Spider's Web

Spent the morning yesterday at Spider's Web. I took some photos. Rich on Esthesia (5.10a) and Matt on It's Only Entertainment (5.11d).

Some Oldies and a Couple New...All Goodies

High Exposure in the Gunks

Climbing in the Todra Gorge, Morocco

Matt Climbing on the Star Action in the Gunks

Me leading the fourth pitch of Fiddler on the Roof, Red Rocks

A new climb at Silver Lake

5.11+ish??

Things to Get Excited About...

• Sending Temps
• Newly Equipped Sport Routes
• Newly Rekindled Projects From Last Year
• Telling Time With a New Watch
• Climbing in the Gunks
• Climbing Several Days a Week
• Sending Temps


Stay tuned for a more detailed update...

Deadwater

So, I'm still working crazy hours. Many doubles and only a day or two off a week. But, I did find some time to get out to climb on Friday. I worked breakfast that morning and didn't have to work dinner. I met up with Alex and his girlfriend Phoebe and we headed out to Deadwater.

Deadwater is a pretty cool crag. It's out near Route 87 just east of exit 30. Getting out of the car and looking around, you wouldn't think that tucked just behind some trees is a 100 foot tall cliff. But, after an easy, almost entirely flat 15 minute stroll through the woods, you come upon a neat little wall. It's not, however a promontory as the name might suggest, as there is no actual water around. But for such a short approach the setting is serene and the climbing is great. What's more, the cliff was set up as a (once) secret local guiding spot, making it really easy to lower, top-rope, and just to climb in general.

We started out by doing the Variation to Geronimo (5.9). You start by climbing an offwidth (protected by bolts). Then you up to a roof with a hand crack through it. Climb that and the rest is yours! Very fun climbing indeed. I led it, then Alex did it, the Phoebe almost did it. Personally, I thought the roof was pretty tough.

After that, I Alex and I totally got spanked on Crazyhorse (5.12a), which is a mostly bolted line just to the right of where we were. It pulls three roofs, two of which are cruxes. Alex pulled the first one, and I couldn't even get established above the first roof. It was a slightly frustrating experience, given that I'd climbed the route (with some falls, of course) last year. I guess I'm out shape.

We wrapped it up by climbing Space Cowboy (5.7). It's a dang good route that follows a corner system and ends with an airy traverse. Phoebe like it so much, she climbed it twice!

I'm hoping soon that we can get out for some more climbing more frequently. There are some hard projects that are going to take some serious work if they are going to go down.

Must...

Climb...

More...

Often...

A New Proj-i

So about a month ago I hung a rope. It was soooo hot and humid that day I barely made it out of there with out heat exhaustion. I came back twice to scrub it down and look it over. When I fist hung the rope I wasn't sure if it would go down to our talents -- it looked really hard. But the more I scrubbed and look at it, the more it seemed possible.

It's steep . Probably 15-20 degrees overhung. And the face is more or less blank, with a few intermittent knobbins. It starts out on a block-ledge. From there you enter a scrunched corner with a roof. A few awkward moves and a mediocre lock get out up and over to a jug. From there the locks and jams spread out. A long move gets you to a decent finger lock. A few more moves and the crack opens up to hands and fists. At the top of the fists it the crack dwindles to a seam, and the next jam is a long ways off. That's as far as a got.

It all seems possible, but hard to link. It's at least 5.11+, it might even be 5.12a? Here are some photos.

Some things.

So, the last post I had was almost a full month ago. I swear I haven't been lazy. I've been working too much. In the last three weeks I have been climbing a grand total of three times. Also in the last three weeks I've worked close to 150 hours. YAY!!!!!! (psych...)

A couple days after my last post Davis and I went out to the C Chimney cliff and we ended up nabbing the First Free Ascent of Hippie Sticks and Black Flies (5.11a). I tried to lead the first pitch, but after several attempts I just couldn't seem to do it. Davis jumped on it and totally crushed. I led the next pitch, and then he led the last, totally walking the hard exit moves.

When we rapped down we ended up getting a rope stuck. I had previously hung a rope on a new project [more to tell later ;-) ] and so I started to ascend that rope to free the stuck rope. On the way up I pulled a pretty large sized rock onto my head and face. Of course I wasn't wearing my brain bucket and I bled a lot. Not a major incident, mostly just annoying. But to date I have a nice scar on my face and head -- probably lifers.

Then, about a couple of weeks ago, Kasia and Chris came up en route to Canada. We went up to the C Chimney for...

*gasp*

...BOULDERING!!!

BOULDERING?!?!?!?! AT SILVER LAKE?!?!?! THAT'S LIKE JERKING OFF IN A WHORE HOUSE, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!?!?!?!?

Oh stop, it is not. There is actually some potential up there for some fun boulder problems. I mean, there are a lot of rock routes too, but hey, diversity is important. We ended up going to one boulder and did a little bit o' scrubbing. We did like four problems with some elimination stuff. But it was good. And fun. I'm not sure if that one boulder is worth the approach alone, but the other dozen or so problems that we found later probably are. 50 minutes may be to long to walk for boulders...but it also may not be...

I'm going to save my third day of climbing in three weeks for it's own post. Cause I got some cool photos and stuff.

In absentia

Sometimes the sound of silence can be deafeningly piercing. Ouch. Make it stop.

Cloudspin Cliff

So, we've had what you might call an 'event' at the Cloudspin Cliff in the past few days. The cliff sits across the road from Whiteface and offers up great views of Wilmington Notch and Moss Cliff. It's about 140 feet tall with some fat cracks and some good face climbing.

Rich and our friend Tom Wright went up there on Saturday to do Frippery, which is a 5.8 with some off-width climbing on it. Rich led the first pitch and then Tom led the second. He ended up getting a little bit off route, winding up in a chimney (Off-width Pants variation, 5.8)with no gear near by. He was almost through the hard climbing and he slipped out, taking a big nasty fall. The result was a broken ankle, tibia and tore some ligaments in his ankle as well. Rich got him to the ground after assessing the injuries and called me. I ran up to the cliff with some ibuprofen and when I got there his ankle was much bigger than a grapefruit. He partially crawled out and we partially carried him and then we drove him to the hospital.

All in all the rescue went very smoothly, quickly and efficient. Tom was in good spirits, despite having just angulated his for 90 degrees, repeating the mantra "Touching the void, touching the void..." The doctors say eight weeks on crutches, which is obviously a major bummer. Lessons learned: pay careful attention to route descriptions; have the appropriate gear; backing down should always be an option.

So, continuing the saga, Matt and I went back to the cliff today to retrieve Rich and Tom's gear. Rich had fixed a single rope to an anchor he built, and all the gear was still on the pitch as well. Also, there were to packs, extra gear, climbing shoes, a helmet clipped into some gear, etc. Matt and I planned to climb Grand Ole Osprey (5.10b) and then rap over Frippery to snag the remaining gear.

When we got to the cliff there were two pieces of gear in the cliff and no rope, packs, helmet or anything else. Hmmm, where did they go?

The Web

Matt and I went up to Spider's Web today. The weather was as splitter as the cracks -- bright blue skies interspersed with big cotton candy clouds, low 70s and a nice cool breeze. Pretty much perfect climbing weather.

We warmed up on On the Loose (5.10a). I led it and was feeling sluggish and awkward, so after Matt followed it, he gave Romano's Route (5.11c) a first lead. The bottom section is really hard. We both decided later that Romano's seems a lot harder than both Fear and Loathing (5.11b) and Drop, Die or Fly (5.11a). Matt got right up to the end of the crux section and popped off, taking a nice little whip. He was feeling super pumped, so he handed the lead over to me.

Luckily for me the gear was pre-placed through the entire start/crux section. I was able to clip and sprint right through all the pumpy-ness (well, maybe not all of it), and made it to the rest fairly easily. The only thing left was 50 feet of pumpy overhanging thin hands and fingers to the chains. Not wanting to blow it, I slowly and methodically moved up the wall...and made it to the chains!

Thanks Matt for placing the gear.

Bear Den Cliff

Matt, Rich and I went up to the Bear Den Cliff above Kid's Campus at Whiteface today. I looked longingly at that cliff all winter from the bottom of the gondola, wishing I was climbing it and not working a stupid ski lift. Today, that dream came true.

The hike up is pretty funny. There are a bunch of mountain biking trails up that way, so the approach is like, walk 523

feet and turn left, then walk another 247 feet and turn right and so on. Eventually you turn up on a "herd path," which is more or less non-existent, and then wander up to the cliff. We got on Berry Good (5.10a), which is a Mike and Diana Leblanc route. They done good.

The cliff itself is a steep slab, and the second pitch has some really cool knobs. We actually climbed the first pitch of Bear Necessities, which also had really cool holds. Great climbing, great situation, great exposure. We were in high gear due to time restraints, and we totally raced up the cliff. We climbed it in good style for sure.

Potter with Margaret

Yesterday the weather was really nice. Actually, it was really hot and sunny. I think it got up to like 87 degrees at one point. Margaret is up visiting, so we got up early, ate some breakfast and sprinted out to Potter Mountain. We probably should have walked slowly, because we were really really hot when we got up there.

We got on the first and second pitches of the Brazilian (5.10a) and actually I linked them up into one big pitch, which was pretty cool. I didn't have any big gear, so it was an especially exciting pitch.

Then we did Once in a Lifetime (5.10d), which is hard. I fell twice on it and struggled for a while. What a cool climb though! Craziest holds ever. It's such improbable climbing.

After that we went swimming. It was so hot that the rock was almost to hot to touch. But the swimming hole was awesome, per usual.

And now it's raining hard.

Potter with Colin

Tuesday, Colin and I both had the whole day off so we got up early and headed out to Potter Mountain. There was 80% chance of rain for the day, which was a bummer and things looked pretty wet, but we went for it anyway. Brutus (Colin's dog) came up with us and on the hike he was out horsefly magnet. There were probably 20 horseflies swarming around him the entire way up.

The cliff was dry when we got up there. Colin had never done the top pitch of Groovitational Pull, and I had never done Every Inch Counts so we went up there with the goal of doing those climbs. The top of Groovitational was just a little wet, and there was a bunch of wind, so we did the first pitch and then did Positive Latitude (5.9). Then I led Every Inch Counts (5.10a sandbag), which is super awesome. It's probably one of the more exciting leads on the whole cliff.

After that, we top-roped some potential new climbs, both of which were pretty good. Unfortunately the were only ok and they were kind of crowding some of the other lines, so we decided to let them be for now.

By that time the top of Groovitational was dry enough, so Colin led it. I still think that is one of the cooler pitches up there. Actually the whole cliff is so awesome. All in all we did 6 pitches. Not a bad day.

Beer Walls

I've been out climbing a couple days this week in between rain and sunshine. Monday I made it out to the Beer Walls with Rich for a couple of pitches. Rich led Blacksmith (5.10a), which is an awesome classic face climb. Then I tried Pat's Blue Ribbon (5.12b) in the Clutch and Cruise cave. I've worked it a couple of times and I did all the moves on it for the second time. The third clip is hard, but I now have the beta for it, and totally crushed it on Monday. I think next time I do it, having all the beta, I'll be able to at least make it through the fourth clip without falling.

I was excited to get on Pat's because I wanted to compare it to the project at Beaver Brook. I think the project is a little bit harder and more sustained.

Rain Rain

Rain rain go away. Come again another day?

The weather isn't the greatest right now. Crazy downpours, high humidity, high temperatures. Me no like-ey.

Heat Wave!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

It.

Is.

So.

Hot.

It was so hot yesterday that I couldn't sleep past 5:30. So I got up, packed my bag and went out to Silver Lake and hung a rope over the most bad ass crack climb I have ever seen. It's a straight line up an otherwise blank face. It is steep, like way steep. And it varies from fingers tips, to hands, to fists, to off-width and then back again. It looks so unrelenting.

Can't wait to get out there and start scrubbing it down (read: go away heat!). It won't take too much work to get 'er all cleaned up, but once I do, she might be the prettiest gal in town.

Now I just need to go practice 5.12 off-width...

High Falls Crag

Seeing as it's the Fourth of July, we decided to hit a crag that isn't quite as travelled. The High Falls Crag sits on the opposite side of the road as Moss Cliff and hosts several lines that are worth climbing. It is also the crag that the ever popular Multiplication Gully ice line sits. It sees lots of traffic in the winter but not so much in the summer.

The Route of Oppressive Power (5.10b) is a three pitch climb that sits to the left of Multi Gully. The first pitch is more or less an approach pitch that brings you to the base of a large chimney that eventually narrows to an off-width and then fist and hand crack. It's a pretty wild pitch and well worth the grunge on the first pitch.

I led the first pitch, with the idea of maybe linking the pitches. But, the first was really too wander-ey and I decided to do it the old fashioned way. Matt led the second pitch which starts with an exciting first couple of moves, and then moved up through the chimney, which was actually a bit easier than it looked. After that the meat came. And it wasn't filet mignon. Or, really, it was only filet mignon in some senses. This climb was really quite burly and much harder than 5.10b. The crux section is short, maybe 20-25 feet, but it's hard. Matt didn't get it clean on lead. Rich didn't get it clean on second and I just barely eeked out a clean TR ascent.

Cool climbing with great position. Maybe not deserving of all the stars it gets in the book, but definitely a worthwhile route. When we got down we took a little dip in the Ausable River, which was quite nice.

Spider's Web

Went out early again to do some climbing before work. Went out and did On the Loose (5.10a) to warm up, and then totally crushed Drop, Fly or Die (5.11a). I floated the initial crux and then proceeded to cruz the upper pumper cracker. Twas fun.

Beaver Brook and Baker Mountain

Yesterday Matt, Alex and I went out to Beaver Brook in the morning, hoping to beat the rain. We warmed up on Old Men Shooting Powder (5.10c), and then I led Good to the Last Drop (5.10d) and then Matt set up the top-rope on the project. The first go at it I made it up through the first couple of boulder problems and fell on a set of crimps 20 feet from the top. Matt and Pelman tried it and then I got on it again. This time I fell on the last move! So close! In actuality I was no where close to making the move, but I eventually figured out how to actually do the move, so that was cool. Closer and closer...

I came back and got ready to go to work. When I got there, there were like 5 people with reservations, so I went out to Saranac Lake and climbed at Baker with Pelman. It had recently been down-pouring, so our hopes were low, but lo!, the cliff was dry as a bone! I tried the 5.11 there and it was hard and scary. I bailed off that and just top-roped it. It was ok, but not great.

The Gunks

After having worked a lot of days, I finally got a few days off. So I ventured down to New Paltz.

I got out climbing on Sunday with Margaret in the Trapps and we did Bonnie's Roof Direct (5.9+) in one pitch, which is an awesome awesome awesome climb. After that we went and did The Sting (5.11d) and I led it clean first try. I'd gotten it before, and doing it again in that style was way fun. When we first got there there were some people top roping it. They were obviously fairly new to roped climbing, and the one girl actually said at one point "Why would anyone ever lead this thing on gear?" It was nice to then crush it with them still watching...a little icing on the cake perhaps.

Today Maria and I went out to go climb Maria (5.6+), but there were people top roping the first pitch, so we bailed and went over the Madame G's (5.6+) instead. Such a good climb. It was Maria's first hanging belay, and she did wonderfully. Devin showed up too and I threw the rope down to him and he top-toped the right side of the pillar directly. Looked like good climbing.

All in all, great success.

The past few days

Like I said, I went to Silver Lake the other day. Rich and I went to work on Abracadabra. We've gotten three pitches up so far and it goes at A2+ so far, but it's likely that the first pitch will be somewhere in the hard 5.11 to easy 5.12 range, second pitch 5.11 and third pitch 5.10. And for the last pitch there are at least three options. Rich and I hiked straight to the top of the cliff and lowered down on toprope to inspect.

We cleaned one option, which follows a pretty cool crack after some lower angle stuff. Right in the middle of the pitch, the crack completely disappears, and there is a V4 boulder move that I wasn't really able to unlock at all. There are two sinker finger jams without any real feet to speak of. Then the next real hold is like 5 or 6 feet away. The gear would be really good at that point, but the move is balls hard, unlike the rest of the pitch.

Then we checked out another option to the left, which seems to be a more consistent climb, both in terms of the pitch itself being sustained, and also with the climb itself...I think it will go in the 5.11 range.

Can't wait to get back up there and do some more scrubbing and scoping. There is still another pitch we didn't even look at!

Other than that, I've been to Beaver Brook twice and work too many times to think about.