Category: climbing

This weekend was great! Saturday my class let out a bit early so I met up with Devin for some climbing over at East Peak.

East Peak is just a tough location for climbing. It’s plagued with loose rock and heavy shrubbery. Shaun L. helped us out a bit by driving us up to the top (there’s a road… but it closes at 4:45). After a nasty hike to the base of the Ampitheater, we whipped out a few crack climbs on the Shakespeare wall. The Shakespeare wall is a wall where all the climbs are named after Shakespeare’s plays. Climbers may be a feisty bunch, but we’re not completely illiterate.

A few feet up off the ground on ‘Taming of the Shrew’ Devin took a pretty nasty fall. He hadn’t put his first piece of gear in yet and lost a foothold. He only fell about 6-8 feet, but his hand was jammed at the time so he twisted it badly. The injury didn’t stop him though. Devin is a machine.

After that, we worked an offwidth and I led ‘Much ado about nothing’. It was a 5.5 which would have been better soloed. At 25 feet tall, it was more a bouldering problem than a climb.

Exciting new climbing term!!
Trundle: to purposely let loose a rock off a climb, perhaps to prevent a future climber from inadvertently knocking it off during a climb later on.

Sunday I went climbing again, this time with Paulette and Michelle at Pinnacle.

I taught the girls how to set up a toprope and we worked Zambezi (5.7+) and Suffocation (5.6). It was fun and the weather was beautiful.

After climbing we went back to Michelle’s place. Tony met up with us and we shared in delicious BBQ, swimming, and overall great times. I think it was the ideal summer Sunday.

On Sunday, Pete and I tried our luck at East Peak again. We got a bit of a late start because of my late arrival back from Cape Cod, but the weather was perfect. The hike to the crag was a solid 40 minute adventure alternating between steep, really steep, and comfortable. We set up at the Merrimere face first to try our luck at Thor’s hammer. Pete and I set up a solid top rope and rappelled down for the climb.

Pete was successful. I tried a 5.11 just to the left of Thor’s hammer and failed miserably. so I ended up finishing the top of Thor’s Hammer. shortly afterwards, Irene and Tony showed up. Irene whipped out thor’s hammer as well.

After Thor’s Hammer, we tried to find the Amphitheater where there are some tough crack climbs. These attempts were horribly unsuccessful. After much frustration we split up. Pete and I traversed a field of loose rock and eventually found the crag. Meanwhile Irene and Tony hiked the top and dropped a rope at Rat Crack a 5.7

I free climbed a 5.1 gully to the top and help set up the top rope. Irene rappelled down and she and pete worked the climb. I took a few pictures with Pete’s camera and as soon as they’re up, I’ll post links here.

Paulette showed up while Pete was working the route. At this point it was beginning to get dark, so we decided to just hike out once Irene and Pete were up. We reached the base at about 8:40.

It was a great day to spend outside, but I would rate the climbing as ‘okay’. So far, our East Peak attempts have not been very fruitful. ahh well. next time.

This week I’m going to be in Houston on business. As such, I can’t promise much for posts. But! who knows. we shall see.

My birthday weekend was pretty spectacular. Below, I’ve included some pictures of Tony and me climbing at Main Cliff in CT.

We only did two climbs as we started a bit late. First I lead Broadway, a CT 5.8 classic. It went pretty well, no real issues. I’m feeling more comfortable leading eights. Provided they have Good gear placement options.

In this picture, I’m just to the right of the overhang.

The weather was ideal for climbing. Just enough of a slight breeze to keep you cool but not overwhelming.

There’s a copperhead snake that has made its residence between two rocks up by the top of Carey’s Corner. we kept our distance for obvious reasons.

We’ve seen it there a few times, so if you happen to head out there keep an eye out for it. It’s not in the actual climb, but instead up past the permanent anchor over the top. Just watch where you step.

As I was leading Broadway I put in my number 1 cam a bit too tightly into the rock. Tony had a heck of a time taking it out. You can see that both sides of each individual cams are jammed against the side of the rock. While the piece certainly would have protected me had I fallen, it was a pain in the butt to remove.

After polishing off Broadway, I gave Tony an opportunity to lead a 5.4. He had no major issues. When setting anchor he dropped a rock the size of a softball down at me, but thankfully gave me enough warning (ROCK! HUGE ROCK!) so that I could run to safety.

We climbed until well after dark. Thankfully we’ve fallen into the habit of taking flashlights with us when we hike into the woods.

It was a really fantastic birthday.