Thursday, June 28, 2012

Consumed by a Route at Lost Hunters Cliff...

My past two full day climbing outings (Saturday June 9th and Saturday June 23rd) have involved hiking a grueling hour approach to one of the most stunning single pitch cliffs in the Adirondack Park.  "Lost Hunters" cliff was discovered in the early '90's by Fred Abbuhl and his father while deer hunting.  Over the course of a few years, Fred brought various climbing partners into this hidden gem as he managed to tick off every climb on the main face.  One of these originally developed routes was named "Elusive Trophy" and given a grade of 5.13a.  It involves 90 feet of a slightly overhanging bulletproof, clean orange colored wall on small sidepulls, crimps and edges.  I have broken the route down into three 30' sections.  In my opinion, the first section is a mid 5.11 to a good rest, the middle section is the crux and is basically a 30' V7/8 crimpfest, followed by a decent jug rest before the final easy 5.11 push to the anchors.

This past Saturday, at the end of a long day of climbing I was able to climb the first section to the resting point where I hangdogged for about 1.5 minutes.  After the rest, I did the remaining 60' of the route in one clean push...this of course was all on toprope as I rehearsed the route.  There are only six bolts on the route with two key gear placements to avoid some pretty significant falls.  It's only a matter of time now before I lead it clean.  I have been having some sweet dreams about this climb, definately one of the best things I have ever worked on!

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13 comments:

  1. cliff looks pretty sick, how many routes are there currently?

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    1. There are currently 15 routes out at Lost Hunters with the potential for man, many more as well as some 30+ boulder problems

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  2. Great pix. U def r gonna send this year. U concur with the 13a rating?

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    1. I feel that the route is right around the 5.13a mark. Sustained climbing with some distinct V7/8 crux sequences. Fred put up a stellar route back in the day for sure!

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  3. buzzy did this thing naked and barefoot in 82' just saying

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  4. is that new hardware at the top of that route. Is it necessary? Pretty sure freddy was able to top out in the moss. badass. Kids are changing the game these day...no ethics. Hopefully no other bolts will show up at this classic and wild adk cliff.

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    1. No ethics? Let's see, place an anchor and save the top of the cliff from mass erosion. Only need to look at the beer walls - a couple of anchors would have saved many trees and top of the cliff.

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    2. The top anchors were put in after I got the "go ahead" from the first ascentionist...so don't question my ethics. As for hoping to see no more bolts at Lost Hunters, I hate to break it to you, but I also got permission from Fred Abbuhl to equip three other routes up there that he top roped a few years back as well as put anchors on the top of his others routes to make it safer for the belayer below. It is possible to top out some of these routes, but the risk of pulling misc. debris off the top of the cliff as you do so is a viable concern and is dangerous. If you are so anti hardware, don't feel obligated to clip them as you climb...but seeing as you only "sling mud" and complain under an anonymous alias, i'm going to have to assume that you are pretty weak and most likely won't even make the trek into this cliff.

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    3. How you like them apples "anonymous" - settin fools straight!

      PmK hAtEr

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  5. I don't appreciate my comments being censored. I might boycott the blog for this reason.

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    1. Please do boycott the blog. The S.A.C blog doesn't have the time or the patience to have to deal with spineless cowards who are only "tough guys" behind an anonymous alias. DO me a solid and log in before you post your weak arguments and complaints so I know who's teeth to knock out when we finally cross paths.

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  6. hey how the boulders any amazing gems

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    1. definately a few worth hiking in for...two boulders in particular stand out, both an hour off the beaten path. There are also some gems to be plucked at the base of Good Luck cliffs an hour off the road on the other side of route 10. Adirondack adventure bouldering for sure!

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