Early Season Climbing

I'm trying to figure out what parts of the Adirondacks will dry out first. Poke-O slabs are south facing, so that's a possibility, but not sure if I'd have better luck on the areas that are more overhanging like Spider's Web. Any early season climbing beta?

some stuff on the black arches wall at crane mt. was dry the other day. but here we go again with a foot of snow. i've been going down to the gunks this month and its been legit. dry, no one there, warmish at times. man this snow is a bummer. also , deadwater cliff might be a good early season crag. its been good to me when all of keene valley was wet. did i mention i hate snow.

I'll have to check out Crane at some point once this snow melts. I can't justify the cost of climbing at the Gunks. By the time you add up tolls each way and the $17/day fee I'd rather just do a longer approach in the Adirondacks and not have to wait in line to climb.

Bill, open invite to hit up Crane in hopefully a few weeks. Lots of the walls along the trail to black arches are south facing and drain/dry relatively quickly. Shelving Rock dries quickly in a few spots, but won't be dry until all the Spring runoff is done in others.

April aint so bad in the Gunks. Like you I prefer walking a bit to waiting a bit.

Thanks for the invite, Kevin. I should be around in a few weeks to make the trip to Crane so keep me posted as it gets closer. Hopefully the last of the snow for the season is falling right now.

The road to Shelving is often closed in the spring due to mud. So check before going there.

Sections of these cliffs come to mind as being first to dry: Deadwater, Beer Walls, Spider's Web, Pitchoff Chimney Cliff, Poke-O Slab, Poke-O Main Face (very limited, also partially closed for peregrines soon), Sunshine Face at Spanky's Area, Hurricane Cliff, Bear Den, Noonmark (a slog, though), Ark Wall, Shelving (watch for closed road), cliffs along the Black Arches path at Crane, Eagle Falls (if you can cross the river), Potter Mountain at Silver Lake, and Potash.

Do you think Chapel Pond slabs could be dry this weekend or am I being too optimistic?

Haha I believe it's a little optimistic. Things were still very wintery up there last weekend. Middle of the slab had fat ice on it then, so I think it'll be a while 'til it's dried up.

The Upper Washbowl might be good though, or the Spider's Web, or something along those lines

Gunks are open for business.

chapel pond is covered in ice