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ct lost crags

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Morgan Patterson · · NH · Joined Oct 2009 · Points: 8,945

So there's plenty of crags littered across the CT landscape which have probably been forgotten or neglected over the decades. I've been spending a bit of time looking along Rt 7 and Rt 8 in northern CT and the thought occurred to me that there may be folks out there that know of crags which used to be climbed and maybe could see a new wave of developement. Specifically looking for large cliffs or cliffs which have good overhangs but basically any sort of lost crag... Any suggestions or info would be greatly appreciated (other then slabs that is)!

So an example to start things off would be this cliff line just south of Torrington, CT LINK. Does anyone know anything about this? Looks to be a significant cliff not listed anywhere.

Thanks to any and all!

Scott McMahon · · Boulder, CO · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,425

Don't know if historically this will help, but it's an awesome read.

amazon.com/Yankee-Rock-Ice-…

Morgan Patterson · · NH · Joined Oct 2009 · Points: 8,945

Hey Scott - Thanks man... ya great book! I actually used this book quite a bit for my undergraduate thesis, The Creation and Development of Climbing Ethics and Styles in New England!

wivanoff · · Northeast, USA · Joined Mar 2012 · Points: 674

You've been to Woodbury. There's a cliff on the opposite side past the fire tower. The only named route I know there is "China Syndrome" 5.10

There were 80 crags listed on the fold out map in the TrapRock guidebooks. But, most no longer have access :(

Didn't Matt Shove post a topo for a crag up in Kent?

There's a few other small crags that I've heard about but it seems the locals are keeping them under wraps for now.

Morgan Patterson · · NH · Joined Oct 2009 · Points: 8,945
wivanoff wrote:You've been to Woodbury. There's a cliff on the opposite side past the fire tower. The only named route I know there is "China Syndrome" 5.10 There were 80 crags listed on the fold out map in the TrapRock guidebooks. But, most no longer have access :( Didn't Matt Shove post a topo for a crag up in Kent? There's a few other small crags that I've heard about but it seems the locals are keeping them under wraps for now.
Woodbury as in Orenaug SP? I actually haven't been there not sure about the fire tower... where's that? Current access issues @ Orenaug have taken it off my radar. I had Ken's map - not sure where it's resting these days. I may have lost it but it did have some cool stuff but ya unfortunately most of that stuff is highly illegal and folks are on the look out to bust climbers.
wivanoff · · Northeast, USA · Joined Mar 2012 · Points: 674
Morgan Patterson wrote: Woodbury as in Orenaug SP? I actually haven't been there not sure about the fire tower... where's that? Current access issues @ Orenaug have taken it off my radar. I had Ken's map - not sure where it's resting these days. I may have lost it but it did have some cool stuff but ya unfortunately most of that stuff is highly illegal and folks are on the look out to bust climbers.
Yes, Orenaug Park. The fire tower is at the end of the dirt road on top of the cliff. Continue NE past the fire tower to about N 41 32.665' W 73 12.109'

There's also some cliffs at the Blackrock State Park out by the Leatherman's Cave. And a bit north of the Leatherman's Cave huge overhang about N 41° 38.662 W 073° 05.465

And, it was MY map. Ken borrowed it for his books ;)
Morgan Patterson · · NH · Joined Oct 2009 · Points: 8,945
wivanoff wrote: And, it was MY map. Ken borrowed it for his books ;)
That's great... you did a great job with that puppy! Amazing resource... any chance you have a digital copy these days?

wivanoff wrote: Yes, Orenaug Park. The fire tower is at the end of the dirt road on top of the cliff. Continue NE past the fire tower to about N 41 32.665' W 73 12.109'
This would be a separate area then the established Oregnaug climbing that's basically closed?

wivanoff wrote: There's also some cliffs at the Blackrock State Park out by the Leatherman's Cave. And a bit north of the Leatherman's Cave huge overhang about N 41° 38.662 W 073° 05.465
What's the development been like in this area? Sounds like it's probably schist, is it any good or is it pretty crumbly? There appears from sat images to be some significant cliffs on both sides of Route 6 (West being in the park and East being between Rt8 and Rt6. Have you explored most of the park and the adjacent cliffs to the West extensively? Looks to be several different overhanging cliffs. . .

It's funny because there's some great bouldering by the Leatherman's Cave up in Pound Ridge, NY actually. Sounds like maybe I should start trying to track down all his old hangouts!

Thanks again, hope this isn't too many questions! This is awesome and exactly the stuff I was looking for!

Cheers!
wivanoff · · Northeast, USA · Joined Mar 2012 · Points: 674
Morgan Patterson wrote: That's great... you did a great job with that puppy! Amazing resource... any chance you have a digital copy these days?
Awwwww, thanks! Unfortunately, no. Ken may have it scanned. But in 1981 I did not have a computer, never mind drawing software. The original map was HAND DRAWN with Rapid-o-graph pens in India ink on mylar. Well over 100 hours of work. It was 4X what you saw and photo-reduced, to pick up detail. You may remember how I connected a pipeline to a dripping water faucet on the left border of the map and plugged the power lines into a duplex outlet at the bottom of the map ;)

Morgan Patterson wrote:This would be a separate area then the established Oregnaug climbing that's basically closed?
Yes. (Although not all of Orenaug in our guidebook is actually closed - just the best part) AFAIK, nothing has been documented in print on that side unless someone like Ken or Jack Rankin has kept some notes. "China Syndrome" climbs a "pillar" up to and through an overhang. It's an obvious feature. I seem to remember a 5.8 face climb that was nice, too. Somewhat to the right of China Syndrome.

Morgan Patterson wrote: What's the development been like in this area? (Blackrock SP) Sounds like it's probably schist, is it any good or is it pretty crumbly? There appears from sat images to be some significant cliffs on both sides of Route 6 (West being in the park and East being between Rt8 and Rt6. Have you explored most of the park and the adjacent cliffs to the West extensively?
I've toproped a few routes near the coordinates I posted. I think the rock is schist but I don't remember it as being so crumbly. Maybe it was. I was last there on 4/20/08 and memory fades.

There WERE once some bolt anchors at the top of the cliff near the Leatherman's Cave. I'll look for some pics. I was in the area looking for this geocache that you had to rappel to in order to retrieve. I see on the cache page there are some pix in the gallery that might give you an idea of what it looks like.
Rappelling pix

I'll look to see if I have any personal pix laying around
Brian · · North Kingstown, RI · Joined Sep 2001 · Points: 804

There are a number of "secret" crags in the state. Some of them bolted. Some of them on private property. Probably not best to expose their locations on the Internet.

wivanoff · · Northeast, USA · Joined Mar 2012 · Points: 674

Sorry, this is all I could find. note that these pix are NOT the same cliff as on the geocaching page. The first pic is the Leatherman's Cave. The rest are a cliff between the Leatherman's cave and the cliff where the geocache is located.

The ladder gives an idea of size

Leatherman Cave - Black Rock, CT

Looked like old cad plated threaded rod.
Chopped "Anchors"

Top of cliff - taken standing where the chopped 'anchors' were. So, why were the bolts necessary?
Top of cliff N of Leatherman's Cave

Bottom of cliff
Profile of cliff N of Leatherman's Cave

wivanoff · · Northeast, USA · Joined Mar 2012 · Points: 674
Brian wrote:There are a number of "secret" crags in the state. Some of them bolted. Some of them on private property. Probably not best to expose their locations on the Internet.
Agreed.

The ones I've posted are not the ones I referred to as "There's a few other small crags that I've heard about but it seems the locals are keeping them under wraps for now". The ones I posted are in Town Parks or State Forest - where climbing is allowed.
percious · · Bear Creek, CO · Joined Nov 2006 · Points: 1,190

We stomped around McLeans Game Refuge in Granby a bit back in the day. There are a few cliffs out there. You might use Google Earth to find some of them. I remember one we called "The Tongue" that was overhanging, but it was not clear that the rock had enough quality to be climbed. There was also one cliff behind Diamond Ledge (the main cliff in the area) that had a climb or two on it. This is Ken's old stomping ground, he used to live right down the street.

cheers.
-chris

percious · · Bear Creek, CO · Joined Nov 2006 · Points: 1,190

Oh yeah,

I remember there were a few ice climbs in people's state forest too. If you can find some rock without seeps, you might find what you are looking for. Can't give you the exact location of those climbs without pissing a bunch of people off.

cheers.
-chris

Scott McMahon · · Boulder, CO · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,425
Morgan Patterson wrote:Hey Scott - Thanks man... ya great book! I actually used this book quite a bit for my undergraduate thesis, The Creation and Development of Climbing Ethics and Styles in New England!
Its one of my favorite reads and should be read by any climbers in general for the history of

And their magnus opus..
amazon.com/Forest-History-H…

I still haven't finished it.
Morgan Patterson · · NH · Joined Oct 2009 · Points: 8,945

Def not looking for secret areas that folks are 'protecting' more just thinking about areas where climbing maybe took place a few decades ago but are no longer climbed. Or maybe areas that people couldn't climb back in the day cause they were too difficult... I spend quite a bit of my time hunting new crags and new lines throughout the state with a combination of satellite recon, geology maps, and on ground exploration.

I've found quite a few substantial areas some I've made public, some not, so ya I get it. I really appreciate all the suggestions.

Devin Krevetski · · Northfield, VT · Joined May 2008 · Points: 140

The East Side of Ragged Mountain has a ton of climbing that rarely gets touched. I bet there are quite a few new waves lines waiting to be freed.

But I have the sneaking suspicion you are using the word "development" to mean "bolting"

Morgan Patterson · · NH · Joined Oct 2009 · Points: 8,945
devkrev wrote:The East Side of Ragged Mountain has a ton of climbing that rarely gets touched. I bet there are quite a few new waves lines waiting to be freed. But I have the sneaking suspicion you are using the word "development" to mean "bolting"
Pretty sure the East side of Ragged to which you are referring has major access issues and closures.

And no I don't mean bolting or retro-bolting... or placing pins or retro-placing pins... or chipping holds up a blank section of rock or retro-chipping. By developing I mean just that, developing... could be a trad route if there's cracks, could be a mixed route if there are large blank sections with X rated falls, could be a sport route if it's entirely a blank section of wall with no gear placements.

It all depends upon the cliff and climb. I actually get suspicious when folks try to classify development as solely bolting, lol.
percious · · Bear Creek, CO · Joined Nov 2006 · Points: 1,190

Here is a picture of the cliff near broad hill that I remember finding one day. There are some good roofs on it, but the quality of the rock is questionable.

percious.com/image/746

If I remember, it was off firehouse road, but I really do not recall the exact location. It's been at least 5 years since I have been there.

cheers.
-chris

Morgan Patterson · · NH · Joined Oct 2009 · Points: 8,945

Wow.. that's some really cool looking rock!

percious · · Bear Creek, CO · Joined Nov 2006 · Points: 1,190

From what I remember, the rock was somewhat crumbly/sandy, but we thought it would go. I think it would be worth exploring if you were in the area, but I can't give you very good directions unfortunately. We were scouting for boulders that day, found a few that need some good wire-brushing. You might try to find Erich MacBeth if he's in the area. He's the guy in the photos. Also, I may have a day in September, but I would rather climb at the Gunks if I get a chance. The rock on Broad Hill is really unusual and varied if you consider the regular traprock in the CT area.

FYI, most of the traprock north of Plainville is chossy because it cooled too fast, so I wouldn't bother much with searching the Talcott ridge in Simsbury, for instance.

cheers.
-chris

Kevin Flowers · · Granby, CT · Joined Mar 2010 · Points: 0

That cliff behind Diamond Ledges appears to have a harder route on the right side that was brushed some time ago. I didn't try it. This spring I led the obvious right facing corner which wasn't of great quality and horribly dirty. The whole area is pretty trashed from stuff thrown off the top. I don't think there's a ton of potential here, but maybe some.

I too have looked at some of the McLeans and other Land Trust outcrops and have found them to all be pretty loose. The one off of firetown rd doesn't look promising.

There is a good bit of ice in the northwest part of the state. Most of which is pretty secret and/or private property. It seems like most locals are pretty secretive about their ice.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Northeastern States
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