Localpinism

Rock Pond Boulder Hunting

The sky threatened to rain all day Sunday, so Heather and I skipped a day of climbing in favor of more boulder-hunting. We started late, so were forced to choose a semilocal destination: Rock Pond near Old Forge. Aside from the obvious appeal of its name, aerial maps promised steep terrain and a handful of sizable boulder-like shadows in the vicinity. But the rock quality and quantity looked questionable, so a rainy afternoon seemed like a great opportunity to at least cross this one off the list. My dad had the afternoon free, so he joined us.

We parked at the end of Brown’s Tract Road, just South of Thendara. This positioned us for the shortest possible bushwhack to the pond. An alternate, possibly easier, path begins at the Middle Settlement Lake trailhad, but is almost double the length. Our direct route carried us directly up and over three distinct ridgelines, none particularly steep, but all strenuous enough to slow our progress. Future trips would be optimized by staying at a lower elevation and skirting the base of the ridges.

The woods were peaceful and desolate. Although less than a mile from the road, signs of civilization were totally absent. But just before arriving at the pond, we stumbled on to a lightly-used, unofficial trail marked by pink tape — most likely a fisherman’s or hunter’s trail. The trail led us conveniently around the edge of the pond, directly to the spot I’d targeted.

Boulders appeared, but all were disappointingly chossy at first glance. I explored up and across the hillside, occasionally finding small pockets of climbable rock, but most was of very poor quality. After a bit, I heard Heather yelling in the distance, so I snapped a few pictures and tramped back down to see what the commotion was about.

The commotion was about one of the biggest freestanding boulders I’ve ever seen in the Adirondacks.

Seriously, the thing is massive and featured enough to be climbable. But at around 35 feet tall, it’s actually too high to safely climb ropeless, and no easy downclimb exists. But it’s an impressive piece of stone regardless.

The sun was beginning to set, so I rushed to inventory the adjacent area. A handful of truck-sized boulders nearby hold potential lines, as does a small cliff band below. But we were forced to head back before I could investigate farther.

Reviewing Google Maps at home later, I found that the most significant visible rockfall was all on the Southwest shore of the pond, just past the point we’d explored. More monster boulders are unlikely, but the probability of Goldilocks (just right) boulders seems high. Without a doubt, we’ll be returning very soon to find out what treasures, if any, remain undiscovered.

For further information, refer to the Google Map of our start and destination points.

Pinnacle Boulders

I located a large pile of talus in the woods recently, so Andy and I took advantage of a rest day to hike in and scout for boulders. Parking is at a DEC trailhead at the end of Pinnacle Road in Bleecker, NY. Our path followed the trail to Chase Lake for about a quarter-mile, but when the trail deviated South, we continued Northeast, bushwhacking along the base contour line of Pinnacle Mountain. The path ends with a sharp turn North, heading directly up the hillside, gaining 200 feet of elevation to reach the talus.

And there are boulders! After a string of recent disappointments, we were amazed to see large, climbable rock piled everywhere. The imposing cliff above has donated hundreds of rocks over the years. But closer investigation led to disappointment — most of the potential lines looked either too easy, too hard, or too dangerous.

The boulders are all concentrated in a small area, making travel convenient. But the best and largest boulders are scattered in the dense talus field, providing dangerous or impossible landings. This leaves the area surrounding the talus. Andy dubbed the region “arête land,” because the most plentiful lines were aretes. But with the abundance of slabby problems, it could just as well have been named “slab land.” We also uncovered a handful of quality crack and face lines with good landings. In fact: aretes, slabs, cracks, and faces were everywhere, but juggy overhanging holds were nowhere to be seen.

Overall, it’s the best area we’ve discovered yet, but I think it lacks enough variety and quality to truly draw interest from the bouldering community. Once developed, the area could hold enough problems to be worth a day trip, but probably not much more.

The cliff, meanwhile, may turn out to have been the true gem of the day. Its clean vertical cracks appeared completely unclimbed. We counted at least a dozen obvious routes, but there are probably many more. It’s too early to know for sure, but we think the cliff may be a great opportunity for strong Adirondack crack climbers to put up some high-quality first ascents.

To explore the rocks yourself, refer to this map of our start and end points.

Laziness at Snowy Mountain

Heather and I took a lazy Sunday trip to Snowy Mountain yesterday. Daylight Saving Time ended the night before, so we had even fewer hours to climb than usual.

Highlights of the day:

1. Perfect weather. We climbed a few easier problems: Mighty Mouse V0, Bulbous V1, Roast Beef Taco V2, and Adirondack Gold V3. But most of the day was spent lounging on crash pads, enjoying the sun.

2. Finally sending Humps V5, which has been a project of mine for years. I spent a handful of tries working out the beta, then sent on what would have been my last attempt of the day. But I dabbed lightly on the crash pad, so while Heather went around the corner to retrieve a backpack, I snuck in a quick repeat send. Very satisfying.

Fall Friction at Nine Corners

Heather, Andy, and I hit the road for another trip to Nine Corners last weekend. The temperature and humidity are finally inching toward Fall conditions, so projects were on our minds.

We set up base camp at the Lookout boulder, warming up on Stairs and Andrugen. The friction seemed promising, so we moved down to the Nick Stoner boulder for some quick ascents of Tea Time. Andy and I then tried our luck at the two slab problems just left of the crack, sending each on our first try. The friction was outstanding, at least compared to the recent summer heat.

Rather than waste more time and energy in seemingly prime conditions, Andy suggested moving right along to our projects on the Gate boulder. I agreed. While we settled in, Heather casually onsighted the boulder’s tall, unnamed left arête. I followed, impressed by her calmness on the line — to me, it felt tall, scary, and insecure.

Then it was time for business on The Origin. I felt strong and prepared, but the crux move, a long dynamic right-handed reach, shot me down a dozen times. Reluctant to waste my entire day’s strength, I finally gave up. Between my burns, Andy worked on The End, finally sending with a desperate slap from bad slopers to the bad lip. This left a few minutes for Everything in the Bible is True, which had tossed me off repeatedly the previous weekend. Fresh fingers made a huge difference, and I sent on my first try. This send completely outweighed the earlier disappointment, and I could have gone home satisfied at that moment.

But there was plenty of sun and strength left, so we headed up to the Cave area. Heather was eager to practice some topouts, so she worked on those of Nippin’ Out and Chillin’. Meanwhile, Andy worked out and sent The Earthling. I passed the crux on Crazy Ice, but exhaustion got the best of me and I fell off the rest jug just before the topout.

The sun had been warming gradually and fatigue was setting in. We were all tired and prepared to go home, but instead took a detour back past the Optimus Prime boulder. This was my first visit in about five years, so I was interested in discovering how much (or little) my skills had progressed. All three of us tried Starscream, an easy arête, but only Andy sent. I redeemed myself by barely sending Decepticons Rising, sketchily pulling the topout on shaky hands and feet.

We dragged the pads around the other side of Optimus Prime to Top Gun, a moderate lowball gem that Brian Harrington originally pointed out to me. I recalled that the problem climbed well despite its uninspiring appearance, and considered it a great introduction to the V2 grade for Heather. So we settled down for a bit and gave her the first try. She initially struggled with the tricky sit start, but kept working and eventually uncovered her own sequence to reach the delicate face holds. A handful of frustrating attempts later, she still hadn’t sent and decided to call it a day, so Andy and I took turns trying out the climb. Before packing up, we convinced Heather to give one final attempt. She grudgingly agreed, put on her shoes, and found herself on top of the boulder, ecstatic about sending her first V2.

Completely wrecked by this point, we trudged back to the main area for a few random, unfocused attempts at Heart Attack Man, Bearded Arnie, and Meat and Potatoes. But the quality climbing was long gone, so we finally relented, packed up, and spent the mile hike back to the car reminiscing about the highlights of an incredible day of climbing.

Southern Adirondack Bouldering Competition

Last weekend, Caroga Lake hosted the annual Southern Adirondack Rock Climbing Festival. As part of the festival, a bouldering competition was held at Nine Corners Lake boulders on Saturday. I was scheduled for a friend’s bachelor party at 2:00 pm, but Heather and I were both too excited about the comp to miss it, so we planned to show up for at least a few hours.

Arriving at the parking area at 9:00 am, we were shocked by the presence at least 20 vehicles in the lot (later, on the way out, I counted over 40). Boulderers aren’t known for their alpine starts, so it was encouraging to see so many out so “early” for an all-day event.

The format was that of a standard bouldering competition: each climber’s final score would be determined by the total V grade of the 5 hardest problems on their scorecard, with an additional point for flashing a problem. Justin Sanford, the event organizer, had placed laminated signs detailing names, grades, and descriptions of popular routes near each boulder group. Additionally, all problems from Adirondack Rock were in play, so there was plenty of climbing to keep everyone busy.

Despite the competitive backdrop, the scene felt like more of a fun social hangout. For most of the morning, Heather and I wandered around the main set, casually climbing and chatting with other climbers. We met a lot of new people, including the makers of STONELICK crash pads, and the owner of The Edge, a promising new climbing gym opening soon in Albany.

With just a few hours to climb, both of our scorecards ended up disappointingly empty. Heather’s only official send was Stairs, because she spent most of the morning working her project, Meat and Potatoes. But her hard work paid off with major progress, and only our lack of time kept her from sending. Most of my effort was spent failing to climb The Origin and Everything in the Bible is True, but I at least filled my scorecard with flashes of Stairs, Andrugen, Meat and Potatoes, Tea Time, and Dave’s Problem.

It was disappointing to leave before climbing anywhere but the main set of boulders, but we had a great time. Justin did a great job organizing the competition and getting everyone oriented. With any luck, and probably a lot of hard work, this will become an annual event!

Another Weekend, Another Trip to Nine Corners

Hoping to beat Hurricane Irene, Andy and I made another drive to Nine Corners on Saturday. The temperature was cooler than in recent weeks, but humidity remained much too high for any reasonable friction. Despite the crisper weather, it’s clear that the summer bouldering season is still in effect.

Meeting Jut at the trailhead, we hiked in and warmed up on Stairs and Meat and Potatoes. Both of us had fun attempting the alternate topout to Meat and Potatoes, which involves following the shelf farther left and slapping up the arête. It feels like a more complete line, and probably increases the grade by half a point.

Monkey-business aside, we moved quickly down to The Origin. I’ve been particularly excited about my progress on this problem for the past few weeks, and hoped to increase the chance of sending by climbing it while my fingers were still fresh. Jut shared some new foot beta, which made the starting moves surprisingly easier. This resulted in half a dozen of my strongest attempts yet, but, sensing that a send wasn’t imminent, I suggested we move on and save it for another day.

Uphill at the Saccharine boulder, Jut’s friends were working out the beta on Even Stevia. On the opposite side of the boulder, Andy and I tried some of the moves on Instant Yoga. We were joined by two more of their friends, and then Jesse and his friend Shawn. Restless and sendless after greasing off too many slopers, we relocated to the Cave boulder.

The Cave ended up as the session spot of the day. A few more climbers wandered in, and ten of us spent the afternoon working various lines on the wall. With problems ranging from V2 to V8, everyone had something interesting to climb. One problem in particular, The Earthling, received a lot of chalk. It’s a fun, gymnastic line that gets less attention than it deserves.

The highlight of my day was Crazy Ice, which starts on the far right of the cave wall, then traverses left and tops out like Psychosomatic. The start seemed impossibly difficult, but I tried it on a whim and eventually found a sequence that pushed me through the crux. In a rare case of finding my beta useful, Andy did the same. Burning fingertips forced us to abandon our efforts, and the day, but with plenty of optimism about the upcoming season.

Moss Island Top Rope

Heather was excited for a trip to Nine Corners on Sunday, but our schedule was tight and my tendons were still throbbing from the previous day. Instead, we opted for a brief afternoon of toproping at Moss Island, with our friend Jesse tagging along.

Lacking time and gear, we were only able to set up a single anchor at the top of a classic 5.8 named Sno-White. Jesse and I both sent the route, but I struggled mentally on the exposed portion. After a year of just bouldering, I’d forgotten the unnerving sensation of dangling from a cliff (even a small one).

This was Heather’s first experience climbing on a rope, so the fear of heights severely tainted her first few attempts. But soon her ambition kicked in: she focused on the moves, and was able to push through the route’s first crux just before we ran out of time.

It was also Heather’s first time on belay, and she was a great student: after a few trial teaching runs, she belayed me with perfect technique. Best of all, she can’t wait to get back on the rope and finish the route!

More Nine Corners Bouldering

The temperatures have started to show signs of Fall’s approach, so Andy and I took another trip to Nine Corners last Saturday. The plan, as before, was to continue acclimating our skin and tendons to the approaching sending season.

Arriving at the main area, we were pleased to run into another local climber, Jut, and his friend Keith. Warming up on Meat and Potatoes, we were eventually joined by a larger crew, including Murph and a few new acquaintances. We worked Pop or Drop with them for a while. I finally figured out a reliable sequence for the first few moves, but my heart wasn’t in it, so Andy and I relocated to Power of Belief, where we spent half an hour optimizing our beta. Andy sent, but I wasn’t able to work through the slightly-damp crux.

Back at the main area, Andy rejoined the crew on Spores while I headed to The Origin alone. I made solid progress, finally settling on effective foot placements, but wasn’t able to pull the moves together for a send.

Moving on to the Cave boulder, we both sent the topout to Ice Cold/Psychosomatic, then rehearsed additional moves on each problem. By the time we made it to Nippin’ Out, our fingers and bodies were trashed. Andy pulled off a quick send, but in typical fashion, I struggled on the crux. We lapped the topout until the slopers turned to glass, then called it a day.

Stony Creek Boulder Hunting - Part 2

The weather’s been cooling off lately, so Andy, Heather, and I took a trip back up to the Middle Settlement Lake area yesterday for another attempt at finding new boulders.

Arriving at the trailhead, we expected another onslaught of horse flies, but a mild breeze and cooler temperatures kept them at bay. The trail started out heading West on a logging trail, which made for easy walking. Our previous attempts had barely taken us into the woods, so this quickly became our most successful trip to date. Along the way, we investigated a couple of large glacial erratics in the woods, which unfortunately lay on private property. We continued on, hoping they were a sign of more to come.

We also saw signs of recent wildlife activity, including some very fresh black bear tracks. Bears are common in the area, so it was a good reminder to keep our voices loud to avoid surprising any.

After about ten minutes of easy walking on the logging trail, we found the corner of the private property boundary, and headed North, directly toward the boulders. We skirted the property line on what appeared to be old truck tracks. It was overgrown, but still much easier than the bushwhacking I’d expected.

This proved to be a huge red herring, because ten minutes later, the trail was abruptly replaced by a large swamp surrounding a creek. I’d seen the creek on aerial photos, but hoped it would be dry and passable. Still optimistic about finding boulders, we all agreed to try finding a way through. As it turned out, the swamp wasn’t as damp as it appeared, and we were able to hop and tiptoe our way through on logs and grassy tuffets with mostly dry feet.

Having forded the swamp, we headed back into the woods and continued uphill toward the supposed boulders. The first cluster appeared exactly where I had expected, but were disappointingly small and unfeatured. The humidity and bugs were increasing, and we were dripping with sweat, so our optimism started to fade. But we’d invested too much at this point to turn back, and decided to try the next spot.

Ten minutes later, we stumbled into a huge wall of rock. Dozens of climbable faces appeared, most highballs. One climb looked particularly appealing: a 12-foot slab topping out into a sharp overhanging prow. Most of the faces were covered in lichen, so climbing them before cleaning was out of the question, but there was plenty of potential.

Continuing on, we encountered dozens more boulders littered throughout the woods. A few clusters had climbing potential, but most were too sparsely-clustered or featureless to bother with. As we picked our way through the maze of rock, I photographed and marked GPS waypoints, but with the nagging feeling that there wasn’t quite enough quality rock to make development worth the effort.

Overall, the trip wasn’t a success—we found plenty of rock, but the quality is questionable and the approach is too difficult to attract many climbers. Still, I’m not convinced that we found much of the potential this area has to offer, and I know I’ll be tempted to go back in drier conditions.

Return to Nine Corners

The bugs this year have been worse than usual, so most of my summer climbing has been at Moss Island in Little Falls. It’s a great place for fitness training, but the holds are juggy and the rock is smooth compared to the Adirondack bouldering destinations I like to frequent in the fall. Climbing well at Moss Island doesn’t necessarily correlate to climbing well elsewhere.

With that in mind, Andy and I set out yesterday to Caroga Lake to get my first beatdown out of the way. Returning to Nine Corners after a long time away is always a struggle, and this day was no exception.

Having “overindulged” in a few beers the night before, but now feeling rested and alert, I was cautiously optimistic. We warmed up on Tea Time. It seemed trickier than I remembered, but still easy enough.

Next was Meat and Potatoes. I sent quickly, but destroyed the beta and had to muscle through the typically graceful moves. Andy sent easily, then I repeated it as redemption for my first attempt.

We moved on to Dave’s Problem, one of my all-time favorite problems. Andy and I both considered this to be the first “real” problem we ever sent, and it brings back great memories of my first two years of bouldering. But this day, it filled me with fear. Normally I’d climb Dave’s on my first attempt, but given the shakiness of my day so far, a struggle seemed imminent.

Andy hopped under the climb first and sent with little effort. Now it was my turn, and he pointed out that a foothold had apparently broken. It wasn’t a critical hold, but my fragile mental state was shaken anyway. I crawled under the start holds, took some deep breaths, fiddled with my feet, and pulled. Dave’s Problem is only about six moves, and I butchered each one, but eventually found my way to the top. I was relieved, but this would be the highlight of my day.

Considering ourselves nearly warmed up, we continued with Thorazine’s stand start. Andy sent after a few tries, but I wasn’t able to or interested, so we put our efforts toward The Origin. Because of certain physical constraints (which I’ll discuss in the future), The Origin has always been incredibly difficult for me. I’ve never sent it. It suits me as terribly as a problem can, but I’m drawn to it for that same reason. So we worked it, and although I wasn’t able to send, I did all of the moves individually, and performed as well as I had last year in peak conditions. So I’m optimistic about finally sending it this year!

By this time, our out-of-shape muscles were exhausted, but we headed up to the Cave boulder for repeats of Chillin’. This overhanging problem beats up your core, and we both struggled on its greasy slopers and sharp edges. After a solid but unsuccessful session, we finished by working the slopey top-out to Nippin’ Out. Neither of us could struggle our way up, so we packed up to head home.

As we expected, it was not a successful trip, but it’s good to have this one out of the way.