My first Chris Sharma boulder problem

This past Sunday I was fortunate enough to have an exclusive tour of a recently acquired parcel of land just outside of New Paltz, NY that boasts some incredible boulder problems.  "The Waterworks" land in Rosendale, NY was purchased by the Gunks Climbers Coalition and the Mohonk Preserve last year, in an attempt to secure climbing access.  Currently, the only way to climb at this area is through a free guided tour which is going to be given every Saturday until early November.

Both of the guys I met up with in New Paltz to give me the tour were trying to recover from some nagging injuries.  Regardless of their pain, Nyle and Murph kept the psych level high as I attempted a handful of climbs they had already done and even went out of their way to dry off some crucial holds on boulders problems I was amped to try.  Good on ya mates...I REALLY APPRECIATED IT!!!  I was really impressed with the climbs that I could get on and even more impressed by some of the ones that I didn't get a chance to try.  Psyched to get back soon.

Media Update:

 Nyle Baker taking care of some damp holds...note the severe overhang of this outcrop!

Nyle Baker taking care of some damp holds on "The Spike"



"The Edge"- Halfmoon...Sneak Peak

This evening after work I went down to Halfmoon/Clifton Park to see the new climbing facility that is being built.  Adam has been keeping me updated with pictures throughout the construction process and had a really useful binder that he had on display at this years Southern Adirondack Rock Climber's Festival with the Rockwerx conceptual plan for the gym along with some additional images.  What I had seen before today was enough to get me really psyched for the grand opening of "The Edge"...BUT what I saw today was hard to describe.  The dude has built an entire building from the ground up to house this new climbing facility know as "The Edge".  Let's put it this way, this climbing gym is going to be THE BOMB!  Get ready to train hard, get strong, and climb some really neat walls and features!  I'm talking a free standing boulder with every angle you can image that has topouts on all sides...more climbing walls than i've ever seen in a gym, toprope stations, lead climbing walls....

Media Update...(non of the pictures I took of the lead or top rope climbing walls did them justice...this gym is going to not only a great gym for the local climbing community, but also a destination gym for anyone on the east coast looking for some insane indoor climbing!)

 The Free Standing Boulder...topouts possible on all sides

 Free Standing Boulder with the Lead Wall in the background...one section has a stellar overhanging section for 75% of the wall, the angle steepens as you approach the top...SICK!

 The Free Standing Boulder and the feature i've dubed the Ship's Prow...can anyone say V-insane?

 Some scale to the actual size of the Ship's Prow

 The 45 degree wall on the Free Standing Boulder

Adam and Matt on top of the Freestanding Boulder getting pumped for the routes to come on the main walls

Weekend SENDING...continued AGAIN!

Here is the last series of video updates from this past weekend (I appologize in advance for the repeated song in the videos...I have been having a difficult time finding good loyalty freee music to use)

As you have already noticed, I spent a fair amount of time away from the main bouldering area at Nine Corners to get on some boulder problems that are less traveled.  This past weekend was my strongest weekend ever climbing-wise and hopefully it was just a preview of what is to come this fall!  Really psyched lately...looking forward to seeing everyone in the woods.



Weekend SENDING...Continued

The Wave Boulder

Nine Corners First Ascent

Weekend SENDING...

Quick media update....

This past weekend was absolutely perfect climbing weather.  I was able to sneak a few hours in Saturday morning before Eric Pooler's wedding and climbed all afternoon on Sunday,.  Some long standing personal projects were tackled head on, a few personal first time sends occured, and yet another FA was done at Nine Corners. 

Stay tuned for a bunch of video updates...but for now, enjoy "Instant Yoga" and "Bromance"-stand start.

PSYCHED for the coming weekend!!!

Bouldering Competition Success!!!

I would like to thank everyone who came out and participated in the first annual Adirondack bouldering competition!  Saturday could not have turned out any better than it did.  People from all over rendevoused at Nine Corners Lake to take to the largest developed boulderfield in the Adirondack State Park.  When the finally tally was taken at the end of the day, over 50 people had handed in scorecards for the event...WAY more than I had anticipated would attend, especially because of the weather earlier in the week.  A special thanks to everyone who helped get everything ready last minute and for helping everything go as smooth as it did.

I honestly couldn't have asked for better results...the weather was good, the boulders were dry, people were really psyched, pretty much the entire atmosphere at Nine Corners Lake was perfect.  I am confident that everyone who either participated or stopped by the see the event had a great time.  Hopefully we can do this again sometime!

Seeing some of the original developers of Nine Corners Lake spraying beta, giving spots, offering encouragement, and straight up enjoying the gathering altogether was pretty rad.  Some boulder problems that were awaiting repeat ascents were tackled head-on by energetic rock climbers...some boulder problems that were awaiting first ascents also met their demise (now I can finally get some sleep!).

PSYCHED for this fall and the next few weeks.  Good on ya!

Media Update....made possible by Schyler Duross



FA of "Whip Tide"- V8

Crew at the Fortress Boulder

Crew at the Fortress Boulder

Crew at the Lost Sugar Boulder

The Bouldering Comp LIVES!!!

Okay, the past few days have been absolutely horrible waetherwise. That being said, even with a break in the rain tomorrow and the predicted forecast for sun on Friday and Saturday, things will still undoubtedly be damp in the boulderfield at Nine Corners Lake. So don't forget to pack a towel or two into your crashpad for this weekend's event...because the COMPETITION LIVES ON!!!

I am taking Friday off from work to head into the woods with some friends (AKA Psyched locals) with brushes, brooms, towels, chalk, and leaf blowers...that's right, I said leaf blowers to do everything we can possibly do to help speed up the drying process. So if by any chance you have the day off as well, please feel free to join in the fun.

I hope to see numerous people in the woods this Saturday for the bouldering competition. It should be a really good time. For those of you not familiar with the boulderfield, there will be a handful of locals on scene participating and trying to help others out and I have also created some visual maps which will be laminated and stapled to wooden stakes at the base of some of the main boulders to help people navigate through the forest to various problems. On the back side of the boulder photo will be a description page with the name of the climb and the given grade which will be used as the points for the competition.

Here is a sample photo:

Nine Corners Lake Update...

I took Friday off from work to extend the holiday weekend even longer to give me more time to check up on some of the local climbing areas before this weekends climbing festival.  Unfortunately the torrential downpours on Thursday night made the climbing in Caroga Lake narly impossible this weekend especially since more storms kept springing up.

Overall, the Caroga Lake area held up pretty well against Hurricane Irene.  There were only a handful of down trees on the trail to Nine Corners Lake and even fewer trees down around the boulders.  Let's hope for dry weather throughout the week so the bouldering competition can go on as scheduled.  I will keep updates as the weekend nears.

In between cleaning up garbage, down trees and branches, I was able to get a few burns in on my current project...the full sit start into "Whip Tide" on the Wave Boulder.  The conditions were horrible and even after a few decent attempts, I was still not able to link the problem from start to finish.  I am anxious for the upcoming crisp fall weather so I can finally write this problem off.  It has been a good test of patience and self control.  I did the line from one move in back in May and have only been able to successfully do the stand start (V6/V7) twice since then.  The right hand holds on the arete are really friction dependent which have made things difficult lately.  One a positive note, in between trowing out wobblers this weekend on failed attempts on "Whip Tide", I was able to do "Low Tide" on my first try.  It was rewarding because I had never done this boulder problem from the full sit start, and it shares the same sit start as "Whip Tide".  It's only  a matter of time now!

Hope to see everyone this weekend for the climbing festivities.

"Low Tide"-V7