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Climbing in north America

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 carievans67 03 Oct 2012
My sister has just moved to Albany (capital of New York state), I'm hoping to go out there next summer and do some climbing. Me & my partner are quite new to it, only leading to about HVS (him) and HVDiff (me). Does anyone know of any decent climbing around that area? we are quite happy with longer routes for multipitching, so long as the grade's not too high.
Many Thanks, Cari
 Andy Fielding 04 Oct 2012
In reply to carievans67:

You could try the "find crags" search facility under the "logbooks" heading. Here

http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/map/#main
 oliwarlow 04 Oct 2012
In reply to carievans67:
try posting your question on supertopo.com it is mainly Californian based but im sure they will be able to help you, to translate you are looking for up 5.8 or 5.9 climbs in the yds.
 rgold 04 Oct 2012
In reply to carievans67:

There are small local crags in the Niagra Escarpment near Albany. Little Falls is one. The main venues would be the Gunks, two hours South, and the Adirondacks, two to three hours North. That's multiple lifetimes of climbing at the levels you mentioned and, of course harder, and the climbing is reputed to be "decent." Somewhat longer drives will get you to Whitehorse and Cathedral Ledges and Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire.

Supertopo has some info about Eastern climbing, but is primarily oriented to California. Gunks.com is relatively small but is a good source for local information, as is the local Gunks store Rock and Snow. Mountainproject.com has route information for all these areas. Neclimbs.com is the local resource for Vermont and New Hampshire.

Summers in the Northeast are hot and humid, but not unbearable most of the time. You should have a blast.
OP carievans67 06 Oct 2012
In reply to rgold: That's fab, thanks all
 Tom Packer 06 Oct 2012
In reply to carievans67

www.mountainproject.com is a good site too.
 rgold 09 Oct 2012
In reply to carievans67:

By the way, one of the great Adirondack crags, Poko-Moonshine, saw a significant amount of its early development by the British ex-pat John Turner (then living in Ottawa---Poko is not far from the Canadian border). Turner set standards of boldness and difficulty rather ahead of the times for the U.S. at Poko and at Cathedral Ledge in New Hampshire.

One of Turner's testpieces, Bloody Mary, remains impressive to this day, and its conservative grading of 5.9 lures some people to it who, even fifty years after Turner and with modern equipment he couldn't even have imagined, find they are not really up to the task.

Here's an appreciation of Turner on supertopo.com: http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=999872&msg=999872...

Here's a so-so shot of the Bloody Mary crux layback: http://lh3.ggpht.com/_OChHf4oxoy8/SYOGZ5m0DKI/AAAAAAAAQcY/gPu4qvKouRg/s720/...

 davidhw 09 Oct 2012
In reply to carievans67:

My in-laws are from Saratoga Springs (>1 hour from Albany). I've only climbed in the Adirondacks in winter so far, but there seems to be lots to do. It might be worth getting hold of a copy of this: http://www.adirondackrock.com/ when you are out there.

You'll also be fairly close to the Catskills: http://www.rockclimbing.com/routes/North_America/United_States/New_York/Cat...

 Martin Bennett 09 Oct 2012
In reply to rgold:

. . . . .and the climbing is reputed to be "decent."

If carievans is leading HVS I think he/she'll find the climbing at The Shawangunks a litle better than merely "decent"!
 rgold 09 Oct 2012
In reply to Martin Bennett:
> (In reply to rgold)
>
> . . . . .and the climbing is reputed to be "decent."
>
> If carievans is leading HVS I think he/she'll find the climbing at The Shawangunks a litle better than merely "decent"!

One would hope. I was quoting the original post (as the quotes around "decent" are meant to suggest) and indulging in what I thought was a bit of dry humor. For those of a determinedly literal-minded bent, the Gunks and Adirondacks both have world-class trad climbing.
 Dave Garnett 09 Oct 2012
In reply to rgold:

Just be careful if you go to the Gunks in winter. The crags are perfectly climbable after a fall of snow; they dry fast and catch the sun.

However, local custom demands that you don't walk on the snow on the path beneath the crag since this is exclusively reserved for hysterical New York cross country skiers who will collapse in a hissy fit if they find any footprints despoiling their vision of winter wilderness.
 davidhw 09 Oct 2012
In reply to Dave Garnett:
> (In reply to rgold)
>
> However, local custom demands that you don't walk on the snow on the path beneath the crag since this is exclusively reserved for hysterical New York cross country skiers who will collapse in a hissy fit if they find any footprints despoiling their vision of winter wilderness.

...and snow angels are out of the question
 rgold 10 Oct 2012
In reply to Dave Garnett:
> (In reply to rgold)

> However, local custom demands that you don't walk on the snow on the path beneath the crag since this is exclusively reserved for hysterical New York cross country skiers who will collapse in a hissy fit if they find any footprints despoiling their vision of winter wilderness.

A bit over the top there Dave. It is just a matter of common decency---sharing a resource used by many people---not to walk IN cross-country ski tracks. Walk in snow on either side of the tracks, which usually go down the middle of the carriage road. Or ascend immediately to the cliff base and walk along that. In any case, purported hissy fits aside, it is the Preserve itself that asks walkers not to walk in the ski tracks.

Of course, this only applies to the Trapps. Other crags, for example the Near Trapps, do not have a cross-country track underneath them anyway.

Winter can be among the best times for Gunks climbing. A day with full sun and temps 40 degrees (Farenheit) and above will yield delightful conditions on the cliff, which warms up and heats up a layer of air near the face. By all means c'mon down, just be considerate of the skiers and don't ruin their tracks.

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