The Gunks – Multi pitch rock climb

Belly Roll (5.4)

120 ft, 2 pitches

Jackie and Friends

Betty (5.3)

150 ft, 2 pitches

Jackie and Friends

Twin Oaks (5.3)

190 ft, 2 pitches

The Guides Wall

This weekend was a meetup event with the Mountaineering, Climbing & Backpacking of New England Meetup group! The newly opened Shawangunks Gateway Campground opened for business just weeks before and everything was shiny and new! We pulled into camp Friday night and expected to climb both Saturday and Sunday. But Sunday was a washout so we packed up and headed out in the morning. As for climbing at the Gunks, Saturday was a fun day climbing with Geoff. A sunny, warm day with windy finishes at the tops.

Geoff and I started off with Belly Roll and that “squeeze” through the large crack was, I felt, pretty awkward as well as comical. I slipped and fell on my bad knee on the first pitch of Betty. It was a pretty hard fall on my knee, I wanted to cry but forced myself not to. I had to figure out how to get up that slick section without hurting my knee again, and eventually I did. I loved the second pitch. There was a family of 4 on this climb ahead of us. They went straight up from the belay station. Geoff chose the right side and I’m glad he did. That chimney, to the deck, to the traverse up to the face climb was so fun! Unfortunately, my knee was hurting bad at the end of Betty. So Geoff and I finished the day off on just the first pitch of Twin Oaks (~50 ft).

Enjoy some photos taken of our day at The Gunks. 

Looking up the 1st pitch of Belly Roll

Brian on Dennis route and me on Belly Roll

At the belay station of Belly Roll

Brian and Gabe on the belay station of Dennis

 Geoff at the belay station of Belly Roll

From the top of Belly Roll

Some guy (Peter) solo climbing Betty

(Geoff is already at the belay station)

Coming up P1 of Betty

Gary and Scott at the belay station of RMC

Gary and I at the belay station

Geoff at the belay station of Betty

That fun chimney to start off P2 of Betty

P1 of Twin Oaks

Rappelling

At the Shawangunks Gateway Campground

Footpath along our tent sites

Community Campfire

Main Office

Water isn't free

Mt. Major - Spring Hike

Mt. Major (1,786ft)
Trails: Mt. Major main
Elevation Gain: 1,100ft
Distance: 3.4 miles
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate

Great to get out hiking with Tim B. again. Enjoy a few photos taken of this little fun cardio workout!








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Drone Camera - Standard Route - Multi pitch Ice Climbing

Standard Route  (WI3+)

Frankenstein Cliffs

Crawford Notch, NH

All last winter I had been asking him to go out ice climbing and he kept declining. So when I got Jeff B ’s email last week about ice climbing, I thought it was a joke and had to I read it several times. Jeff’s son Todd is a professional photographer/videographer and he needed some ice climbing shots/vids via GoPro Drone. http://toddjburgess.com/

I contacted Jeff S. and made sure to check the weather - Sunday was the better of the two. Originally I had chosen Cinema Gully but was told that it would be too thin. So when Frankenstein Cliffs was suggested, I choose the Standard Route because of its short approach and exposure. And I thought Todd should have no problems piloting his Drone for shots. Plus, it was “still in.” But I chose Standard Route mainly because it’s a very recognizable route at the cliffs. So Jeff S. lead both Jeff B. and I up the Standard Route. We had a perfectly beautiful day for ice climbing. The sun was out, temps warm and for the sake of the Drone camera, hardly any wind. Enjoy some photos taken of our climb.

At the tracks of the Standard Route

Gearing Up

Jeff S. on lead - 1st pitch

Jeff S. exiting the ice cave - 2nd pitch

Exiting the ice cave

Me at the 3rd belay station belaying Jeff S. up our last pitch

If we hadn’t been told that it was noisy, I would’ve thought that Todd’s Drone camera was a swarm of bees because that’s exactly what his drone sounded like. Yup, at time 0:37 our ropes are intertwined. But no worries, Jeff and I navigated around one another with no problems. It ain’t sketchy until it gets sketchy, right? :) 

Jeff S. (green jacket) on lead. With Jeff B. in dark blue jacket and me (light blue jacket & white helmet) cleaning pro. Here's the YouTube video!

Monkey Wrench & Upper Hitchcock - Spring Ice Climbing

At the base of Upper Hitchcock with Crawford Notch in the background

Left Hand Monkey Wrench (WI3)

Upper Hitchcock (WI3-)

Mount Willard

Crawford Notch, NH

Forecasts called for cloudy skies and some snow. But all that gave way to blue skies and sunshine by the time Jeff S. and I reached the base of the Hitchcock Gully. We pretty much broke trail up Lower Hitchcock, traversing right to Left Hand Monkey Wrench, then onto the base of Upper Hitchcock. It was slow going but we took our time anyways since there were only two other teams in the area climbing.

At the base of Upper Hitchcock

It was my very first time on Upper Hitchcock and it was a lot of fun, except when my calves cramped up. Attributed to, according to Jeff, dehydration and probably due to my just getting over a cold. I have had my calves ‘pumpy’ before but not so much that they cramped up. Had to have Jeff ‘take’ so I could rest.

Left: Looking down Upper Hitchcock from the Rap Station

Jeff and I at the Rap Station above Upper Hitchcock

I wanted to climb this second pitch of Upper Hitchcock. It's a short section just above the rappel station but didn’t want to take any chances with my calves cramping up again. So Jeff and I rapped the entire Hitchcock Gully, right down to the tracks.

Two weeks ago we couldn’t get onto Upper Hitchcock, but today was a different story. We had the climb all to ourselves and when we rapped down, Laura and Chris came up to check it out. They decided not to climb UH but took a couple of photos of Jeff and I before heading off towards The Cleft. 

East Face Slabs Left

I do cartwheels with Jeff's rope and he ends up untangling them. ;D

Jeff rapping down the Lower Hitchcock Gully. 

He stopped at this section to check out a piece of fixed pro.

It got warmer as the day went on and the sun stayed out until we got back to the parking lot. Surely a mellow day of Spring ice climbing up the side of Mount Willard!

Cinema Gully, East Face Slabs & The Cleft – Multi-pitch Ice Climbing

Cinema Gully (WI2)

East Face Slabs Left (WI3)

The Cleft (WI2+)
Mount Willard

Crawford Notch, NH

I love when Jeff S. takes me ice climbing with him - I get to do some freaking fun climbing on a little alpine playground! Mount Willard is home to some awesome ice and alpine routes. Today I had the opportunity to climb two more of those routes and then finish off on The Cleft.

Cinema Gully(WI2)

It was cool to see a bolt at the belay station of the 1^st pitch. Jeff asked if I wanted to set a belay station there or walk up a bit to a thin sheet of ice. Since it would mean one-and-a-half roped pitches, I choose the latter and Jeff and I walked up to the next belay station where the ice was full of screw holes. It was a gorgeous day…see the sun and blue skies in our photos! :)  After topping off we ascended a bit more to sit and eat our lunches and then traversed over towards the Upper Hitchcock route.

Looking up at Cinema Gully from the train tracks

Jeff and I at the 2nd belay station

Looking up at our last pitch

East Face Slabs Left (WI3)

Our intention was to climb Upper Hitchcock but there were folks already on it. So we climbed the East Face Slabs Left. I thought I was being a good second, all hero and all. I spotted Jeff’s backpack at the base of a tree and thinking we were walking off once at the top, I had the genius idea to haul it up. But when I got to Jeff at the “rap station”, I found out that we were rapping down. I wasn’t paying attention when he mentioned that we were rapping down. 

The base of the East Face Slabs Left

Jeff at the rap station of East Face Slabs Left

It wasn’t easy hauling that backpack up. I hitched one end of a sling to it and the other end to my belay loop on my harness. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. On the vertical areas of the route that backpack became “really heavy.” It was a good workout pushing up on my feet to get up the vertical sections with that backpack dangling below me! And yes, I also had my own backpack with me! **Thinking back on it, I should've just shoved Jeff's backpack into mine. LOL!

The Cleft (WI2+)

Afterwards we traversed to The Cleft which Jeff led in one pitch. The Cleft is a geological gem-of-a-feature. There was more ice and snow in this slot since the last time Jeff and I had climbed it making for an easier ascent. We topped off, packed our gear away and headed to the Mt. Willard Trail. The last 10 minutes of our hike out was done at dusk. 

Definitely a mellow day of ice climbing Mount Willard! We got 5 pitches and a little over 900 feet of climbing in, hooyah!!