Busy busy

The week from October 4th to October the 10th I worked 54 hours. Despite this, me and the crew have managed to do quite a bit of work up there at the C Chimney cliff. We added another 190 foot route called Haroom Baroom. We added an alternative last pitch to Hippie Sticks and Black Flies called Jenga, and put in some anchors here and there, and finally we have two other routes ready to be equipped and climbed.

Matt and I originally checked out Haroom Baroom based on the photo alone. We noticed a tree island at the top of the cliff, with what looked like several options below. We slapped an anchor around a tree and went down. What we found was the typical C Chimney-top-of-the-cliff-crack. What looks to be splitter from afar is actually a shallow, flared, crystalloid, water groove. These cracks (like the top of Hippie Sticks and Jenga) have tricky gear that is fairly spaced out. The cliff is generally slightly slabby with sparse feet other than the crack itself.

So anyways, we ended up lowering down about 110 feet or so and climbing to the top. Good enough climbing to inspire us to come back for more. What was more, the line wasn't that dirty, relatively speaking. When we did come back we did some fine-tuning of the equipment and also did some scrubbing. The result was a 5 star 190 foot 5.11c/d (height dependent). After one more day of work, Matt freed the first pitch and I nabbed the second pitch. Someone should definitely link the pitches.

Since the first time we wandered up to the C Chimney Cliff we've noticed this spectacular looking hand crack at the very apex of the cliff. With intentions of climbing that, we set up an anchor and lowered down.

We found a crack that starts 20 feet off a ledge. So, after we put in an anchor and did some scrubbing and equipping, we put our friend Forest on the sharp end. Turns out the route is tricky. Super balancey, awful jams and locks, bad feet -- nothing but pure fun. No one has freed the route yet (despite three people trying it), but it will probably go at like 5.11?

Don't forget to check out Jim and Jeremy's website for specific route information and topo's: http://adirondackrock.com/silverlake/silver%20lake%20routes.htm

Here are a few more photos from Jenga:

So that is our C Chimney fun. Someone should go climb Jenga. It's a cool route. So is Haroom Baroom. (Sorry about the lack of photos on Haroom.)