Goat rock at lincoln woods RI

Anyone familiar with goat rock at lincoln woods? It seems like most people dont climb there much cause setting up a top rope is really awkward without cams or a really long cord..i was wondering why the top isnt atleast bolted for top rope cause goat rock does have some good climbing on it..does the park not allow it or do people not want TR bolts? I feel like more people would climb goat rock if there were top rope anchors, lol..

My understanding is that the park doesnt allow roped climbing, people I know were told that  by the rangers when they were top roping.  Too bad, Goat Rock was the first place I climbed at the Woods back in the 70s.

Ward Smith wrote:

My understanding is that the park doesnt allow roped climbing, people I know were told that  by the rangers when they were top roping.  Too bad, Goat Rock was the first place I climbed at the Woods back in the 70s.

Hey Ward, do you know when the rangers kicked out the climbers?

I used to climb at Goat Rock every Wednesday after work, weather permitting, with folks from the RI AMC, about two years ago.  We'd cover the whole rock with top-ropes.

Rangers would do their laps around the park and check in on us to make sure we'd all signed climbing waivers, and if anyone hadn't then the rangers would give that person one to sign and be on their way.  

When I was climbing there we never had any issues with the rangers, and I believe that before Covid there was still a group of AMC climbers meeting there on Wednesdays.

Vic Davalos wrote:

Hey Ward, do you know when the rangers kicked out the climbers?

I used to climb at Goat Rock every Wednesday after work, weather permitting, with folks from the RI AMC, about two years ago.  We'd cover the whole rock with top-ropes.

Rangers would do their laps around the park and check in on us to make sure we'd all signed climbing waivers, and if anyone hadn't then the rangers would give that person one to sign and be on their way.  

When I was climbing there we never had any issues with the rangers, and I believe that before Covid there was still a group of AMC climbers meeting there on Wednesdays.

No, it was more like 10 years or more ago. Maybe it was just a random ranger using his power.  That would be good news, as that is the best top roping rock there.

Guess it's just a highball now ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Nickgrai wrote:

 I  always use two blue ,and one brown tricam to set up for latex sheath and zero gravity.

i dont have any trad gear to set up top ropes with, id have to buy a good length of static rope to tie off the trees about 30 feet back..kind of lame, itd be alot easier if there were 2 bolts at the top of each route to just clip 2 quickdraws to and call it a day..but i respect the rock and if people dont see a need to have it bolted then its not something i would do..im glad i asked before just going there and throwing bolts at the top..

I've top roped there a couple of times, I think there is no need for bolts really as you can use static or gear. It's not awkward at all though to set up a TR if you have a long static, which you honestly need if you want to top rope most places in the RI,CT area. 

Climbing has been allowed at least the last five years, with a regular check-in from rangers. It's easily setup with long static lines as mentioned above. (Living in new england I bought the 150' 1/2" static line popular from PMI and called it a day, very useful.) RI AMC is very active there in the longer summer nights. Bolting would invite a horde of related consequences that I'm sure the park would dislike, not the least maintenance, insurance related complications, and the fact that the clifftop is a popular leg of the local MTB ride. The cliff is best climbed as a group with multiple ropes as the level of involvement to setup a single line outweighs the benefits of the climbs raning from 20-30 feet in height.

Now go find the bolts at Abram's Rock.

Also.... didn't realize that was you Victor! Didn't y'all move down south?

Tom Sherman wrote:

Also.... didn't realize that was you Victor! Didn't y'all move down south?

=D

Yessir, down to Atlanta.  We came back to CT in December though, to be closer to family.  Turns out it was the perfect time to come back to New England considering the pandemic!  Much happier to be dealing with all this with family close by.

Tom is getting at a good point that I don't think has been really addressed here.  If you're doing any sort of roped climbing around RI, MA, and CT, then having a long static line is key.  I'd go so far as to say that it's an essential piece of kit for climbers in the area, so I don't really think it's a fair critique of an area to say that needing a long static line is a barrier to setting up top-ropes, needing a long line should be expected.  That'd be like saying needing carabiners is a barrier to setting up TRs, for this region at least.

I'd argue that a firm conceptual grasp on anchor-building is a fundamental skill for any roped climber.  In my opinion, just because an area requires someone to exercise their anchor-building skills doesn't mean that that area should be bolted, thereby removing the need to exercise critical skills.  If rock-quality or protection options were poor then by all means I'd say bolt the sucker, but with some basic skills and gear Goat Rock is easily set up.