More Fun @ Crane Mountain

Well readers, this post officially marks the 200th post here on Southern Adirondack Climber, so I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been continually checking in on the blog to see what has been going on in the Adirondack bouldering scene and other areas in the northeast.

This past weekend, the crew was supposed to be on another epic journey into Second Pond to continue development of that massive boulder field, but mother nature forced us to change our plans last minute due to anticipated snowfall so we returned to Crane Mountain for another fall session.  Once again, the extensive boulder field at Crane did not let us down.  The conditions were prime for sending and it seemed like everyone was having a great time bouldering in one of the larger developed areas in the Adirondacks.  Jake List from Burlington, VT made quick work of a beautiful, long standing project on the Dinosaur Boulder on the back side in what was known locally as "The Cave".  He suggests V11 for the boulder problem and it is one of the most aesthetic boulder problems I have seen in the Adirondacks.

I am currently working on the video edit from the weekend, but for now here is a surge of photographs from the weekend to help keep the psych levels high.

Media Update:

 

 

Jockeybush Lake- New Adirondack Boulder

To all the interested readers out there, I unearthed this new Adirondack boulder a couple of weeks ago.  I had come across it a couple years ago while cross country skiing but never went back to further investigate.  When I visited it again recently, I realized that it was worth the effort to clean the potential boulder problems and to begin working on them.  The boulder is a stand along glacial erratic and is right off of the trailhead for Jockeybush Lake which is about 10 miles north of Nine Corners Lake.  After reviewing some topography maps of the surrounding area, there very well may be additional boulders nearby. 

Here is a quick video of some of the problems that I put up this past weekend.  Deet!

Media Update:

Little Bighorn- First Ascent @ Crane Mountain

As promised, here is the video edit from this past Saturday at Crane Mountain.  It was a great weekend with some close friends as we continued working on new problems and repeating some established ones in the "Boulder Woods" sector.  The SAC crew was rolling deep with high energy levels from Kippy (Adkbouldering.blogspot.com and long standing legend), John Strazza (A long time Adirondack Boulderer and now our Vermont connection with some serious guns), Johnny Sullivan (The kid who can deet and daht like no other), Ron Manning (a guy who simply refuses to let go of climbing holds), and Ryan Pooler (the man who despises an empty cooler and occassional battles camping stools).

A new boulder problem dubbed "Little Bighorn" was established and climbs one of the coolest features I have climbed on in the area to date.  The problem begins low on an overhanging arete feature with some nice compression moves up to a heinous finger lock move with the right hand.  Off of the right hand, you have to make a pretty dynamic move with the left hand up the arete, then squeeze hard with the right hand as you slap aggressively up the prow fearure.  After this compression sequence, the boulder problem eases up with some 5.8 climbing up the highball face above and tops out at around 20-25 feet.  It is an excellent boulder problem and a great addition to the Crane Mountain set.  I also cleaned two other highball problems on the same boulder (The Whale Boulder) and hope to get back on them in the near future.  I hope this video gets other climbers interested in this massive bouldering location.  I honestly believe it could hold as many if not more boulder problems than Nine Corners Lake (which after counting the problems last night in my "rough draft" guidebook has just over 300 boulder problems...counting all varations, etc!)  Numeorus potential boulder problems that I have personally seen at Crane Mountain could be some of the most difficult in the Adirondack Park...only time will tell and the more visitors this area sees, the more problems that will get developed.

Deet, daht!

Media Update:

Crane Mountain: So HOT right now!!!

So the SAC crew made another trip back to Crane Mountain to enjoy some quality fall camping and some Adirondack Bouldering as I continued to work on mapping this area out and confirming the established boulder problem there along with putting some new problems up. It is becoming very obvious that this place has flown under the radar of local boulderers and for one reason or another has not taken ground as an excellent bouldering area within the park.

Let's put a few quick items into perspective before all of the naysayers and haters chime in with their anonymous blog comments. First, the entire established bouldering area is on state land with adequate parking, camping, hiking, swimming and not to mention dozens and dozens of boulders. Not all of the boulders that I have seen thus far are conducive to good boulder problems, but there are somewhere around 60 established boulder problems with from the limited amount that I have explored, the potential for another couple hundred problems, that's right...a couple hundred more boulder problems!

A quick glance on bing maps will reveal that the "Boulder Woods" section at Crane Mountain where 90% of the established boulder problems are is only a tiny portion of land at the base of Crane Mountain. Contour around the mountain in either direction from Boulder Woods and prepare to whomp your face off with the vast amount of large boulders that litter the forest. Ron, Sully and I ran up to a "small" satellite bouldering area mention in Adirondack Rock quickly after a full day session on Saturday only to find that this small satellite area is by no means small at all. There were 10-15 house sized boulders and only two of them are mentioned in Adirondack Rock.

I am trying not to get too wrapped up in one individual bouldering area in the Adirondacks because of the crazy amount of recon work and mapping that I have to do to complete the Adirondack Bouldering Guidebook, but in my opinion, this place has potential to be THE ONE! In the last two visits, I have successfully climbed a multiple year project and this past Saturday I put up what I think is the best boulder problem I have established yet in the park. A sick overhanging feature using compression and core to a final high ball finish. It is one of the coolest features I have climbed on yet and has skyrocketed my psych for Crane Mountain Bouldering.

Stay tuned as we continue to visit this area and unearth new boulder problems on each and every trip!

And now some pictures from this weekend, video of the new first ascent to follow in a couple of days once I get some time to edit the film.


Media Update:



Crane Mountain Bouldering- New Video Edit

So I messed around for a little bit with various video editing software which resulted in the "choppy" video from Crane Mountain that was uploaded a few days ago.  Long story short and some wasted effort/time I am back to using my original editing software.  Here is the revised video from the first and second ascent of "Inner Ninja" with some additional footage on Rodney Manning laying the smack down on "Lip Service"- V6/7.  These are two three star boulder problems within 10 feet of one another on a massive glacial erratic.  So far, over 30 boulders have established problems on them at Crane and one can only wonder how many more problems lay waiting an ascent... 

The SAC crew will be heading back to Crane Mountain very soon to continue to verify established boulder problem grades, starting locations, and beta along with working on current projects and mapping out the entire boulder field.  Stay tuned as we progress with this massive Adirondack bouldering resource.  Deet!

Media Update:

New Boulder Problem at Crane Mountain

A long standing project saw its' demise this past weekend up at Boulder Woods.  It's funny how the projecting process unfolds...I have fallen over and over again on the lip encounter on this boulder problem and this past Saturday I began trying some refined beta where I would match the lip and move way out left instead of trying the direct mantle.  With the new beta, the boudler problem went down rather quickly and turned out to be much easier than I originally had thought, it is probably in the V6/7 range but is of really high quality. 

Media Update