through it. Nice and clean so far. I moved up to the next crux and again had to remember beta. Once I figured it out, it was smooth, glorious sailing to the top.

Just about to enter the crux section. Skytop and the Trapps can just barely be seen in the background.

If I had to personify my relationship with Square Meal, it would be like this: Vendetta was a girl that Square Meal and I were fighting over. I was the out-of-town guy and Square Meal hated my guts inherently. There were even two occasions were Square Meal beat the crap out of me. Once we got to know each other a little better though, we realized how lame Vendetta was and instead of fighting over her, Square Meal and I became best friends who have lots of fun climbing together.

So anyway, after Matt topped out, we relaxed for a bit, taking our sweet old time sorting gear, coiling ropes and packing up. We decided to do Realm of the Fifth Class Climber next -- Matt hadn't done it yet, and we were feeling a bit worked, so it seemed like a good option. I had minimal recollection of the route, but we somehow found the top and rappelled right over top of it. Matt linked the first two pitches together, which includes a pleasant corner roof, and I led the last pitch of meandering through roofs and faces.

Matt leading the stellar second pitch of Realm of the Fifth Class Climber.

Sitting back on the top of the cliff, we contemplated doing the Old Route (5.5), which was the first climb to ever be done in the Gunks. Just then, a turkey vulture landed on the edge of a cliff and a cool wind flared up. We looked over our shoulders to see dark clouds headed our way. The climbing seems to be on Millbrook's terms, so with the threat of a storm, we headed home. A light, cathartic rain kept us cool for all of the three and a half miles home.

The Portent.

Take the hike and get out to Millbrook. It is, without a doubt, worth ever step it takes.

Seven Pitches in an Afternoon

Yesterday I met up with my buddy Mark around one o'clock for some climbing in the Trapps. I was a little bit early so I walked down to the Sleepy Hollow area to meet up with him, as he lives and works at the Mountain House and rides his bike from there. And since we were down there, I thought, we might as well climb there.

Sleepy Hollow is the last section of the cliff, and it's one of my favorites. It isn't as tall as the rest of the cliff, but it's secluded and has lot's of pine trees. During the summer that awesome pine smell permeates throughout the area. The views are different too. You're quite close to Skytop and even the valley views aren't the same as they are in the early Trapps. And lest we've forgotten, the climbing there is fantastic too! We ended up getting on Art's Route (5.9) and then Wegatebles (5.10a).

Art's Route would seem to be me to be a hidden gem. It's really, really good. And it's also pretty hard. The guidebook says "First Ascent: Art Gran, 19060s." The fact that it's Art Gran and that fact that the date is vague is usually a good indicator that "5.9" could mean anything from 5.9 to 5.11. This one is definitely not 5.9. You start with a cool crux off the ground -- a sort of mantel thing. And then it's a bit easier for a while. When you get up to the roof, if you've taken Dick's advice to bring a blue cam, you'll be pissed at him because it's actually the #4 that you want. But then you do some hard pulling with some big moves. Maybe even throw a little dynamic pop in there, if you're so inclined. The business is over after that, so the hard climbing isn't very long, but it's hard for sure.

Wegatebles is one of those climbs that is good enough to do every day. If it weren't for the long walk to get to it, I would probably consider doing just that. It of course starts with some spicyness above a small nut right off the ground, and then pulls big roofs on good holds (What?! Are we in the Gunks or something?) This climb was Matt's first 5.10 lead, I remember it well.

Mark had to go to work after that so I called up Davis to see if he wanted to get out for a little while. We ended up doing five more pitches, which was totally awesome. I led up the run-out first pitch of Annie Oh! (5.8) which has terrific climbing. And then Davis led the second pitch of Three Doves (5.8). We came back down the ledge and I did the second pitch of Annie Oh (5.8) which has a scary microwave block on it that could come off at any second. Came back down again and Davis led the last pitch of Arrow (5.8). Classic. All four pitches.

We finished up the day with Feast of Fools (5.10b), which Davis led. He had never done it before, and so obviously he had to do it. Another classic, awesome pitch. So good.

Ian leading Feast of Fools back in the fall of 2008.

Lots of mileage on some uber-classics. Millbrook tomorrow?

A shout out.

Check this out: http://bigfootmountainguides.com/2011/06/13/why-you-should-use-a-grigri/

Ryan, the author of Big Foot Mountain Guides, always has good insightful things to say. This post is particularly good I think. I've been transitioning into a grigri only lifestyle recently, and I have to say, I like it.

Just last month I was climbing Crisscross Direct (5.10a). I had topped out and was belaying my friend Kasia up, using the grigri. She got about five moves past the first belay and out of nowhere, it started to rain. Like rain really hard with cold, fat raindrops. She managed to climb most of the way up before the holds, her hands, and shoes were soaked. But, I just lowered the break strand down to her, and I pulled on her end, and she belayed/pulleyed her way up -- no big deal.

Yay grigri.

It is Hot

I had plans to go out to Millbrook today to do some climbing. But when I woke up at was 76 degrees and in the next half hour it was up to 80, and then 85, finally peaking at a record high 94. So obviously Millbrook was canceled and plans for swimming commenced.

Found a pretty neat spot near town that you can do some jumping, swimming, floating, sunning, and even some deep water bouldering. The water is probably at least 15 feet deep, and the jump is probably a little bit higher (making the bouldering a little bit higher than 15 feet too...). Super awesome, totally neat, radically tubular. If it had it's own facebook page I would "like" it.

We stayed out there for a while, maybe till like 2:00 or so, then headed back into town for some burgers at Market Market (best burgers around, easily). After lunch we decided, for some strange reason, that it would be a good idea to go out to Triple Right and try some hard routes. Turns out it was a bad idea.

Triple Right is buggy and it doesn't get much wind. And it also turns out the roof cracks, in the Gunks, in 85 degree weather, with 80% humidity are not the best idea. Think of trying to hold onto sweaty crimps, or even jugs. Your finger tips want to just grease right off. Now think of hand jams. You need the entirety of the back of your hand to create friction so that you can stay on. Now, when you climb horizontal roof cracks that require full body weight hand jams with said conditions, you just aren't going to have success.

But rock climbing kicks ass, and even though I have many bug bites, it was a fun adventure. Arachnious is an awesome 5.11c sandbag, and I'd like to go back and send sometime. Check out a write up about it here: http://mammutathleteteam.blogspot.com/2008/11/there-are-no-cracks-in-gunks.html.

Craggin Wagon

We had ourselves a little Trapps craggin' party yesterday that was thoroughly enjoyable. Nyssa came down to join the party so in total it was Matt, Margaret, Rich, Nyssa and me all getting out on some ropes and having a good time.

We went to the Winter/Spring area and climbed all day without moving our packs once. I led up Oblique Tweak (5.8) while Matt did Boldville (5.8), much like the other day with Mark and Mark. Then everyone took turns climbing both these routes and then also Winter (5.10d), Summer (5.11d), Fall (5.11a), and Spring (5.9+).

Matt give the Winter a lead and crushed it, with only the slightest amount of elvis-ing going on. I also got on the first pitch of Unlsung Heroes (5.10a), which was pretty dang good. It's not the most obvious thing at the cliff, and the second pitch goes at 5.11a PG-R, so I think it often gets overlooked. But it is most definitely a high quality first pitch with a couple of different cruxes. It was Margaret's favorite climb of the day.

This is a great area to get in lots of pitches. Not only that, but the trees keep you in the shade for most of the climbing and there is a little trickle of water that creates a zen-like atmosphere. With leading only two climbs you can then top-rope nine different pitches, making for a total of eleven climbs without moving the packs and only racking up twice. For a hot lazy summer day it can't be beat. I'll be going back there to do just that for sure.

Peter's Kill Bouldering.

Made it out to Peter's Kill for some bouldering for the first time this year. That place has some really, really good boulder problems. Margaret and I headed out in the morning to meet Rich for some fun, relaxed climbing on some shaded boulder problems.

We went to the left side first and did Spew Harder (v5) and Loner Boner (v3) and I tried Dwarf Toss (v8) for a little while too. When I injured my finger I took like six weeks off of climbing. One of the first days back climbing I got a shoulder start for Dwarf Toss and did the dyno second try! I wanted to send pretty bad, but turns out it's pretty hard a little bit lower down...hmm, next time I suppose. But all three of those problems are quite good. Rich was able to snap a few photos of Margaret on Loner Boner:

Margaret and me at Loner Boner.

One arm, finger lock start...I can't get my fingers in, so it's a desperate crimp dyno for me.

The crux.

After that we went over to project land. I thought I'd never been there, but turns out I had been once many moons ago. I tried this crazy sloping arete thing way back when but never tried anything else that was there. We got on My Eye Only (v3) to start. It looked like it hadn't been climbed in a long time -- there were spider webs over anything, moss growing on key holds and not much in the way of chalk. But after we got her lookin' pretty, she climbed pretty nicely:

Margaret on My Eye Only.

After that we did a fun slab problem called Stepping into Grey (v3). The more slab boulder problems I do, the more I think they are the bee's knees. So. Much. Fun. The last thing we did was take a photo of Kill Whitney (V10) because it has huge huge huge tick marks. Come on dude, clean off your ticks!

Little bit of this, Little bit of that.

I've been getting out intermittently the past few days for some shorter sessions. Friday, the day after Powerlinez, I got out for the morning with Mark. I had to work later that day, so I didn't really want to get too far away from the car. With that in mind, I suggested he lead P38 (5.10b). I had been on it only once before, and it was a long long time ago. In fact, P38 is where I met Ian for the first time. It's also where I saw someone I know take a trad fall for the first time. Oh the memories! After that I led up Nosedive (5.10b) and then we did No Solution (5.12a) on toprope. I actually climbed it without falling for the first time! It's been a long time coming for that one. Mark finished up with Retribution (5.10b) and we called it a day.

Saturday I spent the morning/afternoon tubing down the Roundout Creek. There was a slide show at Rock and Snow featuring Madaleine Sorkin and Lizzy Scully at 8, so I zipped out to Tripple Right before the slide show to do a little bouldering. I got on Pussywillow (v6) and Captain Bringdown (v6) and I did each a couple of times. Then I zipped back to town for the slide show.

Yesterday I got out for just a little bit of carriage road bouldering. Did New Pair of Glasses (v7) and Million Dollar Problem (v5). Tried The Twister (v8) with minimal luck...I think my beta is bad on that one and also tried Ricans and White Boys (V7) but was feeling pretty spent so didn't have much luck on that one too.

Today is another splitter day, so it's time to go crush!

Powerlinez

So lately I've been putting a "z" or two on the end of blog post titles to be ironic and funny. But, actually, Powerlinez is the name of a climbing area. I just found out about it last night...how ironic!!

Powerlinez is a climbing area about an hour south from the Gunks, just off of the Thruway. The rock there is a granitic gneiss, so it has a similar feel to the Adirondacks, except a little bit smaller and broken up cliffs. That and there is a bunch of good, worthwhile bouldering. Most of the climbing is under some pretty heavy duty power lines...hence the name...how IRONIC@!@11!

We started with some bouldering and warming up at the first little spot, which was only a few minutes from the car. We did a fun little dynamic V3 and then moved over to some tall cracks with some exciting top outs. Then we went over to a slab-ish arete kind of thing. It probably goes at something like V4. It was really good. I got it second try.

Andrew "near the top."

After that we went uphill a little bit and roped up at the Stockade Cliff. There was a top-rope climb at the cliff called Crankenstein that hadn't been led yet, so Andrew and I rock/paper/sicissorzed and he won. He geared up and put the thing away. Very much fun. Bouldery off the ground, and then hero climbing to the top.

Andrew, just after the crux on Crankenstein.

Our friend John, author of the Powerlinez guidebook, was out with us, and he had a little project that he tried after Crankenstein. There's a horizontal feature that runs across most of the Stockade feature. And since we are all really Gunksterpullers, sideways travel is second nature. It's a really good line. It's got technical ballet feet and a range of good, decent and bad holds. Nice and long too, like close to 70 feet.

John on his traverse at the Stockade Cliff.

When we were done with the ropes, we all decided that we were kind of spent from the sunshine, so we moved back into the woods and did some more bouldering. It looks like there is a lot of sub-cliffs and smaller bands of rock. You could certainly get lost back there doing some exploring. Some cool stuff for sure.

Andrew ending the day with a sweet, dynamic, V3.

After that little bit of bouldering, we all decided that the sun beat us down, so we called it a day. All in all it was a fun day. Definitely worth the trip down to the Powerlinez. It's only a half-hour from New York City, so I bet Powerlinez is a good alternative to the Gunks if the weather is iffy, or maybe if the Gunks are gonna be busy for a local looking to get some time on rock.

Oh, and I forgot to mention...the weather was so good today! All the humidity got sucked out of the air last night, and the temperature dropped by at least ten degrees. That's the good stuff.

Memorial Day Boulderzz

Last weekend we got out on some boulders, despite the heat. Kasia's boyfriend Chris was here visiting from Buffalo, and so we all headed out to do some crushing.

The heat has come with full vengeance, and so on Friday we went to Lost City with thoughts of post-climbing swimming at the Coxing Kill. We started out at Old Lost City with some warming up. Did all the problems on the warm up boulder and then we moved over to Middle LC. There we did some sight seeing and looked at some cool problems including Stand Up Start Button (crazy V5 slab highball) and Ideas are Bulletproof (crazy V10 highball which appears in Dosage V).

After that we went over to New Lost City and we worked a little bit on Funny Killer (V8), which is one of my current projects. I cruised to the crux move a few times and I feel like I'm getting pretty close to it for sure.

Chris on Funny Killer (V8)

With the heat starting to get overbearing, we did a little bit more and then went swimming!! After that it was time for me to go to work. Boo, work.

Chris attempting an "easy" problem before we called it quits.

It turned out that I didn't have to work on Sunday, which was pretty cool. Well, the weather was still pretty hot, but it was neat-o that I didn't have to work so that I could go climbing instead! Chris, Kasia, Margaret and I all went out to Northeast and did some more bouldering. We started on the right side and warmed up a bit and then headed over to Megan Fox (V5). Chris "pretty much got it" and Kas and Mags worked a bunch of the moves.

Chris below Megan Fox.

After that we made the short hike over to the Schwapple boulder which after some beta figuring out, Chris made short work of the stand start (V5).

Chris on the Scwapple.

After that we walked over to the left side and Margaret and I showed Chris and Kas the problems the we put up recently: The Sloth (V1) and The Ruin Sage (V3). They are both pretty fun boulder problems. Enough fun, in fact to do them twice in a row!

Margaret on The Sloth.

Of course, what memorial day weekend isn't complete with out some grilling? After doing the boulderzzzz, we came home, had a beer, got the tubes out, and floated down the creek. Then we got the knives out, the charcoal lit, and had ourselves a good old fashioned American cook-out. Yum to the max.

Grill and berm.

Farm share veggies.