Going Disco on the Rock

K and I were headed for the Gunks this weekend.

It rained all night Friday, and so we postponed our 5:30AM wake up time to a leisurely 11AM departure on Saturday. It was still a bit wet, but most of the rock was dry, and the place was almost empty: sweet! We did 2 classics on day 1:

P1 of Yellow Ridge: traverse into a burly offwidth

Guillaume about to go wide

Linking pitches up high

Thin traverse starting out on P2

Arete to crux


Yellow Ridge 5.7: I did the first 2 pitches in one go as described on Mountain Project. I certainly made the offwidth as ungraceful as possible and I got so pumped that I thought I would peel at any moment, including when it was time to put pro in at the top. The rest of the climb went well although I was not super comfortable on the belay. K took the last pitch, awesome lead up a slippery slab after a traverse (which made me uber nervous as I could see his shoes slowly sliding down the rock...) and then up a big roof. Very nice varied climb.

Ticket to Disneyland


Disneyland 5.6: Kenway lead both pitches in one go. Impressive job. The face climb to start is not trivial. Then the mantel is hard! Really no feet. After that you are stuck on an awful ledge with a roof right above you which means you can't stand up. After that it goes up an open book and up a roof. Stellar lead, tiny feet, job well done.

This was followed by too much food at the Guilded Otter.

On Sunday we opted for another late start. The day was beautiful, and although the parking lot was not full, the wall certainly was. We opted for two short fun single pitches on day 2:

Sente: three bolts and the truth

Fingertips and foot smears


Sente 5.9 (see also http://themonkey.club/2013/03/march-madness.html): We waited as there was a party on it. Then I lead the fun sport-trad combo, putting in a piece before the first bolt and one after. The moves are delicate and you need to commit to your feet, but its all there. Kenway followed, and then I did it again on TR.

Double Clutch 5.9+ (see also http://themonkey.club/2012/03/horseman-double-clutch-and-ballnut-2.html and http://themonkey.club/2012/02/snow-days-pro-days.html): Kenway did the traverse with no protection until the piton: crazy! He put in a couple more pieces and then tried the move over the ledge, but the traverse had drained him too much. This meant it was my turn to try, I add a piece early in the traverse because I am afraid of dying... then reached the point where K had stopped and took a rest. On the next go, I used the heel hook, went for it, blind as my face was turned into the rock, barely got the tip of one finger to reach, and slowly managed to bump my hand in position! Really fun move. The rest of the climb is easy. Kenway did it after me and found a very different sequence I have never heard off but it worked very well for him.

I then dropped him off at the Mohonk Mountain House where he is staying for a fancy conference in the coming days. Great weekend, super classic climbs, a bit of everything: slabs, overhangs, offwidths, cracks. Pictures coming soon.

Route log:
Yellow Ridge (7)
Disneyland (6)
Sente (9)
Double Clutch (9)