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Deep water soloing Lake Champlain

Original Post
jamesldavis1 · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2014 · Points: 0

I know that there are some great cliffs on the New York side, but I'm wondering if there's any deep water cliffs on the VT side.

Anyone got the beta?

Woodchuck ATC · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 3,280

Like isn't that a pretty cold lake all year round up that far north? Wetsuit time I'd guess.

grubbers · · West Shore · Joined Mar 2009 · Points: 0

It gets fairly warm in the summer, algae blooms usually become an issue at some point. Check out the cliffs at Red Rock Park in Burlington. I've also heard of some cliffs in Niquette Bay State Park.

Max Forbes · · Colorado · Joined Jan 2014 · Points: 108

Lake is still very warm..

As far as I know theres really nothing amazing. Fairly sure climbing at Red Rocks is banned.. that being said people defiantly do some climbing at red rocks but I've never heard of any deep water soloing. Apparently the climbing isn't much of anything anyways. Most of the people who go there to jump have to get a running start to clear the rocks, so I'm not sure how safe it would be. If you end up scoping it out I'd love to hear what you find.

Nick Votto · · CO, CT, IT · Joined Jul 2008 · Points: 320

Lake is plenty warm through September (I once went in during April, brrrr) but there's no cliffs with deep water directly underneath. Even for the cliff jumping in Red Rocks you have to launch yourself out a pretty good distance. Best and maybe only thing is the large boulder out in the water off Lone Rock Point (North Beach).....pretty sweet and tall boulder problem that you can fall into the water off of.

eddysamson · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2014 · Points: 2,068

There's a boulder out on lone rock point above North Beach in Burlington with some climbs on it. Only one side of the boulder has water that is deep enough to fall into, though. On this side there is one start that goes into two different climbs once you get to the huge middle shelf you can sit on. One goes up and left to a side pull and the other goes right into a series of crimps. Both have a throw to the top which is really fun and can make you take a long fall into the water. Left is like a V4 right is like a V5 or so.

If you're taking a boat there its the point north of North Beach. Tallest boulder over there (theres 2 big ones)

EDIT: oops I didnt even notice he posted about this spot too.

Jason Hayden · · North Clarendon, VT · Joined Oct 2010 · Points: 9,585

Water temp is running in the mid to low 70's. The best DWS is central lake on the NY side. It is crazy deep - I couldn't even anchor with my boat touching the cliff - 150 feet of anchor line. There are some bolted ice climbing lines there as well. Be careful as it's easy to get pretty high and there are some nasty surprises under water in the form of outcroppings or boulders at various points so check your landings with a snorkel and mask. Some of the cliffs are 150 plus high but there is some very nice 20-40 foot overhung stuff.

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

Just out of curiosity... where are these 150 ft tall cliffs if I was looking on Bing?

jamesldavis1 · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2014 · Points: 0
freezeus wrote:Water temp is running in the mid to low 70's. The best DWS is central lake on the NY side. It is crazy deep - I couldn't even anchor with my boat touching the cliff - 150 feet of anchor line. There are some bolted ice climbing lines there as well. Be careful as it's easy to get pretty high and there are some nasty surprises under water in the form of outcroppings or boulders at various points so check your landings with a snorkel and mask. Some of the cliffs are 150 plus high but there is some very nice 20-40 foot overhung stuff.
Sweet, I take it you have done a lot of climbing there, how would you grade it on Yosemite scale?
Jason Hayden · · North Clarendon, VT · Joined Oct 2010 · Points: 9,585

We've done minimal climbing but scoped a bunch of it out. There is stuff from 5.6 - 5.13+ and bouldering V0 - V14+

eddysamson · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2014 · Points: 2,068

We're past season now, but I found this awesome drone video of Lone Rock Point in Burlington, VT (discussed in a few posts here).

youtube.com/watch?v=sNsrIn_…

The main Lone Rock boulder appears about 15 seconds into the video from the left side of the screen. I've never climbed the boulder on the right side of the video (with the tree) its a lot shorter, probably 8-10ft off the water. Has an easy side to climb up it for the non climbers, might be a traverse, not really sure.

As you can see there is a lot of rock other than the deep water stuff. I believe there is at least 1 bolted route up the roof the guy is standing on. Possibly more.

Jason Hayden · · North Clarendon, VT · Joined Oct 2010 · Points: 9,585

Here's the big stuff: bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=rc2rc…)____&rtp=adr.~pos.44.218146_-73.364057_near%20Westport%2C%20NY___a_&mode=D&rtop=0~0~0~

jeremy dowdy · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2020 · Points: 0

Hello,

Climbing at Lone Rock point is not allowed at this time. You will be trespassing if you are climbing on the rock on or around the point. The land is owned by the catholic diocese of Burlington. They have asked climbers not to climb there at this time.

Scott McMahon · · Boulder, CO · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,425
Woodchuck ATC wrote:Like isn't that a pretty cold lake all year round up that far north? Wetsuit time I'd guess.
haha exactly what I thought. BRRRRR

Have to wait till one of those 100 degree humidity days!
eddysamson · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2014 · Points: 2,068

I've always known that about Lone Rock Point. Never, in the past 6-7 years of climbing/swimming there have I had a problem with the diocese. That being said I've never climbed on their land but I do climb the tallest boulder in the water. Do you (or anyone else) know if the boulders in the water are still on their land and off-limits for climbing? I could take any kind of boat there and not use their land at all to access the boulders and I've seen people doing that. Not sure how they could tell you no then.

Also its worth noting that if you get one of summer passes the diocese offers for free that allow access to their trails, it lists what you can and cannot do on the land and climbing is not listed with the other prohibited activities such as biking. You can use that to feign ignorance if you do get caught climbing.

Dan Raisbeck · · Burlington, VT · Joined Apr 2014 · Points: 5

I've climbed at both Red Rocks and Niquette Bay in previous years. Not really much of note from what I can remember. I'll have to check 'em out again once the weather warms up.

Justin Mariano · · Philadelphia, PA · Joined May 2015 · Points: 0

There are decent cliffs about 1 mile up the shoreline from north beach (lone rock point). Basically walk up the beach until you get to the woods...follow the trail, then begin to walk left...the cliffs run quite a ways. They range anywhere from 20-80ft. Makes for great cliff jumping in the summer - I've never thought to free solo any of them, but towards the 80ft area there may be some gnarly rock.

Alternatively, you could just kayak out along the lone rock cliffs and pick a spot to climb. Accessing the bottom of the cliff from the trail would be pretty tough without jumping off it first.

Of course, be mindful of the tides.

Max Forbes · · Colorado · Joined Jan 2014 · Points: 108

Lone rock point is currently not open to climbing. This is an ongoing access issue that CragVT is actively working to solve with land managers. Climbing at lone rock jeopardizes future access to this location and may mean that we will never be able to legally climb there again. Please do not climb at this location.

eddysamson · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2014 · Points: 2,068
Max Forbes wrote:Lone rock point is currently not open to climbing. This is an ongoing access issue that CragVT is actively working to solve with land managers. Climbing at lone rock jeopardizes future access to this location and may mean that we will never be able to legally climb there again. Please do not climb at this location.
Does this apply to the boulders in the water? Is that technically their land? Does it only apply if you use their land to access the boulders?
Morgan Patterson · · NH · Joined Oct 2009 · Points: 8,945
eddysamson wrote: Does this apply to the boulders in the water? Is that technically their land? Does it only apply if you use their land to access the boulders?
You could check with the local tax assessor's office. They typically have property maps and deeds which detail who own what. Might be best to avoid the area all together as even the appearance of being on their property might hinder discussions. On the coast, public property begins at the high tide line.
eddysamson · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2014 · Points: 2,068
Morgan Patterson wrote: You could check with the local tax assessor's office. They typically have property maps and deeds which detail who own what. Might be best to avoid the area all together as even the appearance of being on their property might hinder discussions. On the coast, public property begins at the high tide line.
Interesting I will have to look in to that. This is my favorite hot summer day spot in Burlington and I am sad to see this is all happening out here. I've climbed the biggest boulder out there for the past 5-6 years with no trouble from the Diocese and I've heard of the bolted routes and what not and never heard of any issues with climbers on them. Does anyone know what happened and why CRAG-VT is involved now? Before they were involved there were no problems at least in the last 5 years. I MIGHT have heard of a death/serious injury on the Diocese land that was climbing related 8+ years ago.

In my experience on their land there are 3 things they should probably be more concerned about than climbers: 1.) LARGE groups of college kids under 21 with beer (I've passed groups of 20 with beer on the trails heading out to the small boulder to climb and jump off), 2.) Cliff jumpers (never seen it, heard of it like Justin said above) since this is one of the least safe places in the lake to jump and 3.) homeless/druggies being out there - never seen them, only heard of them being out there so take that one with a grain of salt.
Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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