Rose Ledge - Rock Climbing

Met up with Nuno for some craggin' at Rose Ledge in Erving, MA. The last time I climbed here was back in 2015 and I don't remember the hike up to the Main wall at all. Today Nuno and I did some "extra hiking" to get to the crag. ;) But on the way out, we found the trail to be straightforward after all.

Surprisingly, there were no crowds today and Nuno and I pretty much had the Main Cliff to ourselves. Couple of boulderers hiked past, a couple climbed Guillotine, and then left. And there was an AMC group that hiked up to the Amphitheater and back out. A quiet day great for Nuno's first time climbing at Rose Ledge!

Nuno's first experience climbing at Rose Ledge

Greeting Crack (5.4) at Introductory Buttress

Main Wall

Top Left: Tennessee Top Right: Marie Antoinette -Guillotine
Bottom Left: Beginners

Bottom Right: Double Helix - Pumper Pillar - Off Width

Approach Directions:
Park in the lot and pay $3 in locked box on tree. 
Walk uphill to the left fork in the road with a yellow gate. 
Take this paved road uphill until it turns right. 
When the paved road turns right, look left and there should be an opening in guard rails.
Continue through opening in guard rails and follow gravel road slightly right and uphill.
Continue uphill through woods.
Follow until you come to the Rose Ledge trail junction.
Turn right at "Rose Ledge trail" sign. Tree behind trail sign has red blaze and "snowshoe trail" signs on it.
Trail will take you to Introductory Buttress on the left.
Continue along trail to the Main Face.

Crack Climbing Instruction #6

Fantastic crack climbing lesson with Tino today!! After warmup worked on “Pressure Garden” the green route (right) to practice, what else, cross-body tension - and it was so fun!! The route is a dihedral and is supposed to mimic the 5.11, 5th pitch of The Prow on Cathedral Ledge - "Stemming" used to ascend. Climbing on vertical cracks is super strenuous but I have to admit, it makes the low-angle cracks outdoors easy. #crackclimbinggoals

Rock Garden - Rock Climbing

Rock Garden (5.4)
Lost Horizon, Sundown Ledges
Albany, NH

Got to onsight Rock Garden (5.4) this morning. The chimney was damp and dark and smelled a bit of urine. Got to hand jam, foot jam, face climb, friction and stem on this climb. But I didn't need to do any liebacking as listed on the MP description for this climb. It was a fun climb and hope to get back there to climb again! Lost Horizon is a super nice crag with clean rocks and the base is well shaded. We were the only ones climbing at Lost Horizon and it made for a mellow day of climbing.

Thermacell Backpacker Mosquito Repeller

Eric brought this cool mosquito repeller to the crag and I was impressed! It's very lightweight and kept the bugs and mosquitoes at bay while we climbed. You can order one online here at Thermacell.com

The Main Cliff

A couple of years ago I had hiked the Boulder Loop Trail at Sundown area off the Kancamagus. At the time I didn't realize it was a rock climbing area. Today, Eric showed me the Lost Horizon and Main Cliff area. 

Betty - Multi Pitch Rock Climb

Day at the Gunks

Right to left: Lovena, Richard, Alisa & Nicole

Betty (5.3)
Trad, 150 ft, 2 pitches
Jackie and Friends, The Trapps, The Gunks

Such a stellar day for my first trad lead in the Gunks! I've second several routes at the Gunks many times, but this was my first time leading at the Gunks and it was a most memorable day for me! I lead the 1st pitch of Betty and Nicole lead the 2nd pitch. For the second pitch we took the variation up instead of the chimney. At the finish there were a lot of horizontal cracks which makes the rock look like its stacked - these made for lots of good hand jams! A route doesn't have to be a 'crack climb' in order to utilize its crack(s) as a hold. If you know how to jam, it can make a lot of the climbs easier.

Richard and Alisa paired up to climb Belly Roll and Easy Overhang. Afterwards the four of us checked out Rock and Snow as well as the Rock and Snow Annex. Then sat down for drinks and dinner at the Schazti's Pub & Bier Garden of New Paltz. 

Bringing Nicole up P1 of Betty