Gearing Up for the Gunks

Ever since I started rock climbing, I've come across many articles & have heard people talking about "The Gunks".  From what I've heard and read, this is the destination for serious trad climbers in the East.  "Tough, old school ratings" & many "classic routes" are the buzz words I've seen and heard.  Even my most recent internet date asked me within our first few email messages if I had been to the Gunks yet?  Well, no...  But, I plan to!

Without a partner, I had looked into guided trips earlier this year & came across an REI camping weekend for June 14th-16th.  It wasn't a trad trip though - more of a group top-roping trip.  I didn't book it because if I was going to spend $600 on a solo climbing weekend, I wanted to get trad instruction.  So, when I saw a Meetup group posted a couple of weeks ago for the same weekend pairing up experienced trad leaders with experienced followers, I jumped on it.  I didn't know the host, or even anyone who had signed up already, but this didn't stop me.  I wasn't sure if my experience was going to be enough to make the cut (the trip was capped at 10 people & you had to fill out a questionnaire about your experience).  But, a week after signing up, I received an email from the host that I was in!  Bonus: one of my climbing friends (also a trad beginner) had signed up for the trip & had been accepted as well.

I was so excited... I couldn't sleep that night!  I spent most of the night on the internet buying gear.  First order of business was guidebooks.  Our host strongly felt that we should all have books for the trip, so I found the recommended titles and checked those off of my list.  Next order of business was camping gear.  I was seriously lacking in this category.  I found a tent (Marmot Limelight 3) & a camping stove (Jet Boil Flash) after pouring through many reviews and options.  I already owned a sleeping bag & pad, but ended up upgrading the pad I owned to something thicker & more comfortable (REI Camp Bed 3.5).  I also bought a couple more cams to complete my double rack.  All in all, I spent almost the same amount that I would have spent on the REI trip, but now I have some sweet new gear to show for it.  Oh, and I purchased my last critical piece of gear tonight: a portable iPhone 5 charger from Amazon.  I think I would have a legit meltdown if my battery died on this trip!

Climbing Outside of the Box

Tennessee 5.10

My climbing routine had started to get a little stale lately, so I decided to mix it up and sign up for a Meetup to climb in a crag that I had never been to with all new climbers that I had never met.  And to really make things interesting, I carpooled to the crag with a complete stranger (who I thought was cute).  The crag was Rose Ledge in western MA & the group ended up being a total of 10 climbers.  The crag was great - it was super hot and humid and the wall that we were working was in the shade for most of the day.  I had no idea what to expect from the day, but it was fun!

I was a little nervous with my carpool situation as I was going to be in his car for an hour and a half & we had only exchanged a few text messages prior to meeting, but it all worked out fine.  I was a little concerned when he asked me the diameter of my rope - I'm not going lie, I had visions of him tying me up in it - but he turned out to be a pretty normal climbing dude.  We spent the ride talking about our climbing experiences, which made the time fly by.

We met up with the rest of the group at a convenience store near the crag and then followed our host to the parking lot - none of us had climbed there before, so the escort was helpful. The 25 minute uphill approach to the ledge had me covered in sweat & pretty sore, but it was worth it.  I got in 5 solid climbs on 4 routes & finished all of them: Double Helix (5.9), Widowmaker (5.10), Marie Antoinette (5.10) & Tennessee (5.10) - I climbed this route twice.  I think my favorite climb was the Widowmaker - it was tough and couldn't be finished by everyone, but I pushed through the finish.  I did a lot of finger and hand jamming on this route, which I rarely get a chance to practice. I also enjoyed the layback & roof of Marie Antoinette.  All of these climbs were quality routes & well worth the effort to get to them. I'll definitely be back to this crag again.

Our group was small enough that we really had a chance to get to know each other & support each other on our climbs.  This is when I tend to have the most fun climbing - when I can get encouragement and beta from my fellow climbers to help push me through the crux.  I definitely made some new climbing friends today & hope to climb with them again soon.
  

Marie Antoinette 5.10

My 5.12 beer and Sasha DiGiulian

When my alarm went off at 8am on Sunday morning, I had no idea what I was in for.  After indulging in a couple of snooze buttons,  I finally got up, showered & ate a light breakfast (a nectarine & some Chobani pineapple yogurt - double yum!). A new rock climbing gym just opened up in the Boston area this past week & I wanted to check it out along with a group of my friends.

We had all made plans to meet at the gym @ 10:30am, but only one of my friends had arrived with me on time. After filling out our waivers & taking the belay test, we looked around for an easy 5.7 climb to warm up on.  I tied into what I thought was a 5.7 rope, but then realized that I had tied into a 5.12 rope by mistake. I looked at the route & decided to just give it a try, not expecting to make it too far.  It was crimps the whole way up, but I did it - my first 5.12 climb!  It felt great!

That set the tone for the rest of the day for me. I felt like I could conquer anything.  After this climb, I jumped on a 5.11, which kicked my butt for 20 minutes, but I didn't give up.  My poor belayer... She ended up ripping off a callous on the palm of her hand belaying me on this route. I climbed mostly 5.11's and 5.10's for the rest of the day.  At one point, one of my friends said that there were some pro-climbers working out in the gym.  I honestly didn't know who they were, but watched in awe as they lead 5.11 routes on the lead wall like they were 5.6's.  It was only after we had left the gym did I realize that the girl that I had been watching was the best female sport climber in the world - Sasha DiGiulian!  C-R-A-Z-Y!  She was in town for the weekend for a competition. We all had so much fun that I hardly noticed how long we had been climbing.  I was shocked when we left the gym & I realized that I had been there for 5 hours.

Every new accomplishment and experience leaves me loving this sport more and more everyday.  Of course the day had to end with a 5.12 beer (Allagash).  Cheers! 

West Virginia - Part Two - Summersville Lake

5.6 Unnamed Trad lead at Orange Oswald Wall

We arrived at our cabin on a Monday afternoon. One of the first things I did was take a shower.  I didn't mind camping out at Seneca Rock, but after a couple of days and nights sans shower, it was pretty much the first thing on my mind.  The cabin was awesome & the perfect size for 4 adults. I think it was described as being able to accommodate 8, but this would have been too cramped.

After relaxing for a bit, we ventured out to find a supermarket and liquor store.  I don't remember if we heard the news about the Boston Marathon bombing before or after we ventured out.  Since we're all from the Boston area & Jess is a part of the running community, this news was quite shocking & odd to experience from far away.  We made a pasta dinner in the cabin that night, watched the news until they kept repeating the same information & then tried out the hot tub.

On Tuesday morning, some of us more hung over than others, we packed up and headed to Summersville Lake.  We got a little lost trying to find the Orange Oswald Wall, but we made it there eventually. When we finally reached the crag, I warmed up by top roping Hippie Dreams 5.7 and then trad lead the Unnamed 5.6 corner route just to the left of Hippie Dreams.  This climb was the highlight of my climbing at Summersville Lake.  It was a long route (about 60 ft?) and had a couple of tricky gear placements.  I never felt like I was in any real danger of falling, but still felt challenged by the climb.  I loved the sandstone feel of the rock.

Tuesday night we went out for Latin food & margaritas.  There was another group from Boston that we had met at the crag that day who recommended Diogi's in Fayetteville.  I had the fish tacos and a strong margarita.  Perfect refuel from a solid day of climbing and bush whacking.

Amazing view of the New River Gorge bridge

Wednesday morning was rainy, so we decided to take a rest day and go for a hike along the New River Gorge.  It was a much more interesting & dramatic view with the fog lifting off from the river.  Then after our hike, we went into Fayetteville for some shopping and a visit to the Cathedral Cafe for lunch.  For dinner, we went to Pies & Pints and ran into our fellow climbers from Boston.  Oh, and we played credit card roulette for the tab.  It was my first time playing this, as well as our waitress, who had just as much fun playing as we did!

Thursday was a perfect day for climbing.  We had enjoyed the Orange Oswald Wall of Summersville Lake so much that we returned there again to try a couple more 5.7 routes on lead.  On this day, I sport lead Hippie Dreams 5.7 as my last climb.  I had watched everyone else lead this route on Tuesday, so I had to try it again on lead.  So much fun!  Also on this day, Jason taught us all how to set-up a self-rappel.  Thursday night we had an elaborate Mexican meal in the cabin- so yummy!

Friday we checked out of the cabin and headed towards our final destination of the trip - Philadelphia.  This had randomly worked its way onto our itinerary out of a need to stop 1/2 way on the long road back. 15 hours was going to be a long ride back home without a stop, so Lu had recommended Philly with the promise of experiencing the best Moroccan restaurant that she's ever been to. We had a hotel room at Le Meriden and after checking in, we grabbed some drinks & then headed to the restaurant for our meal.  Knowing for months that this was on our itinerary, I had tried to work in some meat to my pescetarian diet, which was met with much revolt from my stomach.  I gave up on working it back in & just decided to go-for-it that night.  I gorged on chicken & lamb (which tasted so good!) and surprisingly had minimal reaction from my stomach.  It was the perfect end to a memorable climb trip with good friends.  Can't wait to plan our next trip!

  

West Virginia - Part One - Seneca Rocks

Our trip started early on a Saturday morning. It was a 10 hour car ride from Boston to Seneca Rocks & we had a packed car with 4 adults and enough gear to climb and camp with for a week. No lunch stop, just bathroom and gas breaks. We had plenty of snacks in the car & took turns playing music from our personal collections. And by snacks, I mean: a box of donuts, 3lbs. of Laffy Taffy, a massive tub of Cheddar Goldfish crackers, various forms of nuts, mandarin oranges & some other random items. It actually went by faster than I thought it would.

We arrived at our campsite before sunset, pitched tents & headed out for some pizza and beer at FPR (Front Porch Restaurant). The pizza wasn't great, but the beer was quite refreshing after a long car ride. After some campfire s'mores and another drink, we turned in for the night.

There were a few light rain showers overnight, but the morning was clear & sunny - a perfect day for climbing. We had some hot beverages at the campsite & then packed up to grab breakfast. With full bellies, we headed to the parking lot to begin our climb.

I didn't know what to expect for the approach & it was pretty intense. I had to stop about half way up to take the rope out of my pack & have Jess carry it.  Even though I can fit all of my gear in my pack, I'm too small and out of shape to handle my trad rack and rope for such an intense approach.

We decided on the Old Ladies (5.2) route to the summit. This was my first multi-pitch lead & I didn't want to get in over my head.  It was all easy climbing and gear placement, but well worth the effort to gain the summit.  The only part that really got my heart racing was a small chimney section on the 3rd pitch.  I also wasn't thrilled about scrambling up the 4th pitch.

The summit was amazing.  We signed the log book, took some great pictures and then had to wait awhile to rap down.  We didn't have time to climb any other routes, but I think the summit was still worth the trip.  We had planned on climbing again the next day, but there was some surprise rain overnight and into the next morning that cut our visit to Seneca Rocks short.  We packed up camp in the rain and hit the road to head to the New River Gorge area where we had a cabin waiting for us.

Gear Crazy

Oh, there are plenty of other things I could be spending my money on right now. Girly things... like clothes, or jewelry or makeup. But, somehow I find myself building my trad rack. I now have a double set of BD C4's from .5 to 2 with a couple of singles on either end of this & I just bought a six-pack of Metolius TCU's from 00-4. I'm not sure what my total investment in gear is at this point, but it's well over $1k with my cams, nuts, alpine draws, quick draws, rope, shoes, beaners, GriGri, webbing, etc...

With all of this gear, the pressure is on to actually have fun putting it all to use. I have a group climb trip to WV coming up in a week, but we will only be climbing trad for 1 or 2 days on this trip. So, without a regular trad partner, I basically have 3 choices to get some trad experience: find a random partner, hire a guide, or do some moc-leading on top rope.

I just met a "random partner" at the climb gym the other night, but I'm too hesitant to take him up on his offer to trad climb. So, this weekend I've decided to break in the newly expanded rack with some moc-leading on top rope. It feels sort of silly to moc-lead, especially when people are watching you, but its valid practice for gear placement. Can't wait to try out the new cams!

First Climb Trip of 2013: Easter in Rumney, NH

My sport lead partner Maria & I decided to go rock climbing for Easter. The weather was going to be nice & last Easter was her 1st visit to the crags in Rumney, NH so she was eager to return there this year. We arrived at D Acres around 9pm on the Saturday before Easter. D Acres is an organic farm with a hippie vibe that opens its main building to visitors as a hostel. They're located about 10 minutes from Rumney. You can either rent a room or floor space in a communal room where they practice yoga.

After laying down our sleeping bags in the communal yoga room, we proceeded to find our way to the campfire with a bag of candied pecans & a mixed 6-pack of Harpoon IPA and Negro Modela. A head lamp would have been highly prized for this mission, but we managed with the light of my cell phone and many giggles as we dredged through the snow, falling through the icy crust unexpectantly every 8 steps or so - resulting in the giggling. We finally reached the campfire and chatted for awhile with some fellow climbers from Quebec City about the climbing conditions at Rumney.

We didn't sleep much that night. It was unusually hot in the room and there were 7 or 8 of us sharing the space, including a snorer. I think on the next trip we will try camping or getting a private room. Easter morning we awoke around 8am & enjoyed a delicious farm breakfast of scrambled eggs, roasted potatoes, kale with garlic & fresh milk served out of a jar with a ladle. Perfect fuel for a day of climbing.

We packed up and headed to the crag around 9:30am. The sun was shining, but it took a little while to warm up above the 30's. We met some other climbing parties in the parking lot and proceeded to the aptly named Parking Lot Wall to start our first climb of the day. Maria was leading & started with a 5.7 slab route called Easily Amused. I top roped it & cleaned the anchor after her. She then got pretty confident & decided to lead a 5.9+ route just to the right called Easily Aroused. I was nervous for her getting to the first clip, as the party that had just jumped off of it used a stick clip. She nailed it. She was really nervous, but managed to keep it together and stick the pinchy, sharp holds. I top roped this route after her & struggled a few times on the crux. I can't imagine how scary that was on lead. From there, we moved on to The Meadows area where we both hopped on another party's top rope to climb Holderness Arete - a 5.10b route. We then grabbed some lunch & tried to find the 5.8 Crag to meet up with some friends. Somehow we got lost and ended up free climbing this steep cliff of rocks and trees, which would have required a rope to safely descend. We decided on a safer route back down which required a ton of butt scootching in order not to slip on the leaves that covered the ground.

We gave up on finding the 5.8 Crag & just returned to The Meadows where Maria continued her leading streak with 2 more routes. A 5.7 route called False Modesty, which she nailed cleanly & then a harder route, which was either Dung Beetle 5.9 or Easy Terms 5.8 - I'm not sure which. She had not taken a lead fall outside yet, so the plan was for her to take an announced fall after the 3rd clip, which she did, but I had the rope managed so tightly that it really wasn't a big fall. She proceeded to clip into the 4th clip & then started working on the crux just before the anchor. Unexpectedly, she fell on the crux and took what we both now refer to as her first outside lead fall. It was probably 6-8 feet and brought me to my tip toes on the ground. She shook it off and continued to clip into the anchor as she didn't want to leave any gear (good motivation!). After that, we decided to call it a day. The sun was tucked securely behind the clouds and the wind was picking up making it a little uncomfortable.

We packed up & headed back to the car. Next stop before making the 2-hour journey back home was Plain Jane's Diner for some well deserved, hot Easter meals. All-in-all, it was a successful short climb trip for NE in March. I didn't get any leads in on this trip, but my focus was really just enjoying the trip & getting a feel for Rumney again. Next time, I might try to lead Easily Amused 5.7.