Stonehouse Pond Climbing Area Information

I recently heard about this area through a friend who's dad worked for the Barrington, NH PD for a while, and found some little information on it. I've looked at the area and it has some nice looking bolted routes, but I've yet to find comprehensive information on them.

I've found this screenshot, but I don't own the book/haven't found a way of getting a hold of it.

supertopo.com/climbing/thre…

And for those wondering about acess issues, a quick google search came up with this :

fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a…

It doesn't mention climbing, but it seems to open it up for any sort of outdoor recreation, not to mention there is no signs posted anymore, and there are bolted routes. I would assume with good care of the trails and rock this will not be an issue.

I also found this which says that rock climbing is specifically allowed in the bottom left corner of page6:

landandpeople-digital.com/l…

It doesn't mention climbing, but it seems to open it up for any sort of outdoor recreation, not to mention there is no signs posted anymore, and there are bolted routes. I would assume with good care of the trails and rock this will not be an issue.

This is from Anna Boudreau, the Executive Director of
Strafford Rivers Conservancy Inc. :

"It is open to the public for multiple recreational uses, including rock climbing, and as with all activities, we say recreate at your own risk. As the new owners of the property we were in the process of designing a sign to post on the F&G kiosk that was located on the site but it was recently torched and burnt to the ground. Not good. It will take some time for us to raise the funds to build a new one, we are collaborating with F&G on that (about $1000 to 2,000) but look for that next spring. (I hope to have a PayPal link set up on our website for that but we have not had a chance to set that up yet.)"

"Due the the risk of rock climbing we do not encourage it but we do allow it (at your own risk) as we have found folks in the rock cllmbing community to be very mindful and respectful of the properties that they utilize for climbing......As Sean mentioned in his post, it is conservation land (legally conserved to protect the natural resources, hydrology etc of the property and to ensure that it will never be developed into house lots) so we ask folks to take garbage in garbage out and not trash the property. Unfortunately, in the 4 years that we worked to conserve the parcel we did many walks out there and saw everything from piles of tires and construction debris to air conditioners and other appliances dumped on the land, very discouraging. "

So nothing we don't know about taking care of the area through common sense, and of course climbing is inherently dangerous if you haven't read any of the tags on your gear, we should know this and are aware of the consequences. The email also mentioned appropriate clothing for hunting season, just to keep that in mind!

If anyone has other information to share, let me know through a post, PM, or email at bblanchard@metrocast.net

Brendan Blanchard wrote:I recently heard about this area through a friend who's dad worked for the Barrington, NH PD for a while, and found some little information on it. I've looked at the area and it has some nice looking bolted routes, but I've yet to find comprehensive information on them. I've found this screenshot, but I don't own the book/haven't found a way of getting a hold of it. supertopo.com/climbing/thre… And for those wondering about acess issues, a quick google search came up with this : fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a… It doesn't mention climbing, but it seems to open it up for any sort of outdoor recreation, not to mention there is no signs posted anymore, and there are bolted routes. I would assume with good care of the trails and rock this will not be an issue. If anyone has other information to share, let me know through a post, PM, or email at bblanchard@metrocast.net

Brendan,

Are you up for a recon mission to Stonehouse?

AntinJ wrote: Brendan, Are you up for a recon mission to Stonehouse?

Yeah, I can do that, I've been once and taken a look, but nothing too serious. I'm also not too well equipped for sport climbing, but we can take a look.

Stone house has great rock, some bolted up to 5.12, a great 5,8 and the BEST ice in s. New Hampshire.......the land is in conservation easement. Be respectfull...trash in trash out...and we can keep it open for all!!! ENJOY SEAN

That's great news Sean!

I have a couple scanned pages from that old guide:

There are also a couple high quality bolted sport routes on the right hand margin of the crag. When viewed from the base, the right hand one is in the 12a range and the left hand route is 12d, very techincal and very sustained. The best approach is clockwise around the pond from the parking area.

Thanks Jim - That's good stuff!

Thanks Jim, I found a PDF scan of that same guide and have it on my phone for reference, it has a great amount of information and I'm looking forward to getting to use it!

Also I just received several emails from Anna Boudreau, the Executive Director of Strafford Rivers Conservancy Inc. I'll be posting the important parts in the first post for everyone to see.

Climbing at Stonehouse pond has been off and on, or I should say kept under close wraps do to access issues, since Probably before Todd wrote about it in this 1980's guide to Southern New Hampshire, even then it was hit or miss.

As for development of Stonehouse not sure who first started climbing out there or how they came about climbing at the crag... I do know that the two sport routes over by the Flywalk 5.6 were put in by Joe Terravecchia, the route closest to FLywalk is 5.10c, the slab route downhill from that one is in the 5.12 range.

All in all it's a nice little crag for some after work climbing.

If you have been following Todd Swains post on here or on NEclimbs for the new Southern NH guide book this area with the new routes will be listed in it.

Brendan Blanchard wrote:I recently heard about this area through a friend who's dad worked for the Barrington, NH PD for a while, and found some little information on it. I've looked at the area and it has some nice looking bolted routes, but I've yet to find comprehensive information on them. I've found this screenshot, but I don't own the book/haven't found a way of getting a hold of it. supertopo.com/climbing/thre… And for those wondering about acess issues, a quick google search came up with this : fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a… It doesn't mention climbing, but it seems to open it up for any sort of outdoor recreation, not to mention there is no signs posted anymore, and there are bolted routes. I would assume with good care of the trails and rock this will not be an issue. I also found this which says that rock climbing is specifically allowed in the bottom left corner of page6: landandpeople-digital.com/l… It doesn't mention climbing, but it seems to open it up for any sort of outdoor recreation, not to mention there is no signs posted anymore, and there are bolted routes. I would assume with good care of the trails and rock this will not be an issue. This is from Anna Boudreau, the Executive Director of Strafford Rivers Conservancy Inc. : "It is open to the public for multiple recreational uses, including rock climbing, and as with all activities, we say recreate at your own risk. As the new owners of the property we were in the process of designing a sign to post on the F&G kiosk that was located on the site but it was recently torched and burnt to the ground. Not good. It will take some time for us to raise the funds to build a new one, we are collaborating with F&G on that (about $1000 to 2,000) but look for that next spring. (I hope to have a PayPal link set up on our website for that but we have not had a chance to set that up yet.)" "Due the the risk of rock climbing we do not encourage it but we do allow it (at your own risk) as we have found folks in the rock cllmbing community to be very mindful and respectful of the properties that they utilize for climbing......As Sean mentioned in his post, it is conservation land (legally conserved to protect the natural resources, hydrology etc of the property and to ensure that it will never be developed into house lots) so we ask folks to take garbage in garbage out and not trash the property. Unfortunately, in the 4 years that we worked to conserve the parcel we did many walks out there and saw everything from piles of tires and construction debris to air conditioners and other appliances dumped on the land, very discouraging. " So nothing we don't know about taking care of the area through common sense, and of course climbing is inherently dangerous if you haven't read any of the tags on your gear, we should know this and are aware of the consequences. The email also mentioned appropriate clothing for hunting season, just to keep that in mind! If anyone has other information to share, let me know through a post, PM, or email at bblanchard@metrocast.net

Is there good ice climbing here?

I've seen a couple pictures of ice in the Flywalk area, also there are two routes listed in the WI2-3 range on MP. That's where I would start looking.

Just found this: meetup.com/rockclimbing-134…

Might want to try asking around on that site?

Hey guys I live near Stonehouse. Been there a few times this past summer. I used the old guidebook along with recon to somewhat make an overview of the area. I will attach it to this post. Hope it helps.

I should also mention that I was able to print out the old guide book and have the info from it if anyone wants.

Thanks for the photo, I'm thinking about paying it a visit if theres clear enough weather over break, especially if the snow melts off some. If you could put names to those routes and put it in the Stonehouse Pond section as a beta photo, that would be a great help.

There are also some good hard boulder problems on an overhanging wall on the left-hand side (when viewed from across the pond).

The sport routes I referenced earlier in this thread are to the right of the right-most line on the photo posted above. Great Joe T lines well worth the effort.

It should be said that any persons visiting should keep a mind for conservation and good stewardship when climbing or hiking there, its been a very long wait to finally have the pond open for climbing. Please understand that the organizations that made it possible for public access are mostly conservation based and are not very psyched on fixed anchors and alteration of the rock in any way. I have been climbing here since I started climbing and have seen lots of different dilemmas with access and land rights. Use your head and lots of ethical sense when climbing here.

burlap submariner wrote: It should be said that any persons visiting should keep a mind for conservation and good stewardship when climbing or hiking there, its been a very long wait to finally have the pond open for climbing. Please understand that the organizations that made it possible for public access are mostly conservation based and are not very psyched on fixed anchors and alteration of the rock in any way. I have been climbing here since I started climbing and have seen lots of different dilemmas with access and land rights. Use your head and lots of ethical sense when climbing here.

+one

Agreed with the ethics of the area. I visited today and saw plenty of broken glass, bottles, and beer cans. I didn't have a bag on me to carry anything out, but there is definitely some clean up that is necessary.

As for the conditions, it's very nice. Being in the middle of a blizzard warning, today seemed like the perfect day to go beta hunting. I spent an hour or so out in the area looking around. I got a general feel for the layout, but couldn't tell you whats where other than the Flywalk which is by far of the of easiest features to pick out.

Antin - There is ice, but it's not fully formed I don't think. I've got some pictures below.

It also appears that some of the Aid Wall will ice up, there are several small formations that have started.



On a side note, the pond is entirely iced over. There were tracks across the entire pond, including several things drawn in the dusting of snow covering the pond. I took the long way around being skeptical at first, but it is indeed quite solid. (I took the liberty of jumping up and down in the middle)

Excuse the photo quality, this was on a whim on the way home with a 3.2MP smartphone camera. Possibly more to come from a nice Nikon depending on the upcoming weather.

I have several more photos, if you're interested you can PM me and I'll email them for you, rather than taking up more space on MP.

Brendan, I don't know if you have seen the small flows in the woods on the right side of the pond? If you walk counter clockwise around the pond and gradually rise diagonal up and climbers left there is a small 30' cliff separated from the main cliff that has several options for ice routes, its mostly NEI 2-3 but is very good to run laps on or take beginners. Its mos def in now as it faces north and is tucked away in the woods from sunshine. The drip you took a photo of on the farthest left side of the main cliff is a very fun mixed route that has come in very well in wet years.

You classified this area as the "aid area" however all of the routes on this side of the pond go free, from left to right as follows:

There are several options for top roping on the overhanging wall on the left in the .10-.12 range, the next route is Desperation and goes free at 10+, then the BBB route 11c at the initial crack system then has a 11+ single bolt variation going right at the top (if you go left to exit its 5.7) The shiny bolt ladder about 25' right of BBB is an 13+ put up by Joe Terravechia, there is also a 10a and 5.8 to the right of that to get up to the big belay ledge common to The Joke, The Roost, the Center and the Nose.

I love this cliff so much, its been the center piece of my climbing since i started 10 or so years ago, I'm very happy to see that everyone whom posted here shares a strong conviction for conservation in the area.

Brendan: Thanks for the update! I wish I had discovered this place sooner. I hope to check it out before I leave New England...