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
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:
So the kid continues his boulder problem tear with some sick looking lines at Niagara Glen. If you are familiar with Evan's ability to crush anything made out of plastic, then his recent outdoor tick list should not come as a surprise. Below are some of his latest sends and videos that I poached off of youtube after I got my weekly update of "recent uploads"...I didn't beat Climberism to the post, but nevertheless, I feel like it is worthy of a shout out. Evan, the S.A.C. salutes you!
A few additional videos from this past weekend bouldering at Lost City. The compilation video is still being worked on. Stay tuned for the complete Lost City write up and video. It was one of the most enjoyable climbing outings I have ever had.
There will be a much more detailed post within the next few days covering the details of my latest climbing trip down to New Paltz, New York this past weekend. Dozens of pictures were taken, numerous boulder problems were climbed, the weather was absolutely perfect and the climbing crew was rolling deep...I am currently working on a compilation video that covers both days; but until it is finished, enjoy a few video shorts highlighting some of the sends from Friday and Saturday.
Here is a quick update from the ongoing development at a new bouldering area that Ken Murphy unearthed; known locally as "The Marble Zone". While the majority of us are grinding away in the office or at the workplace, here is what two of the stronger local vagabond/gypsy climbers do to occupy themselves on a typical "work day", aka beautiful mid-week day. So jealous, I know I am not the only one who is living vicariously through your freedom from society...keep the updates coming!
With all of this "down time" from the ongoing back pain/spasm issues, I have been able to take care of some lingering projects around the house that I have been putting off. Last week I started to build some new triangle volumes for my home climbing wall to replace the original ones that I made five years ago. The main reason for replacing the original volumes was that they were made out of 1/2" plywood and I wanted to make the new ones out of 3/4" plywood and maximize the number of t-nuts in each volume.
Overall I am very happy with the new volumes/features. These things are a necessity for any home wall. They make surfaces on my 45 degree walls and the roof section useable for climbing holds that would otherwise be useless...at least to the average climber; such as poor slopers, pinches, shallow pockets, etc.
I cannot wait to be pain free again so I can train on my home wall again!
Project Photos:
45 degree wall with volumes to be replaced
Close up of a volume to be replaced
Another volume to be replaced on the roof section
45 degree wall
New traingle volume ready for painting
(4) new triangle volumes ready for painting
Fresh coat of paint
Huge volume before t-nut installation
T-nut installation (125 t-nuts used for this massive volume)
Triangle volume reassembled and ready for the home wall
This gem of an area was not unearthed by me, however the individual responsible for the discovery has been kind enough to offer a personal tour of the zone within the next few weeks. It has been reported that the new area has some of the best rock quality seen yet in the Adirondack Park and a majority of the potential lines are steep and they actually have holds. An estimated 30-40 boulder problems have been located. Can it really be??? An entirely new area within the Adirondack Park with steep walls and on state land (has been verified using County Tax Maps).
This is a significant find and I am really psyched to personally check the area out. I know how hard, time consuming and frustrating it is looking for new climbable rock in this area. Time and time again we discover new areas only to be turned away due to lack of rock quality or private property. Stay tuned and stay psyched...this is LEGIT and I should know much more very soon!!!
