BETA PHOTO: Fire Wall - far left line drawing from Traprock, K...
Description
70' west facing cliff. Excellent rock with some large roofs. The sport routes here are spicy and many of them require a piece or two of gear. Somehow Ken Nichols was able to find 40 routes on this small cliff, most people only climb the 15 or so bolted routes that have been added down below in some line drawings/topos.
In 8/2008 a group of climbers (C3 Connecticut Climbers Coalition) obtained permission from the town of Southington to place bolts at the Fire Wall. They also stabilized trails and cleaned up trash in the area.
BEWARE: This area has Timber Rattlers (Sept. 2012)
Getting There
Park at Crescent Lake Park, but a $25 annual parking pass is required, the parking lot is small (about 30 spaces), is shared by resident park users, and it is USUALLY gated between 5pm and 7am. Parking passes are sold at the Southington town hall (parks and rec. dept. - basement) during normal business hours. If you park there, hike east along the shore of the reservoir, then up to the crag. The gate closes at different times during the year so pay attention to the posted signs and dont be late getting out of there or you may have a long walk home.
Route List
Route descriptions are adapted from Hooked on Traprock - Rock Climbing in Central Connecticut, Ken Nichols, 1995 (out of print and somewhat rare/expensive). Rock Climbing Connecticut, David Fasulo, 2002 includes 14 of these climbs and 1 line drawing. For the best line drawings, see Traprock - Rock Climbing in Central Connecticut, Ken Nichols, 1982 (available used on amazon.com).
Routes from left to right:
Ashen Face 5.9- RH *, tiny LFC
Flaming Arrow 5.8+ *, small LFC
Andiron 5.4 **, first major LFC
Firewood 5.8 *, second major LFC
Kindling 5.5 *, on R wall of Firewood
Hot Coals 5.5 R *, third major LFC
Red Hot 5.11 T *, R side of Hot Coals arete
Incinerator 5.10+ *, bulge to face
False Alarm 5.9+ *, crack through 12" overlap
Pyromaniac 5.11 *, overhanging corner to crack and freestanding flake
Arsonist 5.11- RH **, overhang to thin cracks and flake
Playing with Fire 5.11+ H **, left end of huge roof to left leaning corner
Fanning the Flames 5.9+ T *, var. start 7' L of Firebird
Firebird 5.10+ RH ***, middle of huge roof, 8' L along lip
Phoenix 5.10 ***, R of Firebird above lip
Blue Blazes 5.9+ R **, R to small LFC above lip (5.10 start)
Charred Remains 5.10- T *, L arete finish to Burned Beyond Recognition (5.11 start)
Burned Beyond Recognition 5.11 H ***, R end of huge roof to corner
Scorched Earth 5.4 R, blocky rock
Firecracker 5.9 *, contact line between blocky rock and smooth face
Small recess 6' R of Burning Ember. Up right through overhang, L to tiny stance below small overlap. Up middle of overhanging face above....[more]Browse More Classics in CT
Brady- its all written in the line drawings posted by Shylo and comments, so far nobody has entered any routes officially. Zoom into the line drawings.
Someone's idea of protesting the bolts I would assume. . . Supposedly you can still clip the bolts. It should be noted that these bolts were placed with permission from the Town of Southington (Land Owner) and any attempt to vandalize them is punishable by law including, trespassing, vandalism, endangerment of life.
If you or anyone sees anyone damaging or messing with the bolts they should call the Southington Police Department @ (860) 378-1600. Please follow this person to their car and get their licence plate number so the police can be certain of that person's identity. If someone admits to putting the locks on the bolts please report them to the police or PM me and I will...
I find it interesting how the elite trad ethic degrades into leaving trash on the walls of our crags when they don't approve of something the Town and majority of local climbers approved. It's obvious this was a cowardly act... these people sicken me.
I believe it was an out of town coward who came to visit mommy and stir the pot of shit. Nice locks, probably taken from daddies garage without permission.
Yeah i noticed there was still room to get into the bolts, i just wasnt sure if it was another anti bolt move or if the bolts were sketchy and someone was trying to save lives lol
Is the height of this cliff 70' or is that how long it is. Either way it seems off. It seemed like only 40ft high in some sections and much longer then 70'.
The large death block was removed from the top of the 5.11c. The tree that was under the big roof was also removed. Next step is the padlocks which are unsightly compared to the camo anchors.
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