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
I was fortunate enough to make it back out to "Reservoir Rocks" in Great Barrington, MA right before my scheduled back surgery. The temperatures and bugs were on the rise but we were still able to tick off some new boulder problems. All in all, it was an excellent outdoor bouldering session! I got the the boulder field a few hours before the rest of the crew and was able to hike around to GPS some of the main boulders as well as map out the bouder field and all of the problems that I personally knew about. This "personal guidebook" work also allowed the boulders to dry up a bit because when I got there, everything was still a bit damp.
On our way out of the forest, we ran into some Great Barrington locals. They mentioned the names of some climbs they were finishing their climbing session on and again I was taken back that I had never heard of or seen these climbs and I have been visiting the "Reservoir" and bouldering there was over six years now. How many boulder problems are there in that area???
On Thursday May 2, 2013 I had to travel to Brant Lake to do some field work on a potential job for my office. The site we were working on was right on Brant Lake and I could see the cliffs and talus fields behind the Palmer Brother's Marina all afternoon and knew that I would get a chance to boulder at Gnarnia once again.
I had only been to the Brant Lake boulders once before, back in October 2010 with Murph, Pooler, Kippy and Strazza. Needless to say, I was eager to get back there and climb some of the boulder problems again. I called the marina in advance to make sure that I could still park there to access the climbing area and just like in the past, the Palmer Brothers were very nice and accomodating. They even gave me the contact information of the landowner so I could get ahold of him regarding my Adirondack Bouldering Guidebook and the possibility of including Brant Lake (Gnarnia) in the publication. They were under the impression that the landowner would love the idea as he currently has hiking trails that he allows visitors to use.
The post work solo bouldering session was stellar, despite the high temperatures (lower 80's) and the swarms of bugs. The climbing at Gnarnia is unique as the boulders sit high on the mountain overlooking Brant Lake. This spot is not what I would consider a destination climbing spot, but if you are in the area it is definately worth a visit. The monster boulder that has the climb "Unicorn of the Sea" no longer has the old wooden platform which makes the climb that much more intimidating. I will have to venture back there with more pads and spotters to give it another go now that the platform is no longer standing...it will feel like a totally different boulder problem for sure!
To anyone who reads my climbing blog, I just want to make a few points regarding some recent changes I have made to the comments section and the reasoning behind the changes. I use this blog as a creative outlet to track my outdoor climbing trips and other climbing related activities such as scouting for new climbing areas and carving climbing hold prototypes. The purpose of this blog is not to entertain outlandish comments or to entertain comments that may cause controversy in the local climbing community. I basically use this blog as my online climbing journal.
Please continue to read my climbing blog to see any new development that we are working on or to track when and where we have been climbing. If you have a google account and would like to post a comment that is topical to the post/topic and you think others would benefit from, please feel free to do so. I have blocked the ability for anyone to try and post a comment under the 'Anonymous' alias mainly because it has only been a headache and a pain trying to deal with these comments and to be honest, I don't have the free time to deal with it anyone.
We have been extremely active in the woods lately, trying to get some serious climbing in before the surge of humidity, heat and bugs overtake the southern portion of the Adirondack Park for the next few months. Below are a few images from an early May bouldering session at the infamous "Marble Zone". There is a bunch more to come out of that area along with a few other zones we have been working on slowly.
Take note that it is in fact Kippy himself, pulling hard on some boulder problems again! So glad to see this guy back in action in the Adirondacks...
Keeping it short with a nice little video collaboration from this past Saturday at Nine Corners Lake. The crew was rolling extra deep and the energy/psyche levels were at an all time high! I would like to inform everyone that the massive tree(s) that had fallen on the Saccharine Boulder at some point over the last year have been limbed enough so that the boulder problems can finally be climbed on again. At some point, I will need some additional help to move the larger sections of the fallen trees but for now this initial cleaning effort will suffice.
The video compilation below is from a quick (2 hour) bouldering session at a local area known as the "Pinnacle Pull Off" bouldering area in Caroga Lake, New York. This small bouldering area is right off of Route 29A/Route 10 as you head north towards Nine Corners Lake. The area got it's name from the restaurant called "Pinnacle Restaurant" which sits up on a hill just above the boulder field overlooking Canada Lake.
There are somewhere around 45 established boulder problems at this area, some are of pretty good quality especially when you take into consideration the minimal approach and easy access. This is where I started bouldering back in 2004 when I noticed the house sized boulders just off of the road. It has continued to be a great stomping ground for days when time is limited to sneak in outdoor climbing.
