Learning to crack. Routes in the NE?

I have little to no experience with crack technique. Looking to learn on some beginner crack routes near Boston (New England + Gunks).
Toprope is preferred, at this stage.
I'm not trying to become an Indian Creek star. I just want to be able to climb granite like Reppy's, Diedre, etc.

Any route suggestions?

Center crack, 5.7+, at Deer Leap near Killington Vermont is a great moderate crack climb. There are anchors for top rope with easy access to the top as well. deerleapclimbing.com
Unfortunately this is not a huge climbing area, and there are not many crack climbs there.

Not to far from Boston I would highly suggest Pawtuckaway since there is something from every grade and style of crack that are all easily top roped. Just as i'm sure someone will echo bugs can be bad if it's damp so late summer and fall are the best times. Especially the upper cliff area. Crow hill in Princeton MA, is another spot that has some good cracks and easy TR access and is just off of RT 2. Or Rose ledge a bit further out so probably like 2 hours but right off rt2 again and has a lot of nice cracks and many of the popular routes have bolted anchors so you can move around easily and get a lot of climbing in pretty quick. No particular routes there are many good ones at all these places and with cracks enjoyment like grades is very subjective ha ha. Though some of my favorites have been The roof, .7 Pawtuck, Obscene phone call .8, pawtuck, Cornered .7, pawtuck, Double Helix .9rose ledge, Guillotine .8 rose ledge, Post road .7 Crow hill. Good luck and don't forget you have feet and to wear comfy shoes.

Walk along the bottom of Cannon and do one to two pitch cracks like: Slow and Easy, Lightning Crack, Reppy's Crack, first two pitches of Consolation Prize, etc.

Make the drive to the Daks. It's less than 5 hours from downtown Boston, and the cracks are excellent. One weekend in Chapel Pond Pass and you'll be good to go on Diedre. There's free camping right near some of the best crack crags.

Here are two Western Mass options:

Rose Ledge in Northfield. I think just what you are looking for. Check out the Main Face for some good lines. Walk right to find more lines and usually no other climbers since there are no bolts. TR set up is possible for everything. Some easier to set up then others.

Farley Ledge also has cracks lines. No true splitters at the moderate grades but there will be sections where you can use crack technique. The Main Face has a very nice 5.7 line right up the middle. Check out Zen Wall to the right of the Main Face. It has a few good lines. The Upper Tier above the Main Face has some great cracks but mostly in the 5.10 and higher range. Not so easy to set up TR.

++++ for P-way.

The Start 5.9 almost perfect hands, few face holds so it forces you to jam
Double Chin hands and fists

at the gunks:
Ken's Crack easy to TR, plenty of fingers and off-fingers
Rhododendron hard to TR, but more crack climbing than its sister line Laurel
Finger Locks or Cedar Box closed for falcons right now, not sure about TR but an easy lead.

at crow hill, do Intertwine. Diagonal is good too but way harder, imho

quincy has depressingly few crack climbs

edit to add:
Bird's Nest, They Died Laughing, and The Slot are also easy to TR and among the best in the region for crack cragging. walk right and you can get to the ledge via 3rd class.

The Gunks are great, but they don't offer a ton of real natural vertical crack climbs. Certainly there are some excellent ones such as Ants Line and Bonnie's Roof, but they're not the standard. The Adirondacks are great for crack climbing, and a lot of places are relatively convenient to top tope compared to the Gunks.

cjdrover wrote: quincy has depressingly few crack climbs

Quincy is just depressing.

Do folks in the NE tape for cracks? Are the rocks sharp enough to warrant it?

Don't go to the Gunks if you want to learn how to jam.

Crowhill is probably the closest good option. You need something with few, to no, face holds so it forces you to jam. And I tend to believe it is more useful to struggle up something on toprope then cruise up something easy. Something like this
mountainproject.com/v/cro-m…

Nick K wrote: Do folks in the NE tape for cracks? Are the rocks sharp enough to warrant it?

It depends on the crack. Some most definitely. I find not so much for the fingers, but the back of the hands on course granite crystals. Sometimes I'll just wear a pair of fingerless gloves if it is an easy, but rough handcrack so I don't have hamburger hands for the next 3 weeks.

Are there any overhanging crack lines in the NE? Preferably in the hand size?

I got totally spanked by the Incredible Hand Crack a little while ago, and I'd like to find something similar to hone my hand jamming on.

I know I'm not going to find anything splitter like that, but something with a 10-15' hand crack overhang would be pretty cool.

Nick K wrote:Are there any overhanging crack lines in the NE? Preferably in the hand size?

Yeah this

mountainproject.com/v/the-m…

johnthethird wrote: Yeah this mountainproject.com/v/the-m…

Who wants to go to Canada with me?

I'd don't know many areas being new to the sport but Pawtuckaway has great cracks to learn on.

Cathedral - Practice Slabs (Though on this site it's just called the North End) is where I learned to TR/Crack climb - They Died Laughing, Birds Nest, Childs Play, Kiddy Crack are all great crack climbs that can be TR'd and mock lead.

Fond memories of this place... mountainproject.com/v/the-n….

Nick K wrote:Are there any overhanging crack lines in the NE? Preferably in the hand size?

The Rose, 10a, Bolton, VT. #2 and 3 camalots.

cragvt.org/wallpaper/index.…

The pic makes it look like a slab, but it actually overhangs 10-15 feet.

Nick K wrote:Are there any overhanging crack lines in the NE? Preferably in the hand size?

Nutcracker not overhanging but you'll be happy it isn't by the end
Diedre 3rd and 5th pitches are killer hands, pretty steep
Screaming Yellow Zonkers Crack not hands but amazing, slightly overhanging
Roofer Madness %^$*ing hard. Newer books are giving it 12-. completely horizontal.
Intimidation plenty of hands on this, end of the 3rd pitch in particular goes through a hand crack roof/bulge. ignore the "R", that's nonsense.

Lastly, if you just want to practice hand jamming, BRG in Woburn has a nice indoor hands splitter on an overhang. Maybe doesn't belong in this thread, but it is good practice...

Crack in the Woods- slammer hands, very steep.

Owl's Head in Keene Valley, NY is a great beginner's crag, though busy.

Echo crag in Franconia Notch,NH also is good but you need to lead a climb in order to top rope. But there are many easy routes to lead.

I would also contend that Cannon can be a tough top rope set up, with out a bit of a hike and a longish rope.

Beer Walls and some other small crags in Keene Valley are good starting points.

Though not one to toprope, The Toe Crack variation of Standard on Cathedral is fun.

The Upper Cliffs at P-Way as stated before have a bunch of fun top-ropable cracks from fingers to OW.

There are a few boulder crack routes in Lynn that are fun however spread out they are.

Cape Ann has a few boulder crack routes, but bring tape, they're meat shreaders.

Elephant Rock in the Fells, though you have to make yourself stay in the crack. The DCR (as far as I am aware) does not allow climbing in the Fells.

Blackjack Crack at Rumney.

Hammond Pond has a route or two on the big face. Long slings for the top-rope.

OR....

Head to the Valley!