Possibly moving to NJ. Thoughts?

Kevin Heckeler wrote: Okay, you got me. Where is this 3,000' granite monolith?

I'm scratching my head too but I'll venture a guess.. Baffin Island is on this side of the Americas.

Cap Trinite in Quebec? Doesn't have the same scale as the big stone but you can watch whales frolicking in the fjords below as you climb.

+1 to everything John Douglass has said!!
That is the 'Cap', it is out there, and in that remoteness is where it rivals El Cap!

OMG really? That's 9-10 hours away from New Jersey. The cost of getting there in gas and time, mind as well fly back West and climb El Cap for reals. [not to mention the generally more climber friendly weather back West]

If I lived in, say, Burlington Vermont - definitely a more realistic trip.

goo.gl/maps/9urbW

El Cap is in the Sierra Mts, hardly a local crag. Yeah, there's tourons in the village below, but it's still a very 'remote' place. 5 hours from San Fran, 2+ hours from San Jose and Reno NV.

It also appears Cap Trinit's the longest routes are about 1000', most less than that. While 1,000 feet is more than enough to fill my day, it's still not apples to apples compared to most big walls out West.

mountainproject.com/v/cap-t…

Just as I suspected - another case of Eastern Climber Small Wall Syndrome. If you're going to whip it out, it better be big.

Wow. Thank you all for the responses. They've been super helpful and I look forward to any future responses.

As I expected, NJ seems like it will not be too overwhelmingly disappointing.

I'm in Southern California now and have access to places in LA county and Joshua Tree with ease. My summers have been spent in the Valley and Tuolumne. So, I've been spoiled.

But, there IS climbing in NJ, (from what I hear from y'all), and for that I'm grateful.

Also, thanks for the beta on the gyms! That will be helpful for when I am unable to get outdoors and/or when the weather is poor (which, coming from a California native, will be much more often than I can even imagine).

O'neil Van Horn wrote: As I expected, NJ seems like it will not be too overwhelmingly disappointing.

Don't worry, it will be disappointing enough :)

Gunks rock. Awesome bouldering. Awesome trad, if that is your cup of tea. The rest of local climbing (within 3 hours from NYC) mostly sucks.

SXL wrote:Awesome trad, if that is your cup of tea.

If it's NOT your cup of tea, it will be. Or you mind as well just boulder or give up climbing until you head back West. Just not enough true outdoor sport in the NE to be a purist and only clip your way. Everyone here who heads outdoors climbs trad, and we consider the occasional sport climb or trip to a sport area a 'vacation'.

Kevin Heckeler wrote: If it's NOT your cup of tea, it will be. Or you mind as well just boulder or give up climbing until you head back West. Just not enough true outdoor sport in the NE to be a purist and only clip your way. Everyone here who heads outdoors climbs trad, and we consider the occasional sport climb or trip to a sport area a 'vacation'.

Fortunately, trad climbing is my beverage of choice. Bouldering is probably on the bottom of the list for me. But I will take what I can get!

Kevin Heckeler wrote:Everyone here who heads outdoors climbs trad

"here"
meaning somewhere around Albany New York ?

In range of Madison New Jersey there's several good Top-roping and Sport climbing crags. Just today while driving from Bishop to Las Vegas, we were talking about how one of those spots (which of course we do not expect "upstate NY" people to visit) had more interesting rock than a big California sport crag over-run with climbers on the Thanksgiving weekend.

Myself I do outdoor roped climbing lots within two hours' drive from Madison NJ - (often as little as one hour's) - and rarely do any Trad leading.

Ken

kenr wrote: "here" meaning somewhere around Albany New York ? In range of Madison New Jersey there's several good Top-roping and Sport climbing crags.

Quality is hard to express. The quantity is just not there. There are maybe 50 sport routes across Ramapo, the "secret spot" and West Point.

On the other hand, there are Gunks. There is a lifetime quantity of trad climbing. Maybe short on G-rated higher difficulty stuff. Still, there is plenty to keep a sport-climber occupied for many years. Growing balls helps to transition to harder stuff. I am working on my set.

Want a physical challenge? There is a lifetime quantity of world-class boulder problems at the Gunks. Bouldering at Powerlinez is nice too - different rock, abundance of crack problems and softer grades to stroke the ego.

However, if you want sport, you must either drive 5+ hours or fly to Europe.

The North sucks for true bolt only sport climbing. There is some and some more is word of mouth,It is true. locals only areas should recognize that it is a slippery slope from limited access to closed.
Sport climbing season has just started, it is easy to clip bolts,with some long distance driving.
The South, is crawling with Phat new bolts and porterjarrard Time bombz, all kinds of sport climbing goes on south of..... New Jersey.

kenr wrote: "here" meaning somewhere around New Jersey north ?

Fixed.

SXL wrote:However, if you want sport, you must either drive 5+ hours or fly West.

Fixed...

... although Europe certainly has a few quality bolted routes ;-)

Kevin Heckeler wrote:OMG really? That's 9-10 hours away from New Jersey. The cost of getting there in gas and time, mind as well fly back West and climb El Cap for reals. [not to mention the generally more climber friendly weather back West] If I lived in, say, Burlington Vermont - definitely a more realistic trip. goo.gl/maps/9urbW El Cap is in the Sierra Mts, hardly a local crag. Yeah, there's tourons in the village below, but it's still a very 'remote' place. 5 hours from San Fran, 2+ hours from San Jose and Reno NV. It also appears Cap Trinit's the longest routes are about 1000', most less than that. While 1,000 feet is more than enough to fill my day, it's still not apples to apples compared to most big walls out West. mountainproject.com/v/cap-t… Just as I suspected - another case of Eastern Climber Small Wall Syndrome. If you're going to whip it out, it better be big.

Common' Kevin... four hour flight for a mere $700 to climb for the weekend... What NJ climber wouldn't be down!!! Though the pics of that cliff do look incredible (and somewhat blank too)!

There are some serious monster sea cliffs off Acadia... boat req.

Morgan Patterson wrote: Common' Kevin... four hour flight for a mere $700 to climb for the weekend... What NJ climber wouldn't be down!!! Though the pics of that cliff do look incredible (and somewhat blank too)!

Cap Trinit isn't within weekend's distance from New Jersey either, which was/is the point. [nagging things like 18 hour R/T travel time, sleep, and daylight get in the way]

And it isn't equivalent to El Cap. Unfortunately we can't triple the size of a cliff with our minds. So good grief, give the misinformation posters a polite shellacking and leave me to the fact checking.

I haven't paid $700 for round trip to anywhere in a long time. Thank you Southwest. :D And if we are actually contemplating the possibility of a weekend jaunt to Yosemite, remember you get back three hours of that flight out there thanks to time zone changes. The drive from wherever you land will be over 2 hours though, and likely for the cheapest flights it will be from San Fran which is like 4-5 hours drive. Add it all up and in an ideal world, you would reach Yosemite in roughly 7 Pacific Time clock hours from Albany (10 hours actual). Not realistic for a weekend, but still about as close as Cap Trinit.

Kevin Heckeler wrote: Unfortunately we can't triple the size of a cliff with our minds.

HA! I do it all the time...

People have mentioned it in passing, but I'd add a serious plug for the Adirondacks. Far less crowded than the Gunks in general, bigger, wilder, and fun - especially if you are a trad enthusiast. Poke-O-Moonshine, for example, will be a bit over 4 hours away from Madison. And no crowds. Get the Jim Lawyer guidebook. And there is plenty of opportunity to develop still left in the 'Daks if you are so inclined.

Get the annual membership at the Mohonk Preserve as the Gunks will be your home crag. Nothing else nearby compares or is worth more than a single visit(except maybe the Water Gap). Feel free to message me if you wind up in the area.

BrianRH wrote:People have mentioned it in passing, but I'd add a serious plug for the Adirondacks. Far less crowded than the Gunks...

Shhhhhhs!!!!!! We like to keep it that way! :p

But yeah, what he says. The ADKs have a ton of good rock. Silver Lake has opened recently and there's a few weekends worth of climbing right there, not to mention all the other spots scattered about.

If you climb hard, and like cracks, then the Spider's Web is your one pitch wet dream:
mountainproject.com/v/the-s…

Just down the road, The Beer Walls:
mountainproject.com/v/beer-…

I rather like Deadwater:
mountainproject.com/v/deadw…

Poke-O is sick:
mountainproject.com/v/poke-…

Moss Cliff is for the brave (or super strong, same diff), but supposedly super high quality multipitch:
mountainproject.com/v/moss-…

And my home ADK crag, Crane Mt:
mountainproject.com/v/crane…

SXL wrote: Quality is hard to express. The quantity is just not there. There are maybe 50 sport routes across Ramapo, the "secret spot" and West Point.

Wow, are you misinformed! There are over 60 bolted sport climbs on just the PI wall at West Point alone (more if you know a cadet who can escort you to the other bolted areas there).

Gunkiemike wrote: Wow, are you misinformed! There are over 60 bolted sport climbs on just the PI wall at West Point alone (more if you know a cadet who can escort you to the other bolted areas there).

Same order of magnitude. That's 5-6 full days of climbing. Also, in narrow grade range. On blasted rock. By rail-road tracks.

--edit -- I think you being sarcastic.