Monday May 28, 2012: Otter Lake Cliff

Quick media update from a cliff I developed three years ago...Otter Lake Cliff in Caroga Lake NY.  We headed back in on Memorial Day to try and get some of the weekend's toxins out of the body...I think it worked for the most part.  Even more exciting is the fact that we cleaned some new routes...

Media Update:



Saturday May 26, 2012: Shanty Cliff

Serious S.A.C. crew outing over the holiday weekend to a cliff I have only seen once before back in 2009.  Needless to say, we are all pretty amped to rendevous in the north country and share the sharp end!  Most of these pictures were taken by our good pal Tim...'good on ya mate!

Media Update:

Otter Lake: Roof Direct FA

Here is a video Banta put together of the first ascent of the "Roof Direct" at Otter Lake Cliffs from this past Saturday's outing.  I am not sure what the final route name will be, but after this weekend, expect two to three additional new lines going up as well!

Media Update:

Otter Lake Cliff: Caroga Lake NY

This past Saturday, Pooler, Banta, Schyler, Mitch and and  I all opted to not try and boulder in the rising heat and instead venture into a sport crag that I established two years ago known as the Otter Lake Cliff.  This cliff is by no means a destination crag but it does have (12) established sport routes and (1) established all trad route.  Every time I revisit the cliff I have a blast on the routes as they really fit my climbing style and feel almost like highball bouldering.

I have topo for Otter Lake linked through my southern adriondack climbing guides page, but for those of you who have never seen the information; here is another link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/59452994/Otter-Lake-Guide

So when we got to the cliff on Saturday morning, everything was wet...not just slightly damp but absolutely soaked.  I have climbed on this cliff before in the rain and it was more climable than what we encountered on Saturday.  Trying to keep the psych levels up, we set some topropes of things that looked somewhat climbable and Mitch began cleaning some new lines.  As the day continued on, things began to dry up really well and by the end of the day we pretty much could climb any of the lines on the cliff.

Mitch was able to grab the first ascent of the cliffs only all trad route while I was able to finally send the roof direct project that I equipped last year for leading.  Last year it felt really difficult but on Saturday with a new approach to rope climbing and some slightly modified beta, the route felt more like an easy 5.12.  Regardless of the grade, the line is really good and it acsends the more prominent features on the cliff...the overlapping roof sections.

Definately looking forward to getting back to Otter Lake for more climbing and development.  Could this warm weather have sparked a surge of energy for the Caroga Lake rope climbing???  We will see!

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McKenzie Pond Bouldering Session: Sunday April 29, 2012

So, this video fell into my archives for a week or two but better late than never.  This trip was Banta's first session at McKenzie Pond and Mitch's first time back to the boulder field since his epic climbing trip to Thailand.  Both guys absolutely killed it in the prime bouldering conditions!

McKenzie Pond...More than meets the eye

So Murph has returned home from his epic road trip with Jobi and it hasn't taken long for him to get involved with the ongoing search for new bouldering areas in the Adirondack Park.  With his interest peaked by what we saw in his absence up at Second Pond this past weekend, he took to the internet to scour aerial images, topographic maps and various pictures of the surrounding areas.

Here is what he found in a matter of hours...just off of the shore of McKenzie Pond.  It appears that the current McKenzie Pond bouldering area us a mere turd compared to what lies further into the forest!

SAC Birthday

Happy Birthday to this guy!  Some quick pictures from the Dominican last week.  First non climbing related post on the S.A.C.

Enjoy!  At least Kristy is nice to look at...

Second Pond Videos...the beginnning of Destiny

Here's a brief Media Update

Second Pond Bouldering Trip....Destiny at LAST!!!

Here are some images from this past weekend's epic canoe/camping/climbing trip for Ryan Pooler's Bachelor Party. I was more than impressed with what we saw in the forest this weekend and will definately be making some trips back in the next few weeks...so psyched, finally some new Adk boulders that are steep and featured! Going to be a hot spot for sure.

More pictures, video and maps to follow....stay tuned