The next level

Approaching Plattekill Falls


Rapidly rising temperatures this past week suggesting that perhaps the groundhogs may be on to something, we decided to get some ice in before spring arrives. Recent (mis)adventures in Colorado notwithstanding, this was going to be our first day swinging axes in the Catskills this season and a long-awaited return to climbing of any kind for Brian. Last night, I packed my gear, set the alarm for 4, and ignoring the cat's befuddlement at the early bed time tried to catch some sleep.

Still way dark out when I left the house, and the Lower East Side was still crowded with the usual late night crowd: smokers, drinkers sobering up after last call, and empty cabs. Much quieter as I headed far uptown to pick up Brian, up in the skinny part of the island. Soon enough we were on our way to a rendezvous at G's house to consolidate in his newly retrofitted winter gladiator minivan. Despite my inability to follow directions, we arrived only 20 minutes late, with the sun barely up and G still in a patient mood (not sure how long that would have lasted, and no real desire to find out).

Best decision of the day was a group one to forgo familiar ground for new terrain. Neither G nor I were particularly raring to lead super steep stuff, but wanted something challenging and interesting. Luckily, Brian convinced us it was time to take it to the next level. So instead of the usual Stoney Clove routes, we headed for Platte Kill Cove, home of a mix of routes from moderate to hardman in the Devil's Kitchen (Hell Hole) area as well as a series of scenic, varied frozen waterfalls (Plattekill, Bridal Veil, and Japanese Falls). Parking was easy, at the turnaround where the road is closed off and unplowed for the winter, and we were early enough to nab one of the last open spots.

Ten minutes of hiking down the road led us to a tracked path down past a red barn; from there, the easy approach heads into the trees and forks at a group of hemlocks, with the right path dropping into the clove and emerging at the kill right below Plattekill Falls. We got there as a local was soloing, halfway up the ice and likely almost done with his morning lap up the series of descending falls. We exchanged pleasantries as we unracked and roped up and he topped out ("Really wet one today", "When the sun comes over, it's going to make some funny sounds" come to mind), and soon enough G was ready to lead.

The formation looked in good enough shape, but the recent warm weather was clearly taking its toll. Running water was easily audible both beneath the snow on the frozen creek and behind the falls, and a fine mist shot over the right side of the falls (getting progressively heavier as the sun came over). Left side was good and relatively dry though, with a short vertical section leading to a slabby ramp and final vertical section. Felt like WI3 to me, at least as a second. G looked great, steady on the warmup, controlled placing screws and comfortable in his swings and kicks. Both B and I TRed up, cleaning screws on the way, and we all came down to TR a steeper line on the left side. Much fun, with a steep overhanging start (with an ice bollard!), a slabby walkup in the middle, and a pumpy and intimidating steep finish. Highlight of the day was Brian knocking off a microwave-sized block and shielding himself his head and neck, reinforcing my conviction of the hardness of his noggin.

G runs up the first climb of the day

A frozen Plattekill Falls (and as it looks in summertime)

Comfy belay at the top of the falls


Brian heads up the left side bouldery start


I'm right below where Brian tried to brain himself

What do you mean a messy coil?


By midday the sun was directly on the falls, and things were considerably wetter and more delicate; we decided to search for more shaded ice and headed for Devil's Kitchen. A bit of a tricky spot to find, being unsure of the specifics of the layout. From the approach trail, we could tell we were in the trees above the cliffline overlooking Devil's Kitchen, but despite some exploratory postholing through deep snow we couldn't find a safe way down. We decided to backtrack to Plattekill Falls and follow the stream downhill into the clove, but found several parties climbing off the top of Bridal Veil Falls. After talking things over with a local climber belaying from the top, we decided the easiest way was to head back to the road, where an easy drop-in to the gully at the stone bridge landed us right at the top of Upper Devil's Kitchen.



A couple of parties were in the upper section, but the west side of the gully was in the sun and many of the columns looked wet and ready to come down. However, in the lower gully, many of the east routes were still shaded, blue and solid. Lots of steep lines to choose from, we settled on a 4ish line near the second of three consecutive corners. The business of the climb comes early, after 8-10 feet to a ledge, with 40 feet of straight on vertical climbing in a shallow runnel between two larger columns to another slopey ledge. Decent stems if you have long legs, more vertical and pumpy if you don't. The last third or so of the climb heads up into the corner forming a little ice chimney, with bolts at the top where the ice peters out into rock. G gave me the first lead, and I felt pretty good at the start, soloing up to the first ledge to place an easy first screw. Good distance to the second screw, but it was a pretty crappy placement, all air, so I leaned out way right to sink another backup in. Didn't get good placements on either, and left both of them only partly in the ice. Could have (and should have) pushed higher, but the pump clock was ticking and I couldn't get over the insecurity of getting too high over my crappy placements, so I lowered to let G have a go. Like a soldier, he charged ahead and led from my highpoint up to the ledge, sinking plenty of good screws on the way. He finished off by scratching his way up the corner ice system to the anchors to set up a TR. We finished up by TRing the middle line, as well as a more consistently vertical line to the left (solid WI 4 or 4+). Great sustained climbing, not super long but no real great rests either.

Second Corner (WI4), line number 8 (via Bigfoot Mountain Guides)

Some climbers on a WI5 to the left

A decent stem to place some gear

G cleans up my mess


The return of Climbin' Brian



Great day all around with a good friendly crew: explored a new area in comfortably warm temps, got G and me back into a leading frame of mind and Brian back into climbing mode. The DK area is much more scenic than Stoney Clove, though I get the feeling it can get pretty crowded. Climbing the falls was a nice change from typical ice cragging, eventually I'd like to link up a few of the falls for some multi-pitch adventure.

Looks almost just like him...

Now that's better


Let's hope the groundhogs were wrong and there's some winter left in this year yet. Thanks to Brian for the great pics (and remembering his camera).