Places to practice trad in MA/NH

Whats up guys? I'm really hoping to take the next step forward in my climbing this summer and I really think working in some solid trad skills is the next best thing for me in terms of moving forward.

I don't necessarily have the money for a full rack so I'm going to start of with a small set of stuff before building up. I do not plan on doing any full leads for quite some time, and especially not until I get a complete set of gear.

For now I am probably buying:

Stoppers 4-13
Cams .3 - 3

My hope is get some recommendations for TOP-ROPE crags and locations that I can practice placing gear, as well as practice more crack climbing techniques. These spots don't even need to have fully protectable climbs. I am really just looking to mock-lead and place a lot of gear over the course of the summer before I decide to do a full on lead. Plus I can't really afford a complete set of gear, so until I can, I will just be focusing on practice placement. I really want to get a feel of how gear goes in, how the rope runs, and the whole process of actually stopping your climb and putting in your pro.

I am currently going to school in Burlington (and theres plenty of practice out here) but I will be home in Reading, MA this summer. (Reading is slightly north of Boston). I am looking for locations that I can top-rope and practice placing gear. These spots would ideally be in MA, but I will also be making a lot of weekend trips to Ossipee, NH, which is pretty close to North Conway, so areas around there would also be much appreciated. Also if anyone has more suggestions as to start-up gear to look into more that would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

The Lower Slabs in Pawtuckaway, you can easily set up a top rope on the trees above the cliff just bring enough webbing or cord they are set back a bit. Great place to practice placing gear in my opinion. Easy leading, I learned to lead there with just a set of nuts.

taylor januskiewiecz wrote:The Lower Slabs in Pawtuckaway, you can easily set up a top rope on the trees above the cliff just bring enough webbing or cord they are set back a bit. Great place to practice placing gear in my opinion. Easy leading, I learned to lead there with just a set of nuts.

I've got a wholeeee bunch of static. Thanks for the tip! I'll definitely be checking that out.

Crow hill near Acton mass has a couple routes that should serve your purposes. There's also Hammond pond in Newton.

Ksween wrote:Crow hill near Acton mass has a couple routes that should serve your purposes. There's also Hammond pond in Newton.

+1 on crow hill

When I was starting to get into trad, with a set of nuts and just a few cams I led a few easy routes at Quincy Quarries (Black Knight and White Knight for example, short and easy) as well as all the cracks at Hammond Pond, which are really really easy and full of creative nut placements due to the nature of puddingstone. Crow Hill, which has already been mentioned, is another great place to learn. You would have plenty of gear to lead the 5s and 6s down on the end crag. Being in Reading, you also might want to check out the Cape Anne crags...its slabbier for the most part than these other spots, but there are plenty of climbs that take a lot of gear. All of these crags are easy places to set up top ropes, if you would rather practice placing gear that way first...but as I said you've got plenty of equipment to lead many of the 20-40 foot climbs in the boston area. best of luck!

Thanks a lot for the advice guys.. can't wait for the rock to dry up..

Rose Ledge is a great place to learn trad. Lots of relatively short, moderate, well protected climbs. There are bolted anchors on the main wall which is nice if you're going to TR.

I learned In Quincy Quarries, the set of nuts and cams .3-3 is more than enough to lead most things around the area. As for learning to climb crack there isn't a whole bunch around here you would have to go up to NH to find any good crack, I believe Metro rock Gym has crack climbs there that you can learn the technique. If you have any questions about Quincy just let me know man I've climbed lots of the climbs there and i've got a few recommendations for good leads if you need them.

-Brian

P.s. Also I was in quincy climbing almost two weeks ago now and you can definitely climb already just dress super warm

Max, Crow Hill would be a good place to learn to lead, but Ragged Mountain in Connecticut is even better. There are more options for the beginning leader (5.3-5.6). I wouldn't do the "practice leading on a top-rope" thing. That's lame. It's also unnecessary. Just start by leading really easy routes that you feel completely comfortable on. Make sure that you have a patient, understanding belayer, and just take your time placing gear and figuring it all out. It's not going to take a long time to learn.

Cathedral and Whitehorse are not good places to learn to lead because there are not many really easy routes, and if they are easy, they're often run out (like Beginner's Route and Standard Route on Whitehorse). However, the BEST place to learn to lead is the Gunks because there are so many great easy routes to choose from.

I found the Gunks to be scarily steep when I went the first time. I started leading in Franconia notch, Artist's Bluff and Echo Crag both have very easy very protectable climbs with the gear that you mentioned. It's a bit of a hike from Boston area though.

max-- i replied to you on NEclimbs

Nick Grant wrote:Cathedral and Whitehorse are not good places to learn to lead because there are not many really easy routes, and if they are easy, they're often run out (like Beginner's Route and Standard Route on Whitehorse).

I have yet to get on Whitehorse, so I can't speak to that. Cathedral has at least 2 decently easy climbs for an early leader- Upper Refuse and Thin Air. However, both are multi-pitch which requires a little more knowledge.

I also replied on NEClimbs.

Deer Leap in Vermont would be great. It's easy to walk to the top and set up toprope so you can mock-lead the cracks there. It's also a very pretty location.

If you are close to 128, Redrock (in Gloucester) is 20 minutes away from Reading. Park basically under exit 14. From there you can access Redrock, Pink Floyd Wall, Oz, Down Under, and several other areas. Tons of short easy-to-top-rope cracks on high quality Cape Ann granite. Will prepare you well for taller stuff in NH.

Good luck!

Jim

For practice close by, Hammond pond is definitely your best bet. Lower Walls has some excellent, short beginner trad climbs that eat pro. The fells and quincy quarries are also super close by and have some options.

When you're more confident and have some multipitch experience (you could practice at Clip a Dee at Rumney), Thin Air is an excellent climb. That rack will get you up it easily.

+1 for the pawtuckaway recommendation, you've got plenty of gear to lead there and it's a good place to learn how to crack climb

Dan Felix wrote: Cathedral has at least 2 decently easy climbs for an early leader- Upper Refuse and Thin Air.

Thin Air is a fun and straight forward climb (never been on upper refuse), but it is also extremely popular. I realize the OP is probably looking to become solid on single pitch and get his systems dialed before moving on to multipitch, but for other new or soon to be trad leaders who might be reading this I would advise against jumping on whatever mega classic moderate multipitch you have your eye on until you feel solid at the grade and can move quickly. It's not fun for other parties to get stuck waiting at belays all day on a 4 pitch route while you figure things out and other groups biting at your heels is just going to add to your stress level. I realize that well protected moderate routes can be sparse in some areas so if you don't have a lot of options at least shoot for an off time such as a weekday.

If you are looking for a nice quiet place to learn, try Deer Leap in Windham, NH. It's about 30 min from Reading. The climbs are short, the pro is fairly good, and there is ample opportunity to do the mock-lead thing on top rope if you bring some static line. Most of the hard stuff is mixed, but there's plenty of nice sub 5.8's to learn on. Plus, most days you'll have the place to yourself.

Definatly hit up VT Deer leap before you make the move. faces south/ warm sunny and dry. Ski in the morning and climb in the afternoon:)

+1 for Hammond Pond and Crow Hill in MA. Most of us started out there.
I suppose Rose Ledge too.

Bump, looking for more suggestions if anyone has any. Seems to me like the list is pretty complete here.