Clean lines and efficiency...

And that was just the dorkfest in the minivan ride home.

Chloe, Joana, Brian, Eric, Guillaume, and I tripped up to New Rochelle for a relatively laid-back session of climbing. C+J nailed their warm-up and proceeded to get on some harder routes, even trying out the starting moves on a 12. Brian and G led routes through the roofy arch (10, brown camo), up the Mad Russian column (11, yellow) and up the front face with pyramidal volumes (11a, brown and 12, hearts). Eric worked on climbing slowly and efficiently on toprope, with a focus on feet first. Good technique points for all of us, I think. I mostly sat around giving apparently bad route suggestions to Guillaume, but led a few climbs also (9, 11a, 12).

The 12 has a beta-dependent start and a real height-dependent crux move under the roof, which I haven't really nailed down comfortably. After that, it eases up past the lip but I imagine it'll be pumpy to send in one go.

Per our discussion about crampons, here's some links with starting information. Keep in mind there are three general kinds of attachment styles: strap-on (C1), step-in with a heel clip and a toe bail (C3), and hybrid with a heel clip and a front strap (C2). Your choice will be dependent both on your choice of boot and its intended use.
general info
REI crampon advice
MITOC lecture on crampons and axes (PDF)
short review from CascadeClimbers
for kicks, a scan of an old Chouinard ice catalag