Early Spring 2017 Bouldering Session in New Paltz

  Earlier this week on Monday April 3, 2017; Ken Murphy and I traveled south seeking out dry boulders in New Paltz, NY.  Our intentions were to climb at Peterskill Preserve for the day and the psych was super high on a handful of particular problems.  Unfortunately we were turned away at the gates being informed that the area was still closed for climbing due to "mud being at the base of the cliffs."  We tried to explain bouldering and the fact that we would be nowhere near the cliffs but the state park employees had no clue what we were talking about.

  So, with a last minute audible, we settled on bouldering alongside the Carriage Road of the Mohonk Preserve.  We had gotten a late start to the day so we immediately jumped into session mode to try and maximize our remaining time.  Looking back, the last time that I bouldered on the Carriage Road was 2012!  Murphy and I eventually met up with friends Ray Hansen and Bryce Bouchard as we climbed on various blocks strewn about beneath the imposing Trapps cliffs above.  We even had a late day visit from long time local Andy Salo.  It was nice to see him again, I feel like it has been forever since I last climbed with that guy!

  There was a bunch of photos and videos taken from the session (all shown below), but just a forewarning...young Mr. Ray Hansen had one HELL of an outing!  He quickly repeated the Boxcar Arete (V8), then proceeded to flash Yikes (V9) and then send Venus in Scorpio (V11) with only a half hour of effort.  It was quite a performance and was really motivating to witness first hand!  And of yeah, the "little guy" Ken Murphy held his own despite a nagging finger injury and feeling under the weather.

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