Some more photos

%@$()*&!!!!!!

And then it snowed. :(

The Raging Raven

Went over to Pitchoff today to do some climbing. Matt and I had a bit of time between errands, so we grabbed a rope and some quickdraws and headed out. There is a climb there called the Raging Raven and it goes at 5.11b. It's all bolts, steep climbing, small holds, or long moves between good holds. Also, sustained and in your face most of the way. Very much fun. After I onsighted it, Matt and I proceeded to do some laps. I did nine, and fell once on eight and nine.

That's a pretty good workout.

Back in Wilmington

So lets see here...I left my parents house on Thursday and drove to New Paltz to do some climbing with Margaret. We ended up going to this new-ish place at Bonticou called Northeast. Did a sweet problem called Megan Fox (V5), and then checked out this place with a huuuuuge roof. Like way cool. Worked on some stuff in there for a while (it's all pretty hard), and then called it a day.

Woke up Friday morning and drove North. Matt and Rich and our buddy Mark were all climbing at Potter Mountain, so I drove straight there and met them up at the cliff. With Mark I climbed Garden of Leadin' (5.10b) and Piece Out (5.10b). Both really really good...I think Piece Out might be one of my favs up there at Shangri La.

Yesterday we did a little bit of climbing with Katie Craig up at the Center of Progress cliff. Matt tried to get Rock Hangers clean, and was super close. Then we went over to the Princess Leah area, and did a couple of those routes, which are always fun.

After that we came back to the house for some lunch and then headed over to Beaver Brook for some climbing. I did Good to the Last Drop (5.10d), which is awesome and then Rich set up the top-rope on the currently un-bolted project over there. What a sick line, holy crap. Can't wait to get to work on that thing for real. Anyone got any bolts/drill?

The start of a trip report.

First the facts.

1. Alabama is sweet.
2. Kentucky is sweet.
3. Rock climbing is sweet.

Ok, glad we got that out of the way. I want to give a full trip report but I can't because I don't have the HP-40 guidebook and I can't remember all the climbs we tried. And I'd like to be as thorough as I can, for thoroughness's sake. But what I can do is give you the time-line of events. Here we go:

Monday, April 5: Last day of work; started packing for the trip.
Tuesday, April 6: Finished packing; drove to New Paltz.
Wednesday, April 7: Start of the perfect weather; climbed in New Paltz; enjoyed a barbecue.
Thursday, April 8: Rich and I drive to Alabama in around 17 hours.
Friday, April 9: Bouldering; learn the proper usages of "y'all."
Saturday, April 10: Still perfect weather; bouldering until 4 o'clock; drive to Kentucky on curvy roads.
Sunday, April 11: Climbing in Muir Valley; randomly found Al, just after he sent Iniquity; Matt and Margaret arrive at night.
Monday, April 12: Curbside with Al and Jimmy, Matt, Margaret, Rich and me; sight-seeing at the Motherlode.
Tuesday, April 13: Back to Muir; perfect weather still; everyone crushes.
Wednesday, April 14: Last day of perfect weather; Long Wall; pack up; drive to Columbus Ohio.
Thursday, April 15: No more rock trip.

Okay, so...Kentucky first.

OMG. Like seriously, OMG. Kentucky is way too much fun. Like, might not be able to have more fun anywhere at any time. Ever. Did I mention that the Red River Gorge is cool. I think so, at least.

Let my first start with a list of climbs. I'll let you know how I climbed each route -- that is, whether I on-sighted it (OS), top-roped it (TR), hang dogged it (HD), didn't finish it but got got to x bolt (DNF4). I'm including a 'flash' as an on-sight...if YOU'D rather, YOU can call it he got it on his first try -- I don't want to get into the subtleties right now.

Anyway, here is a list of climbs that I did:

• 5th Bolt Faith 5.10c OS
• Plate Tectonics 5.9+ OS
• Thrillbillies 5.10b OS
• Sacred Stone 5.11c DNF3 <---way hard slab climb
• Bitter Ray of Sunshine 5.10c OS
• Single Finger Salute 5.10c OS
• Conscription 5.11c OS <--- cool crux, pumpy finish.
• Avalanche Run 5.12a HD <--- only hanged once, jug tuggin'.
• Action Over Apathy 5.10b HD <---really...10b? more like 11d...
• Dynabolt Gold 5.10a OS
• Air-Ride Equipped 5.11a OS <--- did it two years ago...still awesome.
• Super Best Friends 5.12b DNF8 <---OMG. 'nough said. Wait, no, not enough said. OMG.
• Battery Life 5.11b HD
• Lip Service 5.11c OS <---hahaha lip service...hahah...if only you knew...hahaha. It's sweet.
• The Gift 5.12a DNF7 <--- perhaps the best climb I've ever been on.
• Autumn 5.9- TR <--- wicked trad line.

Now, if you wait just one hot second I will give you a more detailed report. I know your salivating, so just hold on and I'll give you what you want.

KY -- Day 1

HP-40

...and I was only there for two hours. Yay. Now it's time to do some life organization. And then go climbing.

LAST DAY OF WORK!!! YAY!!!

The heat is on.

So, crazy temps right now. Today it was 80 degrees. And sunny. Yesterday was pretty similar. And so the climbing season seems to be jump starting quite nicely. I guess my request for in like a lion out like a lamb was granted.

And because of all this nice weather we've been able to get out climbing the past few days. Wednesday it was still pretty moist outside. The clouds didn't really lift until like 6:30 at night. But Thursday and Friday were great! (I called in to work on Friday....oops.) Thursday we went out to Deadwater and did some climbing with a bunch of friends. Pete and Katie Q. were here, as well as a New Paltz contingency. All in all there were seven of us climbing. Super fun routes there for sure.

And then yesterday we went up to Potter. This time it was Pete and Katie, Rich and Me, and Nyssa and Amanda. Did some fuuuuun climbing, including this 5.10a called Piece Out. What an outstanding pitch of climbing. Holy crap it's good. Perfect holds for climbing on, exciting the entire way. Woohoo.

Soon I will be laid off, and soon I will be in Kentucky.

Right now...

It's raining.

Aid climbing??

So I'm sitting here on the couch after work, relaxing in the sunshine and thinking about climbing. (What else is new?) And then I got to thinking, what's so cool about aid climbing? I've always kind of been a hater when it comes to aid climbing, and so it's been weird to be super psyched on spending three hours to climb 60 feet. (Yeah, I'm pretty slow.) So, coming at'cha is my A3 defense of aid climbing.

Looking at all the climbing magazines, one would think that a 25 year old rock climber should be super psyched to climb V12, or redpoint some heinous 5.13d knee-bar-beta-cave-climb. Climbing a 60 foot A2 is not quite as glamorous. One hook move -- ooooh, aaaah, scary...

Ok, well I can't come up with a counter to that one. I kind of do want to climb V12. Same with the knee bar thing too. But aid climbing does have it's finer points. And it is another great tool in one's 'climbing repertoire,' if you will.

Have you ever stood up on a hook? Or maybe stood on two hooks with your last "real" piece of gear six feet away? It's exciting. I would even go as far to say that it's almost as exciting as, say, pulling on a mandatory mono; or perhaps as exciting as a big dyno above your gear; maybe even as exciting as doing that knee bar.

Then there are the skills you learn while aid climbing. Mastery of gear placement, for example. You have to stand on every piece of gear you place. With this, you are able to find out what holds, and what doesn't. What is a passable gear placement, and what isn't. (Good skill, I'd say.) Other skills, like dialing down systems for super efficiency is another good one. After all, when push comes to shove, anyone can aid climb practically anything. It would seem to me that speed is where it's at.

So what makes someone a good climber? Well that depends on your definition of "climber." If it's simply being able to pull hard, well, then that's it. But there could be more. Why not go for the well rounded approach? I like bouldering, I like sport climbing, I like trad climbing, I like easy climbing, I like hard climbing and finally, I like aid climbing.

(I still don't really like ice climbing. Sorry Matt.)

A brief window of opportunity

We had a brief window of opportunity to go climbing today. Matt, Rich and I all had off the first part of the day (those suckers are at work right now...suckers!), so we ran up to Potter Mountain at Silver Lake, and we did some fun climbing. WOOHOO!

We ended up doing the first pitches of two different climbs -- Groovitational Pull (5.10a) and Where the Wild Things Are (5.10b). And we all got to lead. And although we had all already climbed these routes, it was good just to get back out there, stretch the tendons, practice clipping, hanging out with buddies -- all that groovy kind of stuff.

Keep your fingers crossed. It's supposed to get cold, but you and I both don't want it to get cold. So keep your fingers crossed. No, seriously, do it.

Woooooah, Check it out Again!!!

It is official. The Silver Lake climbing information is now available online. Jim has been busy at work, and here we go:

http://www.AdirondackRock.com/silverlake/silver%20lake%20routes.htm

Thanks Jim!

Yo, check it out!

Yo, check it out!

http://www.climberism.com/adirondack-rock-climbing-an-unknown-adirondack-adventure/

Two new pitches... :)

First and foremost, I hope y'all appreciate the use of the emoticon in the title. And maybe another... :)

So yeah, anyways, did some climbing at Silver Lake. 'Twas very much fun indeed. Here's how it all went down.

Per usual, I had Wednesday and Thursday off from the mountain. The weather was completely blue bird on Wednesday and very warm and it wasn't half bad on Thursday either. Unfortunately for me I didn't have a climbing partner for the first day, so I went snowboarding instead. Eventually I came to the conclusion that it was just too dang nice to be at the mountain, and I hiked out to Silver Lake to look for new lines. And I found one.

On the hike in I kept saying to Rich, "I have no idea what to expect with this one, we may be free climbing, we may be aiding." Needless to say, our packs were quite heavy.

Since I had gone out and scouted a little, we were able to walk right up to the thing and get started. One of the perks of the line too was that it was really clean. We hardly scrubbed anything. And it looked like it would go on all gear, following a series of disjointed cracks. That was the hope at lease.

So we get up to the base of this thing, get all geared up, and I try to pull off the ground on some would-be-jugs. They weren't jugs though -- heinous slopers. Yum. So I put in an alien, stood up on it, and was still a ways from the start of the crack -- A long ways. And then I busted out a hook.

I've never used hooks before, but boy, let me tell you, they are fun. And so is aid climbing. (There. I said it.) So yeah, after a hook move, and some more small gear, I made it up to the crack. And that start was pretty indicative of the whole climb. Lots of small small gear, a hook move here and there, and barely any free moves (yet).

I ended up climbing a 55 foot pitch with a solid A2 rating. And Rich climbed a 45 foot solid A2 pitch as well. We didn't make it to the top yet, but we will very soon.

The climb starts under a crack. Then it follows the crack up to a small overhang. Then it traverses right to the base of another crack. Climb this until it slabs out. The second pitch climbs the crack in the slab, up to a horizontal break and a steep headwall. Climb the crack in the headwall, up to the next overhang.

And now a few photos...

The start.

Second crack on P1.

Rich on top.

Goodbye Snow, Hello Rock

So, it's supposed to rain all weekend. I guess that means the snow is going to go away. No more skiing. Oh well.

But then, the forecast for next week is nothing but 50 degrees and sunshine. WHAT?!?!

Oh, and Rich and I did end up going to Silver Lake, making the start of the climbing season -- officially -- March 11. I'll post some photos and a story later tonight.

For now, back to the ol' Mountain for another day of stupid work.

Genesis

Yes.

The beginning of rock climbing season is close.

Anyone want to go to Silver Lake on either Wednesday or Thursday?

ROOOAAAAARRRR!!

In like a lion, out like a lamb?

Please.