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)

Horseman, Double clutch, and Ballnut #2

While Dr. Louie is instructing the next generation of neuroscientists; Jess, her cousin Greg, myself, and about half of New York city headed to the Gunks. The West Trapps parking was full so we stopped by the visitor center and parked in the parking lot right passed it.

Going up the stairmaster made me painfully aware of how out of shape I am. Once we reached the top it was clear getting on a free route would be hard. We made our way to Horseman which K and I had taken a look at when we last were there (http://www.themonkeyclub.org/2012/02/snow-days-pro-days.html). The party on it was almost done, and there was a party of two waiting. We decided to wait our turn. We weer surrounded by really good climbers (with lots of kids of all ages it seemed) climbing Apoplexy and the other climbs to the left and right of Horseman. I started getting nervous while waiting (especially with the crowds around), but I used my time to pay attention to how the leader before me went around and up the corner.

The start went fine, but going up in the corner I was too nervous and kept my body too much in the corner, making it more difficult than it needs to. Going around the corner was fine, but then I ran into the party coming down from the top. I had to wait a good 10 minutes for them to start down again. Luckily I had good feet and a good cam right at my foot. The rest went down well, the double ropes working well to get an acceptable amount of drag. I belayed Greg and Jess each on a separate rope. We walked down because we were one belay device short and I didn't feel like trying the double biner setup K had showed me last week without practicing it before.

We then went to Double Clutch which K and I had tried on our previous visit. I used my brand new Ballnut #2 as the first piece of pro, then a blue Cam, the piton, and a green cam before the crux (I tried a bigger one since last time we thought it might work better but it actually doesn't fit as well). Couldn't do it: yet again. Instead, I lead the start of the 6 just to the left of it and setup a TR. Jess followed the line I had used to clean it. Greg went back onto Double Clutch and did it first, getting over the crux with a heel hook far left. I did it next (clean), but with a slightly higher and closer hook. One thing that helped is that I really used my feet well before the crux not losing any energy. That climb was lots of fun, but just at my limit. Jess tried it but she got pumped from the traverse. Greg did it again with a modified start (from a boulder problem below). I went up again to clean t, but did not have enough juice to pull the crux and needed some help from the belayer.

All and all a great a beautiful day. It was the first time I felt like my head was back into it since the end of last year's ice season. Horseman actually felt better than the first time I climbed it as a second (http://www.themonkeyclub.org/2009/04/let-it-snow-let-it-snow-let-it-snow.html). Next time, to do Double Clutch, I think we should use a single rope and I would put only one piece before the piton to waste less energy.