TT Rock Climbing Club

“thanks for sharing the pics and report guys! I knew there were a good sized group of us that are into climbing now, so it was time for the 'club' to get started.

Looking forward to hearing all about everybodies climbs!”

“Zac, we need to climb up in your neck of the woods. Maybe something a little smaller though ;) Pennsy told me about that hike by Wallface.

GreenMonkee
9:09:08 PM
6/25/07

I bet you wished you could have done this:

Who would have thought you'd need rock climbing skills to be an architect?

There are a ton of places to climb around here.”

“Here are the pics from the Gunks a couple of weekends ago.
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/559635192zxZzuv

It's hard to describe how overwhelming this was for me. I'm surprised I got these pics since I was walking around like a kid in a candy store.”

“sweet pics”

“Hey Zac, you got paid to climb. That makes you a professional climber. Tough job to get but the office atmosphere must be awesome. I've been looking at Adirondack climbs in a guide book. I'm looking forward to doing some climbing there. Wallface would be a nice goal to shoot for in a year or 2.

Roamy - it sounds like you're as hooked as I am with this stuff. It was only April when you told me that you wanted to get out of the gym and on the rock for the first time. You gots the fever. You spent a bundle on slings, qd's and biners? HA! Wait until you start looking at cams. ;o)

Meangreen - a helmet can protect your noggin a number of ways. Fallen rock is the biggy, for the belayer and the climber, and if you're just hanging around at the bottom of the rock. Some places are notorious for loose rock, such as the Delaware Water Gap. Also, if you climb a bit off route and slip off, you'll pendullum (spel?) swing which can be nasty, especially on easier routes where there are usually all kinds of bulges and ledges just looking for a wayward head.
As far as gear goes - harness, helmet, shoes, belay device, chalk bag, and a big locking biner is pretty much all you'll need to get started. I'd take a top rope anchor course before buying a rope and the gear you'll need to set up a top rope.

Jimmy San - Red River Gorge looks sweet. I'll have to get in on one of those trips someday.

Chocolatehead - you're right about Stover being swamped Sunday afternoon, BUT we pretty much had the place to ourselves all morning. We were shocked especially since it was such a beautiful day. Greenmonkee and myself should have been easy to spot. I was the bald guy swearing at his sore finger and GM was the funky bearded dude working his tail off on the Neanderthal ceiling. He peeled off that thing a few times but he stuck with it and finally pulled it off. It was quite impressive.

Speaking of Stover...
Here's my pics from Sunday.
Sorry, I didn't get any pics of GM on Neanderthal (what WAS I thinking!).

Speaking of GreenMonkee... those pics from the Gunks are great! Yep, we MUST go Gunking this weekend. :o)”

“Cool pics Pennsy
You guys looked like the rest of the pros there except for maybe GM belaying wearing those crocs.... it's a giveaway.... 'packers”

“Pennsy, get Don Mellor's book (I can't remember the name off hand) it's pretty much the bible to Adirondack rock climbing.”

“Yep, we MUST go Gunking this weekend. :o)”
Pennsy
10:57:17 PM
6/26/07
ignore this user


All about it. I HAVE to climb Shockley's and Disneyland. They're .6's. Think about it. If not, Ursula will be around at some point but she doesn't like ceilings. Don't want to put any pressure on you or your poor finger. I'm sure I could get someone. Look up any routes you want to climb? We'll hit up the three stars bright and early.

http://www.rockclimbing.com/routes/North_America/United_States/New_York/Upstate/The_Gunks/The_Trapps/Shockley_s_Ceiling_3152.html

http://www.rockclimbing.com/routes/North_America/United_States/New_York/Upstate/The_Gunks/Near_Trapps/Disneyland_3102.html”

“Holy snikeys!! Shockley's is only a 6? So much for your plan to do easy leads. haha. I'm not sure what I want to do and if I can follow you on Shockley's. Right now, I'm kinda hurting. Damn you Orvie! All I know is that I will be in the Gunks this weekend even if I just hang around and watch. An den? I got us a campsite for Fri amd Sat nights at Creekview CG in Rosendale, about 8 miles from New Paltz.

Thanks Zac! I have Mellor's ice climbing book, "Blue Lines" which will get put to good use this winter. I'll have to scope out his rock book.

Chocolatehead - When I wasn't on the rock, I was in crocs as well. Going from tight toe curling rock shoes into crocs is pure bliss. :o)”

“Pennsy, would you want to climb at Chickies Rock on the fourth? Or do you think a hike would be better?”

“word on the switching from climbing shoes to crocs!!!! It felt like heaven.”

“I'd need to get some beta on Chickies before taking you down there, like finding out where the top roping is and such. Besides, it would probably be mobbed on the 4th.

ps.... don't even think about talking about hiking on this thread. This be about the rock. ;o)”

“Back at Table Mtn tonight with the kids! Lemons, Limes and Tangerines (.8) were on the list, as were Thelma (.7) and Louise (,8). Got there after work and people were on Thelma and Louise, so we started out with Lemons, Limes.. cool route with a roof about15 feet up, fairly easy to get around on jugs but the face moves above it were slick and tough to manage. Thelma was pleasnt on a less than vert arete. The sun was going down and the gate locks at dark so Louise has to wait until tomorrow. :)

Heading back tomorrow evening too. Planning on working out the dihedral laybacks that stumped me on Saturday. CANT WAIT!!!

took some pics too, i'll post those tomorrow, my cord for the camera is at work.”

“Great pics Pennsy! Good climbing yous guys.”

“Album I created over at summitpost with pics from outings with the kids.

Roam's Climbing Pics”

“ps.... don't even think about talking about hiking on this thread. This be about the rock. ;o)”
Pennsy

hellyeah!

Less Hiking!

More Climbing!!

:)”

“Well what about hiking to get to the base of the cliff?”

“well that's ok of course - as long as your carrying your rope and rack!”

“Yeah, like you could talk about the approach trail to Wallface, which isn't an easy backpack. Dang, that pack would be heavy would all that climbing and backpacking gear.

Nice pics Roamy. That rock looks sweet. Close to home?”

“Very appealing, Zac. I've been wanting to do that. "This be about the rock" but hiking or backpacking to get to more remote rock is cool, indeed. The extra weight in your pack, not so good but I think we'll manage.
Better yet would be alpine climbing. Not to mention ice and mixed. I know it's hot out but think about getting your winter climbing gear in order, boys. The ice and snow will be here before you know it. I've got my eye on these Grivel tools.

Very cool, Roam. Those routes look fun. Is Louise the crack to your right?”

“hahahahaha

the ice and snow, full winter packs and climbing gear is only a few weeks away for Pennsy and me.”

“Yep, that crag is about 20 minutes from my little apt and about a 10 minute hike up the hill. There's a couple hundred routes there ranging from 5.7 and .8 on up to 12c. I have yet to even really take a good look at a 12c though.

The pic's of me on Thelma - yes Louise is the vert crack to the right - out on the face of the tower.

If you could see it - in the Lemon/Lime pics, there's a sweet dihedral to the right - that's the one I wanna go back and work out the liebacks above that slash about half way up.

That's the closest crag to home - there's a couple more places just a touch further away, but those cliffs have super easy access to topropes - perfect for after work in the evenings.”

“Sooo, a stretch of MST? Anyone?

;>”

“LMAO Spindle.. yeah, that trail should be considered rock climbing!”

“Ban Spindle!!!

Roamy - short drive to that awesome crag, short approach, easy top rope setup. All I can say is........ YOU SUCK! ;o)

But than again, there are several crags within an hour from here, and the Gunks (the rock paradise of the east) is less than 2 hours away. and speaking of the Gunks, as soon as I hit "submit message," I will be out the door and heading up there for 2 days of climbing bliss.

Rock on everybody!
last edited: 6/29/07 12:18:28 PM”

“I was looking at pics of Old Rag yesterday. I bet there are some sweet and scary routes on that mountain.

http://www.rockclimbing.com/routes/North_America/United_States/Virginia/North_Western/Old_Rag/
last edited: 6/29/07 12:22:58 PM”

“have fun in the gunks Pennsy and GM!”

“Nice site ENS, I like this description for the Eagle Slide on Giant:

"Protection: DO NOT FALL"

lol”

“>;p Pennsy!

Have fun. Don't fall off anything.”

“I could see a trip to the Gunks in my future. Climbing did an article on the place that I'll prolly read this weekend.

ahem - short drive to three or four crags with (relatively) easy top rope set ups.

:)”

“Sarah on the 5.4 "Ho Hum", Boulderado, Boulder Canyon, CO



Alex, making the lie-back on "Ho Hum"



Me, toe-jamming the crack on "Ho Hum"



Roam - Belay Slave



Hand jamming the bulge on "Mons" 5.6 - Boulderado, Boulder Canyon, CO



Sarah - slabbing on "Mons"



Sarah, getting a jam on "Mons"



Alex, pulling the bulge on "Mons"



rest of the album (some blurry taken by the 13 year old....) http://www.thebackpacker.com/pictures/album/ynelhvt7,1.php
last edited: 7/02/07 11:21:06 AM”

“Some blurry taken by the 13 year old??
Ummmmm, Roamy... the clearest pictures are the ones taken OF you. Sure sure, blame the kid. ;o)

Very nice though. That must be a blast having your kids climb with you. And yeah, you would love the Gunks. It does get busy being so close to NYC, with several hundred climbers there on a trypical weekend day. But, with over 800 routes to choose from, there's plenty of rock for everybody.

GreenMonkee, our new friend Urusula (Little Bear) and myself had a great time there this past weekend. I did my first Gunks lead on Saturday, a fun and challenging 3 pitch 5.3 called Minty. For a 5.3, it has a lot of everything, steep face climbing (thank you deep cracks!), traversing, and some small roofs to pull over. 5.3 or 5.13, looking straight down 200+ feet is exciting.

GM lead some great 5.5's including an exciting finish on "Red Pillar." On the final pitch, we were told the route went on an angle to the right and straight up through a notch in a ceiling. GM practically knocked himself out, but he eventually pulled up through the roof and to the belay. I got to the notch and just could not pull it. I kept saying to myself that even though a Gunks 5.5 is harder than 5.5's we do at other places, it's still a .5 and I should be able to do it. Well, I couldn't and had to be lowered. It was quite an adventure getting the gear cleaned because of the traverse, but with some 2 rope trickery, including GM's famous lasso toss (I should let him explain this part), we safely got out of the jam.

We did a few rappels to get down to the bottom, hike out in the dark, and it was pizza and beer time. The following morning, we were informed by ranger Dave, who is Little Bear's SO, that we went off course and were actually on Hawkeye, which is a freaking 5.9+!! No wonder I got my arse kicked, and it made GM's lead even more impressive.

We got a late start Sunday, so we "only" did one route, an awesome 5.4 called "Sixish." It's called sixish because there are several "6" moves on the route. Lots of variety on the route, similiar to Minty except the holds were thinner and the roofs bigger. Antonio did an awesome lead on this and I'm glad I was the second. Leading this would have scared the crap out of me. Check the pics, especially the ones on the 3rd pitch and you'll see.

Super super weekend and I bet GM has a more descriptive report than my dribble.

But, I DO have pics.
Climbing in the Gunks
last edited: 7/02/07 9:35:00 PM”

“nice report and pics!

I saw some climbers on Seneca Rocks this weekend! Looks like a fun climb. We were eating pizza and some climbers were at the table next to us describing the climbs on Seneca Rocks and said that it was pretty hard, but getting to the top was awesome.”

“yep - blurry taken by the 13 year old - that's my story and I'm stickin to it!

Cool time at the Gunks man!

I'll get a lead in before July is over.

Sarah and I went back last night after work and got in a couple of laps up and down that same rock. Headed to another spot just down the canyon from that place tomorrow.”

“Roamy - have ya started collecting gear yet? EMS has a pretty good 20/15/15% sale going on that ends tonight. Hurry!

I'm taking a short break from climbing for a little bit, at least until after the Rainier trip July 13-21. Gonna see if I can get the sprained finger to heal. It's ok for easier climbs but it's a pain in the butt when I have to crank.

Greenmonkee's pics are great! To many of that Pennsy character though. We need a 3rd party to take pics for us. Shooting while climbing or belaying is a tad eager. ;o)
GM is probably Gunking today. I guess that's why he hasn't posted a TR yet. Bastage.
last edited: 7/04/07 7:16:55 PM”

“"Gonna see if I can get the sprained finger to heal. It's ok for easier climbs but it's a pain in the butt when I have to crank."
Pennsy

Get that finger outta yer butt while climbing..........”

“Speaking of the Gunks, in case anybody is interested, here's a link to website.
Gunks.com

Here's a pic of "High Exposure," which is commonly referred to as the best 5.6 climb in North America. It's hard to believe it is only a 5.6 but that's the Gunks for ya.

”

“Hey Marko, pull my finger.”

“Right you are my friend.

Sent High Exposure 5.6+ PG *** and The Last Will Be First 5.6 PG ** with Gowser. All I can say right now is WOW. Details on all this stuff coming soon, hopefully. Me tired...”

“I s there an easy guide to the rating systems? I would like to know what the numbers I see flying around really mean.”

“Rev, what we're talking about is the Yosemite Decimal System, and there are 5 classes of climbing difficulty.

Class 1 would be walking or hiking a bikepath
Class 2 would be a hiking trail where you might use your hands for balance
Class 3 is rock scrambling where you'll use your hands for climbing, and you should survive a fall
Class 4 is steeper rock scrambling, and a fall would be serious
Class 5 is climbing involving technical moves and protective hardware in case of a fall.

Class 5 is what we're talking about here.
The difficulty of the climb is referred to by the number after the decimal point.
5.1 being the easiest and 5.14 being the hardest.

A 5.1 would be a beginner's climb requiring rope, but the holds would be big and generous.
A 5.14 is the creme le creme and you'd have to be a spiderman to achieve that level.

We're somewhere in between, although GreenMonkee is moving fast through the grades.
Not all ratings are the same though. For example, I can climb 5.7 comfortably at the local areas around here, but in the Gunks, a 5.7 kicks my butt.

Does that help?”

“yeah... thanks”

“And leading a 7 is VERY different than following or top roping a 7 because you wouldn't fall nearly as far.

5.10 and above are further separated each into a, b, c and d with each of them being a full difficulty increment. The change in difficulty from a 5.3 to a 5.8 should be about the same as from a 5.10a to a 5.11b. Plus or minus signs are used to further describe the difficulty.

The problem is the lack consistency in grading from one place or route to another. A sandbagged route is one who's difficulty is greater than it's published difficulty.

Even 5.8, which is challenging for me to follow and wouldn't lead, on purpose anyway, is still on the easy side of the spectrum relative to the hardest climbs.

There are only a few dozen people in the world that can climb at that level, true spidermen and women.”

“Good descriptions - Mondo congrats on the send at High Exposure! that's superb!

Yeah, pennsy, I'm starting to get a rack put together - bought a set of cams this week - put a couple of them to use even - just as backup anchors for our toprope setup, but hey - i placed the gear in some rock!

Note about the rating systems - it's very subjective and is done based on a consensus of the people climbing in that area. So, a 5.7 at the Gunks might be a 5.9 in some other place - and vice versa.

For instance, I climb at a couple of areas here (Denver area) - one is broken and cliffed basalt (volcanic) and the rock is slick, the holds sparse and its very vertical. Just down the road a few miles is weathered granite in a canyon (water carved) full of pockets and good texture and slightly less than vert. The 5.9 routes on the granite canyon are easier (to me at least) than the 5.8 routes on the basalt.”

“What does that all mean in microfarads??”

“it means if you fall, it'll hurt.

a lot.”

“Yo Pennsy,
That's a cool pic but that climber is actually climbing Directissima 5.9 PG ***, Lionel Terray's first climb in the Gunks in 1965. It's said to have one of the most beautiful pitches in the Gunks. The climbs intersect at that cool belay ledge. For those who don't know, Lionel was a climbing member of the French Annapurna expedition. They were the first to summit an 8000 meter peak.

Can you tell I like my new guidebook?

Thanks Roam, it was a moving experience to lead it and Last Will Be First onsight, an adventure. Others said the former is actually harder than High E and I'd have to agree. I had an alarming surprise crux when I tried to stick my fingers in a deep pocket and heard the buzzing of wasps. I wasn't stung but it was pretty interesting getting around it without using that hold. It's a quality route with a 160' first pitch up to the GT Ledge.

High Exposure is rated harder because of what you see if you look down on the second pitch. The name says it all.

I was working on the pics last night but fell asleep. There's a cool sequence on the crux that Gowser shot while belaying. Remember, never let go of the brake and don't drop me, I'm fragile ;p”

“yall kill me taking pics while belaying :)

DROP is a four letter word.”

“Someones shot of High E.




The one in the guidebook is nice, looks like it was shot from a helicopter.”