Southern Adirondack Climber: March 2012

Friday, March 30, 2012

Nine Corners Send Fest: March 24, 2012

This past Saturday brought some of the best conditions yet this season for outdoor bouldering. The boulderfield at Nine Corners Lake was full of energetic boulderers; both S.A.C. members and climbers from the Albany area. Despite the threats of rain all day, we were able to climb from 9:00 am until just before sundown. Below you will find some documentation of what I will refer to as an old school Adirondack send fest...

Here is the longest video I have posted to date, and YES it is entirely in High Definition! Enjoy

Media Update:

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Snowy Mountain Bouldering: Part Two

So my main man Sullivan posted a shout out for the lastest HD Video upload from Snowy Mtn. I was hoping to hear back more comments requesting future HD uploads, but one opinion was all that I needed to take the additional time and effort to make all future SAC videos high definition.

Banta and I headed back to to Snowy Mountain early last week to take advantage of the nice weather and to hopefully tick off some of our current projects. The conditions were prime...sunny and upper 70's, no bugs yet, and bone dry rock. We were able to repeat some classics, Banta wrote off a project of his "Never Been to Hueco", while I was able to finally link together the stand start to "Salamander" as well as establish another variation off of the "Mr. Tumnus" boulder problems.

Midday we took a short hike as a means of active rest and found a bunch of rock and short cliff bands in the immediate area. Nothing was as amazing as the original set of boulders, but a few new lines were discovered and a rad 30' tall, 150' long slightly overhanging section of rock was discovered. Some serious highballs are possible, or perhaps some short, powerful sport routes. Time will tell, time will tell.

Media Update:

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

HD Video from Snowy Mountain

To all of the SAC followers...I have a plethora of footage and photos from the past two weeks thanks to all of the ridiculous weather that we have been having. The focus from the past two weeks has been outdoor bouldering sessions at Snowy Mountain in Indian Lake, New York as well as my favorite bouldering spot Nine Corners Lake in Caroga Lake, New York.

What little snow we did have from this so called winter is not completely out of the woods, opening the door for some quality early spring bouldering sessions. Get out there and enjoy before the bugs make their move.

This quick video is my first HD video. Usually I just output the file to MPG to help reduce the file size and make uploading them onto Youtube much easier/quicker. If the HD quality is something that everyone desires, please post a comment so I can make necessary adjustments in future videos.

Thanks and enjoy!

Media Update:

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Early Spring Session @ Peters Kill

This past Sunday was all about bright sunshine, warm weather, dry boulders, and a massive crew from the Southern Adirondack region heading south the the Minnewaska State Park and "Peters Kill". I had mentioned to some friends from New Paltz that we might have an entourage traveling down from the north country to sneak some bouldering in and by mid afternoon, my prediction was pretty accurate. It was great to see that so many locals from the Adirondacks and "The Edge" had all made the journey to savor some of New Paltz's fine boulder problems.

I drove down with Banta and his monster dog "Buddy", we were followed by Kreesh, his girlfriend Des and Sully. Pooler was already enroute with his dog "Stanley", Greg Stone AKA Stonemaster and Josh Potter weren't far behind, followed by Mr. Kyle Biel and Casey, and rounded out with an appearance by Corey. All of us northerners were welcomed by the local Cohn brothers, Mike and Adam and the P man himself, Mike Pianca. The psych level was high and a bunch of sending took place throughout the day.

Big shout out to Kreesh...we all heard a horrific sound when his feet cut loose on "Village Idiot" with his left fingers still slotted in the small incut seam. The popping sound was one that is all too familiar and something you never want to see happen to a fellow climber. I got word today from Banta that the doctor's diagnosis was a full rupture of Kreesh's A2 tendon...two months without climbing...I hope the road to recovery is quick my friend!

On a more positive note, the weather has been surreal for this early in the spring season and if it keeps up, the Southern Adirondack crew will have to return the tour favor to the New Paltz crew with a showcase of the Snowy Mountain Boulders, Nine Corners, or Pottersville AKA Hogwart's. It's up to you guys, just let me know.

Brief Media Update: Hide the women and children, those are in fact real life Cones...

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

20 Degree Sends at Nine Corners Lake

Here' s a quick video from some sending yesterday morning before my spinal injection appointment. It was really cold outside but it prevented the snow from melting which would have made any climbing impossible and friction was ridicuously good...everything felt so much easier than in the summer months. Enjoy...

Monday, March 5, 2012

Thoughts on Winter and some Climbing Hold Prototypes...

After nearly three months of continuous back pain, I have an appointment tomorrow to receive two spinal epidural injections in my L5 lumbar. Doctor assures me that this will fix the problem...let's hope so because the quality of life hasn't been all that great lately and I really anxious to see how well I can climb with a fully recovered body!

On a possitive note, it is warming up around the southern adirondacks. This Saturday I plan on heading south to get some snow free bouldering in at New Paltz but on Sunday I was planning on heading back up to Nine Corners (I was there yesterday to check out the conditions...about 2-3 ft. of snow still lingering in the forest and boulder field) with a snow rake, a push broom, and a shovel. With nearly 60 degree weather in the forecast and an inch of rain next Tuesday and Wednesday...if I can get most of the standing snow off of the main bouldering set before the rain, we could have a magical early season bouldering session at Nine Corners next weekend with dry boulders, prime sending temps, no bugs, and snow all around us...anyone interested??? I've done this is prior years and trust me, the effort definately pays off. Banta, I'll definately clean off "Gatekeeper" for ya! Sully, "Long Live Legos", "Super Spores"??? Pooler, "Heart Attack Man", "Super Spores", "Popordropolis"?? Any other requests??

Here are some climbing hold sets I worked on for Element Climbing. The owner is really easy to work with and has been really excited to get a steady source of new shapes.