Trapps Bouldering

Description 

The Trapps, in addition to boasting more than 500 trad routes (detailed here), are home to more than 250 documented boulder problems varying in difficulty from V0 to V13 which scale and traverse the hard quartz conglomerate of the area. The only published bouldering guide for the area is Greene and Russo’s Bouldering in the Shawangunks. A complete list of all posted problems sorted by quality can be found here.

Getting There 

There are several different areas each containing interesting problems along the Undercliff road. From South to North, as you walk up the carriage way from the Trapps bride towards Skytop you pass the Steel Bridge Area (Steel Bridge boulders, Terrace boulders), Keyhole, Uberfall Area (Doug's Roof, Uberfall problems, Suzie A boulders), Early Trapps areas (Pebbles, Kama Sutra boulders, Stairway Boulders), 50 yard line, End of the Trapps areas (Andrew, Nameless, Corridor, Boxcar) and Sleepy Hollow boulders. There is one area not accessed from the carriage road, the Wawarsing Parking Lot Boulders, which are located near the Wawarsing parking lot down the East Trapps Connector Trail (AKA The Stairmaster) from the carriage road.

Guide Books 

Bouldering in the Shawangunks, Second Edition, Ivan A Greene and Marc E Russo, Jefe Publication, 2003.

A Temporary Note 

Hey everyone, I’m much more of a trad climber than a boulderer, but I’m going to be spending lots of time bouldering in the area--in between diaper changes-- and thought that it would be a good opportunity to start the ball rolling on listing problems on Mountain Project. I’ll attempt to get most of the areas and sub areas up as I have an opportunity to climb them but I’ll only post problems that I’ve completed which means that initially there is going to be a lot of easy stuff. This is an open invitation to anybody and everybody to help me construct and flesh out this area. I’m going to try to stick to the organization that is used in Boulding in the Shawangunks to make it as useful a supplement as possible. Please feel free to PM me or call me out in forums with criticism and corrections. I have no FA information other than what can be implied from the problem names. I’d love to correctly list all of this, so please let me know if you have it. Thanks for you patience.

A Note About Grades 

While grades are certainly not the most important thing about climbing, they are an important part of having a worthwhile guidebook. It's my feeling that the printed grades in Bouldering in the Shawangunks are all over the place. It would be great if everyone who ticks a problem took the time to put in an estimate of grade and quality as well. Even if you agree with the current grade, please put in your two cents, and hopefully we can arrive at a more accurate consensus.

The Classics

Featured Route For Trapps Bouldering

The Gill Egg (AKA Gill’s Route) V4  NY : The Gunks : ... : Keyhole Cliff area

Are all of John Gill’s routes this good, or did he have the good sense to only attach his name to the classics? I guess it doesn’t matter; as is the case with the other problems that bear his name in this area, this is a must do. Start on the rock below the egg. Work your hands up to the small incut holds on the lip of the egg. Climb to the top. If only it were that easy!...[more]   Browse More Classics in NY