In NYC - where should I go?
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Hey, |
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I cant really offer much help to you, except you can safely rule out both of those venues for sport climbing. |
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get a rack, don't look back |
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Rumney is propably going to be the closest destination sport area. A little more than 2-3 hrs though I would think. |
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There used to be a chipped quarry near the Gunks, but IIRC everything was pretty hard. |
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Get a rack. The gunks is sport climbing on gear. Seriously! |
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Check out Birdsboro in PA also.... |
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Rumney is the only extensive option, and it is a solid five hour drive from NYC. |
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The only sport within decent range with access is The Poison Ivy wall in West Point (Highland Falls, NY) |
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I would hardly call the gunks sport climbing on gear, buddy! |
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thomas ellis wrote:Get a rack. The gunks is sport climbing on gear. Seriously!yeah, my thoughts too. if you like sporty roof pulling that is. |
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Look here for sport climbs in the Adirondacks.
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losbill wrote:get a rack, don't look back+1 I love sport but it's not a reality in the northeast outside of Rumney. To climb vertical one must do it trad. [fwiw, the ADKs that cover 6 million acres have as much pure sport as Rumney alone] Maybe you want to look into bouldering if you're looking for hard climbing with relatively safe falls? ;) |
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Poison Ivy wall, IMO, is blocky and ledgy and many of the falls are not that safe. I've been there once and haven't bothered making the trip back since. |
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Great stuff so far. Thanks guys |
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Jim Lawyer wrote: Look here for sport climbs in the Adirondacks.Hmm. I've always thought that "bolts=sport," "gear=trad" misunderstands both genres. Jim Lawyer wrote:The Adirondacks has its own style of "sport" routes. Older routes were often climbed ground up, meaning that the leader climbed to the next stance before drilling, creating routes with substantial runouts.Those older routes fit my definition of trad climbs, because although bolt-protected, the location of the protection was dictated by nature (the location of stances from which drilling is possible) on a ground-up ascent. I think that nowadays, when people speak of sport climbing, they mean rap-bolted and cleaned routes with safe falls from closely-spaced bolts and, in the case of bigger spacing, very clean overhanging falls. If this is your understanding of sport climbing, then better read the descriptions in Adirondack Rock very carefully before launching up a route that might be, in my lexicon, bolted trad. If you do go, don't forget your clip stick. At least at Poko, some of those first clips are high enough to scare my ancient bones and ligaments. |
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thomas ellis wrote:Get a rack. The gunks is sport climbing on gear. Seriously!I'm only responding to this because it is could be dangerously misleading for sport climbers new to trad. Indian Creek might be sport climbing on gear. There you're climbing a continuous crack whose size variations can be understood from the ground. You can often rack up in order at the base of a pitch and leave behind the stuff that won't fit. Most of the placements will be cams, and there will be almost no fiddling around trying to get small gear into irregular features. The Gunks isn't like that at all. At the base of a pitch or at any point on the pitch, you can't tell where the pro might go and you can't tell what sizes you'll need. When you get to a placement, it might be tricky and require clever use of small gear. When you are sketching in mid-pitch trying to decide whether, how, and where to move up, you often can't tell how soon to the next placement will be and what size will be required. The ground ahead might be runout, or you might make faulty route-finding decisions and end up in runout territory in spite of the route's reasonable protection grading, and this can be difficult to figure out until you are already in trouble. Finally, there isn't going to be a line of bolts (and draws) telling you where to go, and even if there is chalk it only takes one person going wrong to make it unclear where to climb. I'm not saying this is good or bad or better or worse than other types of climbing on other cliffs. It is typical of trad face climbing as opposed to trad crack climbing. You should understand what you are signing up for, and "sport climbing on gear" paints a seriously misleading image. |
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rgold wrote: If this is your understanding of sport climbing, then better read the descriptions in Adirondack Rock very carefully before launching up a route that might be, in my lexicon, bolted trad. ... At least at Poko, some of those first clips are high enough to scare my ancient bones and ligaments.I like to tell people that the gear selection required for Poko "sport" climbing is 10 quickdraws, a set of RPs, and a screamer. This description, while semi-joking, is also sort of true. |
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Jon - |
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Rob Davis wrote:Jon - I moved to the city a year ago really loving sport climbing but at least competent at climbing trad. I have fallen in love with the gunks. Please learn to place gear. Instead of spending money on day trips to west point or birdsboro (gas+tolls+parking) I say take up climbing trad. You live within a few hours of some of the best climbing in the WORLD! Don't waste your time climbing man-made choss just because they have bolts.One concern I have is that no one I know knows trad, and I'm a bit sketched out trying to teach myself how to place gear via Youtube (not to mention the abject stupidity in that idea. Any recommendations on that front? |
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jon- |