Follow my friends and me as we continually track new bouldering areas in the Adirondack State Park as well as visit top notch bouldering areas all over the northeast
Early Spring Session at Great Barrington, Massachusetts
This past Saturday I had every intention of staying local and doing some spring cleaning and climbing at Nine Corners Lake. Out of nowhere on Friday evening, flurries began to fall from the sky at home. These flurries quickly started to accumulate and by sunrise the next day, everything was coated with just enough fresh fallen snow to make climbing in the southern Adirondacks impossible. To maintain sanity, I decided last minute to pick up Ron Manning and head into the Bershires to meet up with a few SAC crew members and actually climb on some dry, snow free boulders.
It looks like Nine Corners is still a couple of weeks away from drying up completely. This is unfortunate but okay since some of the neighboring bouldering areas are currently in prime climbing condition! Deet, daht!!
Make sure to catch the end of the climbing video. A long standing project in Great Barrington sees a long awaited send! The crew has not yet come to a consensus as to the grade, but we all agreed that it felt really difficult... Media Update:
Josh- the boulder with those problems is about 300 yards away from the Cube Boulder. If you walk past the Cube Boulder and head towards the cliff, follow the cliff and trail that go off to the left. Stay high on the trail and it will bring you right to Dumptruck and One Ton. How did the day go for you guys?
Nice. I'll have to check that stuff out. The day was perfect. I finally cleaned up Filter, and it probably felt a grade easier due to the conditions. The crew had a little send train on Krispy Kreme and then good work for Tomahawk and a sess at Speed on the way out. Psyched that the season is underway. -Josh
Jut! Haha, I've tried that slab -- looks like you guys finally found the beta! Are you sure that span prob is One Ton? I was told One Ton is the sit start that climbs the entire 20' long arete (topping out in the same spot). Always hard to know with GB, everything being word of mouth and all.
Andrew- we weren't quite sure where One Ton started. I tried to start way down low initially but the "dab" factor with the tree and the large boulder underneath was taking away from the beauty of the climb. Either way, I was struggling immensely with the top out sequence and never quite figured it out. Great Barrington was excellent on Saturday...the next few weekends should be really good!
Nice, I should really try to get there soon for attempts at Filter and SFN before the summer rolls in. Saturday was definitely beautiful, I almost went to GB, but ended up in PA instead for a phenomenal day with Brian H.
I'm pretty sure One Ton is the arete. It actually climbs super well, and shockingly the tree isn't an issue because you naturally stay tight to the boulder in that part of the climb. Could be wrong of course, either way, good stuff!
Andrew- trying to picture how One Ton would go....is it climbing on the long arete only without using any of the holds in the crack of "Dump Truck"?
Whatever variation Sully and I were trying in the video felt way harder than V5. Anxious to find out the proper problems and beta, if only access was legit and some locals would work on a guidebook. Did any locals ever mention a name or grade of the traverse on the Cube Boulder that starts at Rubik's Cube and traverses the entire face all the way left and finishes around the arete? Not sure what it is, but it climbed very well...
Yeah, that's how One Ton goes. You start sitting at the bottom of the long arete and climb the whole length of it, topping out at the highest point. You never touch any of the holds of Dump Truck. The bottom half is easier (V2/3) but once you get to the tree it starts getting tough. I think it goes at V5 all together. Great climbing the whole way, especially the upper half. What you guys were doing was definitely harder.
That traverse on the Cube Boulder is amazing, and I'm so frustrated... I was told the name of it by the locals who showed us around up there, but for the life of me I can't remember. I even scrolled through the crappy 8a database to try and find the name for ya, but nothing stood out to me.
Did you try Vertigo? Starts same as that traverse but then goes straight up the face? Good prob with a scary crux!
Yo, Jut. Where are Dumptruck and One Ton? I've never seen those lines before. Out in the Rubik's Cube area, I'm guessing...
ReplyDelete-Josh
Josh- the boulder with those problems is about 300 yards away from the Cube Boulder. If you walk past the Cube Boulder and head towards the cliff, follow the cliff and trail that go off to the left. Stay high on the trail and it will bring you right to Dumptruck and One Ton. How did the day go for you guys?
DeleteNice. I'll have to check that stuff out.
DeleteThe day was perfect. I finally cleaned up Filter, and it probably felt a grade easier due to the conditions. The crew had a little send train on Krispy Kreme and then good work for Tomahawk and a sess at Speed on the way out. Psyched that the season is underway.
-Josh
Jut! Haha, I've tried that slab -- looks like you guys finally found the beta! Are you sure that span prob is One Ton? I was told One Ton is the sit start that climbs the entire 20' long arete (topping out in the same spot). Always hard to know with GB, everything being word of mouth and all.
ReplyDeleteGood sending guys!
-Andrew Cieply
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteAndrew- we weren't quite sure where One Ton started. I tried to start way down low initially but the "dab" factor with the tree and the large boulder underneath was taking away from the beauty of the climb. Either way, I was struggling immensely with the top out sequence and never quite figured it out. Great Barrington was excellent on Saturday...the next few weekends should be really good!
DeleteNice, I should really try to get there soon for attempts at Filter and SFN before the summer rolls in. Saturday was definitely beautiful, I almost went to GB, but ended up in PA instead for a phenomenal day with Brian H.
DeleteI'm pretty sure One Ton is the arete. It actually climbs super well, and shockingly the tree isn't an issue because you naturally stay tight to the boulder in that part of the climb. Could be wrong of course, either way, good stuff!
-Andrew
Andrew- trying to picture how One Ton would go....is it climbing on the long arete only without using any of the holds in the crack of "Dump Truck"?
ReplyDeleteWhatever variation Sully and I were trying in the video felt way harder than V5. Anxious to find out the proper problems and beta, if only access was legit and some locals would work on a guidebook. Did any locals ever mention a name or grade of the traverse on the Cube Boulder that starts at Rubik's Cube and traverses the entire face all the way left and finishes around the arete? Not sure what it is, but it climbed very well...
Yeah, that's how One Ton goes. You start sitting at the bottom of the long arete and climb the whole length of it, topping out at the highest point. You never touch any of the holds of Dump Truck. The bottom half is easier (V2/3) but once you get to the tree it starts getting tough. I think it goes at V5 all together. Great climbing the whole way, especially the upper half. What you guys were doing was definitely harder.
ReplyDeleteThat traverse on the Cube Boulder is amazing, and I'm so frustrated... I was told the name of it by the locals who showed us around up there, but for the life of me I can't remember. I even scrolled through the crappy 8a database to try and find the name for ya, but nothing stood out to me.
Did you try Vertigo? Starts same as that traverse but then goes straight up the face? Good prob with a scary crux!
Andrew
Haha, I'm an idiot, I just realized Vertigo is in your vid. Great send man, you made it look ridiculously easy!
ReplyDeleteAndrew