Weekend Update...

Saturday August 27, 2011 we hit the boulder field at Nine Corners Lake yet again to circuit boulder problems and enjoy the pleasant summer weather before hurricane Irene tore through the area.

Right at the start of the day, I was upset with what we were seeing throughout the woods.  It started at the Saccharine Boulder.  Numerous trees had been cut down and left right where the culprit did their dirty work.  Many of these trees were nowhere near the boulder itself leading me to believe/hope that it was not the work of a fellow climber.  The same was seen over the The Stoner boulder right in the main bouldering area.  I urge everyone who frequents this area to climb...if you know who is doing this please inform them that it is illegal and that this sort of activity can/will jeopordize our access to climb at Nine Corners Lake.  DEC rangers will be in the woods during the bouldering competition and the last thing that we want them to see is any destruction of the forest. 

On a positive note, despite all of the rain from Thursday, the boulders were relatively dry and the climbing was decent up there Saturday.  I met up with Zac and Andy at the trailhead and we heading up the trail to eventually meet up with Banta and Pooler.  A few hours later another sizeable crew showed up to climb as well.  It was by far the most people I have seen bouldering at once at Nine Corners Lake...something I have been hoping to see for quite some time now.  The "Cave Boulder" looked like an indoor session for an hour or two an numerous climbs were repeated by climbers.

Keep spreading the work about the upcoming competition and lets hope that Irene didn't do too much damage to the Caroga Lake forests.

And now a quick media update:

 A whole bunch of action at "The Cave" boulder

"The Saccharine" boulder standing tall in the woods



Nine Corners Lake and a Bouldering Challenge...

This past Saturday Murph ventured north from New Paltz to get some laps in at Nine Corners Lake.  The conditions were pretty good for an August day, the psych level was high and the crew was rolling deep with eight guys including myself.  Kirby even made it out for the day and represented well for the north country crew.

Nine Corners Lake has been my "local" climbing area since I started climbing about six years ago.  It is hard to determine how many days I have spent bouldering in those woods and it still stands out as one of my favorite climbing locations.  Saturday I wanted to maximize my time in the woods and climb as much as possible to get some traffic on climbs throughout the woods in preparation for the upcoming competition. 

The approach for the day was to set a point value from boulder problem ratings that we  hoped to reach.  It seemed pretty straight forward and attainable from the start...75 points total in bouldering problems, repeats not included in the total but variation climbs would count.  The early hours of the day saw numerous ascents as the points accumulated.  Murph and I were nearing the 75 point mark but my energy and skin were coming to an end.  After falling off the topout of "The Earthling" and "Crazy Ice" on the cave boulder, I took off my climbing shoes and called it quits for the day; ending with 69 points.  Murph was closer to the goal after the cave boulder at 71 points and wanted to do "The Origin" on the way out.

On the hike from The Cave to the Main Set I was able to catch a second wind.  The hike loosened the body back up and gave my skin a quick break.  We picked back up the climbing at the Main Set and after another hour and a half, we both surpassed the 75 point mark and entered in the 100 point club.  Epic day with lots of good people, good conditions, and great climbing.

Good on ya Murray!

And now the media update:

Shout out to Rodney Manning...

My long lost bouldering partner...this one goes out to you pal.  We hope to see you at this years Southern Adirondack Rock Climber's Festival!

Nine Corners Lake: Preview

Here is a quick collaboration of some classic boulder problems at Nine Corners Lake.  I am hosting an outdoor bouldering competition/festival Saturday September 10, 2011.  The competition will include all of the bouldering areas in Caroga Lake including Nine Corners Lake, Pine Lake, Pinnacle, Green Lake, Prison Boulder, and Otter Lake.  Basically it will come down to your (10) best boulder problems throughout the day for the prizes in various divisions plus random give-a-ways for anyone who participates.  Come get some!

 The elusive...Mitch Hoffman

A Taste of Fall...

As any serious climbing would know...yesterday's weather was something you could only hope for.  I could barely focus on my projects here in the office because of how nice it was outside.  At lunch, I sent some text messages out to some of the guys about the possibility of a night session after the work day ended.  It turned out that everyone was thinking the same thing.

We rendevoued at the Nine Corners trailhead around 6:30 to sneak into the woods for a few hours.  The low humidity, pleasant temperature, and lack of bugs kept us climbing uch later than we anticipated.  I didn't call it a night until around 1:00 am.  Totally worth the exhaustion today!  Psyched for this weekend.

Here are some images of the crew putting work in on the Ying Yang boulder.

Had to move this little guy out of the way before the sun went down.

 Brad on "Power of Belief"

 The crew setting up base camp at the Ying Yang boulder

 Banta feeling the pinches on "Power of Belief"

 Sticking a long long off move

Kyle owning the pinches on "Power of Belief"

Southern Adirondack Rock Climber's Festival Update...

I appologize for the lack of posts lately...I have been out climbing, but a majority of my time has been spent running into the local climbing areas to make sure they are all set for this year's events.  I cannot believe that the 4th annual Southern Adirondack Climber's Festival is only four weeks away!  I am anxious to see how many climbers stop out to experience the Caroga Lake Region.  Finally, my home turf will get some recognition and the climbing traffic it deserves.

I have also been extremely busy trying to organize an outdoor bouldering comp at all of the local bouldering venues:  Nine Corners Lake, Pinnacle Boulders, Green Lake Boulders, Prison Boulder, Pine Lake Boulders, Otter Lake Boulders, etc.  During the process of organizing this event, numerous climbing  companies have stepped forward to donate gear for give-a-ways during the festival....WAY PSYCHED on that.  I am also working with an up and coming crash pad company out of Vermont that plans on launching their website Sept. 1st and would like us to demo six of their crash pads for feedback, then they're going to give a pad away for FREE...and offer the other five at a discounted rate...ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!

Even though I will be tied up giving tours to areas and helping organize other events during the festival...the commander is still going to bring his "A" game and try to climb as many things as possible...P90x, push-ups, sit-ups, and training for the next four weeks...BRING THE RUCKUS' YA'LL!!!

Now for a quick preview:

Caroga Lake Cliffs...

Saturday I had a golf benefit at Nick Stone Municipal Golf Course in Caroga Lake, NY.  I had a small window of free time before the benefit so I made the quick trip into a cliff I developed two years ago...and haven't been back to since leading "The Incredible Hulk" last May on my birthday.  Hanging from my rope for two hours of routine maintenance cleaning, I realized why I was SO psyched on thie cliff when I found it snowshoeing one winter.  It is highly featured, slightly overhanging, and has a high concentration of great climbs.  Can't wait to show people the crag!

Green Lake Cliff

Green Lake Cliff

Yet another weekend session at the Otter Lake Cliff.  This past Sunday we travelled in to clean some new routes and climb as many existing routes as we could before the bugs and heat got the best of us.  Some hardware was instaleld on the direct roof variation, making it a leadable route now...and one of the hardest on the cliff in my opinion.  Below are some photos from the crux sequence: