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82 Crag
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Routes Sorted
L to R R to L Alpha
Afro Samurai 
Arms Reduction 
Beyond 
Block Party 
Crimp Chimp 
Crusty By Nature 
Dirty Duo, The 
Doggfather, The 
Encryption 
Enter the Dweezil 
Kid Charlemagne 
Little Red Hen 
Politics of Dancing, The 
Solarium 
Steppin Razor 
Team America 
Truffle Hog 
War on Drugs 
Year of the Dog 
Unsorted Routes:

82 Crag 


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Lat, Long: -72.86, 44.3781 Map
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Administrators: Chris Duca, Tom Erickson
Submitted By: colin rickert on Apr 17, 2010

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Trail map for 82 Crag (click and expand). Start in...

Description 

The large cliff band about 25 minute walk uphill from the Bolton Quarry (see map). This cliff is home to some of the hardest, most bad-ass sport climbing in the state of Vermont. The 82 crag has many climbs in the 5.11 to 5.12+ range. I would say it has some of the best 5.11's and 5.12's I have ever been on such as Arms Reduction (11b/c), Afro-Samurai (11d), the Doggfather (12b), Solarium (12b), Encryption (12c/d), Little Red Hen (12d). This crag has it all and the views are fantastic. A nice breeze tends to keep the 82 Crag a little cooler than others in the summer. It's about a 25 minute walk mostly uphill only if you don't get lost on the trails (otherwise could be quite a long hike). Try to check in here or with locals before you go to get some idea of where you are going.


Getting There 

Park in the Bolton Quarry Parking lot and follow the red line trail on the map provided (hopefully this will help). There is a specific network of trails/logging roads that must be followed and I suggest using a GPS device your first time so you don't get too lost. For the upper part of the crag (i.e. Doggfather, Little Red Hen, Afro Samurai, Encryption) you must climb up a 5.4 choss pile with a fixed rope for about 30 feet to get to the base of it.


The Classics

Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for 82 Crag:
Crimp Chimp   5.9+ PG13     Trad, 1 pitch, 160 feet   
The Politics of Dancing   5.10a PG13     Sport, 1 pitch, 160 feet   
Block Party   5.10a     Trad, Sport, 2 pitches, 150 feet   
Year of the Dog   5.10d     Trad, Sport, 1 pitch, 80 feet   
Kid Charlemagne   5.11a     Sport, 1 pitch, 70 feet   
Arms Reduction   5.11b/c     Trad, Sport, 60 feet   
The Doggfather   5.12b     Sport, 1 pitch, 65 feet   
Encryption   5.12d     Sport, 65 feet   
Little Red Hen   5.12d     Sport, 1 pitch, 65 feet   
Steppin Razor   5.13a/b     Sport, 60 feet   
Browse More Classics in 82 Crag

Featured Route For 82 Crag
Good shot of the exposure on Politics. <br /> <br />Photo by, Travis Peckham

The Politics of Dancing 5.10a PG13  VT : Bolton Area : 82 Crag
Said by those who have climbed it to be the "Prince of Darkness" of the East. This route epitomizes sustained face climbing with killer exposure to boot. Politics has a common start with "Crimp Chimp", then breaks hard left at the overlap/ledge until you are in front of the small birch tree. Take a deep breath, and make a quasi-committing move up to the first bolt. A fall from before clipping the first bolt would be less than ideal, so if one chooses, a yellow Alien can be placed from a comf...[more]   Browse More Classics in VT


Comments on 82 Crag Add Comment
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By Matt McCormick
Apr 11, 2012

For the grades at 82 I would suggest (Crusty By Nature .11a, Beyond .12b, Doggfather .12b, Red Hen .12c, Encryption .12d, Team America .12d) I'd say all of these grades are pretty solid. Encryption feels harder to me than Venus in Rumney which SOLID in the .12c grade and Team America felt about as hard and took more tries though I used a bit different beta than others. Red Hen has harder individual moves but has a huge rest on it. I think these grades would hold up at any crag. I'd be curious to see what Travis puts in the new book...

By colin rickert
From: Ottawa, ON
Apr 30, 2012

I have upgraded Encryption to 12d and will take your word for it there however I am keeping Little Red Hen 12d unless I hear a lot more feedback to the contrary which so far I haven't. I feel "Who's Your Daddy" is the benchmark 12c for the area and LRH feels a notch harder to me. I am still mixed on Beyond because it was harder for me to redpoint than the Doggfather which is considered the benchmark 12b for the area - but I could wrong as I tend to be more power than endurance oriented (hence b/c grade). I also feel Arms Reduction should be upgraded - seems like a stretch to call it 11b but I am waiting for more suggestions there. Those are my two cents and with more feedback from people I'll change the grades to match what most people suggest regardless of what I think - please add yours

By colin rickert
From: Ottawa, ON
Apr 30, 2012

Also worth mentioning that Alan Blade broke a hole on LRH recently (see his comment on the route) which seems noteworthy in terms of its difficulty - I have not been on it since then but I suspect it makes the reachy sidepull move down low harder.

By colin rickert
From: Ottawa, ON
Mar 10, 2013

Interesting side story regarding grades at Bolton - Back in 2011 I was at the 82 Crag one day with Alan Blade and a climber I won't name that I knew from Boston was there who climbs a bunch at Rumney. He explained to me that he had read about The Doggfather online (presumably here) and was used to onsighting 12's at Rumney. I asked him if he wanted any beta and he quickly assured me he wouldn't need any. I then proceeded to watch him take about 6 whippers off the end of the techie 5.11+ section just before you get to the no-hands rest (i.e. well before the route crux at the end). This is a tricky section and can feel hard if you don't know what you are doing. When he finally asked me for my beta there he didn't seem to be able to make any use of it and looked at me incredulously as if I was making stuff up. After watching him fall several times I left the scene but with a bit of a sense that indeed Bolton is not Rumney so beware that you will likely be climbing a letter grade or more lower. I bet he probably did send it eventually later on but still interesting to watch....