Thee Pines 5.3

This was a very nice route that I lead.  It has three pitches, each marked by a massive pine.  This picture is at the base looking up at the first pitch.  You belay from behind that massive pine.

Dudes Bouldering

Believe it or not, the Gunks has a new hardcore bouldering scene.  At many places along the Carriage Road, huge boulders are just laying around.  It struck me as odd to see people bouldering when you have 1200 multiple pitch trad routes at your disposal.  

I can't remember the name of the problem but these fellas were working on a V7.  Easy access, good landings and a ton of problems.  The Gunks is definitely seeing a bouldering boom.

Long Way Down

This picture was taken on Shockley's Ceiling during the second pitch.  Nice little foot ledge.

Birdland 5.8

A Gunks local dropped by the gym one day.  Leo asked him about a stellar route that was off the usual tract.  Before Leo had the question out of his mouth, he said Birdland.  It had a different quality to it than most Gunks climbs.  It was slabby, a little thin and...a sport route!  Well let me qualify that, a Gunks sport route.  Back in the day, pitons were used freely for protecting routes.  On frequently travelled routes, the pitons were just left in place.  Here there were 6 pitons protecting about 100 feet of climbing.  Leo had certain trust issues with the pitons, he had everyone of them backed up. 

We were just packing up were this older thin wiry guy arrived and began getting ready to climb, but he didn't have a partner.  We started chatting and I asked him what he was going to climb out of curiosity.  He said he was going to free solo Farewell to Arms (5.9) to get to the anchors of two other routes, both mid 5.11's, and do 10 laps on each (top rope solo).  I wished him luck and we left.  Leo and I figured he must have been blowing smoke.

Back at the hotel room, Leo was flipping through my new "Gunks Guide" and there was a page on this fella, Mike Sciacca.  He was a Gunks regular and would frequently do 10 to 20 laps on Gunks test pieces.  He is well known for delivering amazing beta.  He had talked a newbie through a 5.10!

Following on Gelsa

Leo snapped a few pics as I followed him on the second pitch.  This was just after the radical 5.4 crux.  

It is hard to explain to describe how a 5.3 can be so intimidating.  Maybe it is just me BUT when you have an updraft that balloons your shorts, you KNOW there is nothing but air below you.

Gelsa 5.3

Gelsa has been described as the best 5,3 in the North-east.  You can almost see all three pitches in this picture.  Pitch 1 follows a ledgy corner to a belay ledge at the base of the tree (foreground).

Pitch 2 dose some face climbing to the base of the corner.  Pitch 3 is the shit.  A dead vertical corner for about 100 feet.  The exposure was extreme but the climbing was just 5.3 and the pro entirely solid.

Betty 5.3

I tell ya, a 5.3 at the Gunks is unlike any other 5.3 I have been on.  Betty is a 3 star two pitch climb.  It starts by following large discontinuous cracks then some face climbing to a belay ledge.  Leo managed to get some crag booty out a crack at the back of the belay ledge.  He worked hard for a small mangled cam.

The second pitch was great.  It followed a corner/chimney and then onto some more face climbing.  I was getting used to the corners by this point but it was this step that got me.  I was standing on this large ledge where my right foot is and had to step out over the chasm, about 3 feet, to keep on route.  It was really easy climbing but it was the exposure that made it spicy.

It looks as though my last piece is about 10 feet below me but there is another cam at my shoulders.  I am not sure I could have done that move 10 feet above my last piece.

Shockley's Ceiling 5.6

Shockley's Ceiling is one of the classic routes at the Gunks for a number of reasons.  It follows a "bold natural line" and is composed of "an imposing ceiling and exposed corners".

Another reason for its fame is that the climb sits directly above a hairpin corner in the road below.  Frequently tourists stop here to watch climbers so you always have an audience.

Bill Shockley and Doug Kerr did the first ascent in 1953.  Bill Shockley went on to win the Nobel Prize for inventing the transistor (Shocking!!).

Pitch one starts by mounting some large blocks and follows into a chimney to gain a large belay ledge (60 feet, 5.4).

Pitch two traverses up and right below a large right facing corner shaped somewhat like a large  flake. Once on the outside of the flake, take an airy step left to the outside of the corner.  Follow the face to a small alcove to belay (130 feet, 5.5). 

Pitch 3.  Above is the beautiful white ceiling split by a right-leaning crack known as Shockley's Ceiling.  "Climb to the base of the ceiling, tell yourself it is only 5.6 and crank it.".  Climb the corner to a second ceiling above described as small but awkward.  Leo found this ceiling more challenging than the first.  

The other difference about this climb for me was that there was no fixed belays and no rappel stations.  This made it more committing.

Shockley's Ceiling 5.6

This was just before we began climbing Shockley's Ceiling.  This is another popular climb.  3 pitches with the crux ceiling on the last pitch.  More on this later.

Ken's Crack 5.7

Leo noticed this thin crack towards the head of the trail. It had good face holds and was only a single pitch. I climbed it first. My foot slipped just after placing my second piece of gear. When I looked, only two lobes of the cam were engaged. I climbed a bit higher, and the crack opened nicely. I placed another cam which was solid. I kept climbing, slipped and fell a second time. It held no problem. It was my first significant fall on pro and it helped build my confidence. The rest of the climb went clean.

Rhododendron 5.6.

Rhododendron was the first climb we got on at the Gunks.  It was a nice straight forward 5.6 with great gear all the way up.

  This is a picture of Leo at the 2 bolt rap station, roughly 20 meters off the deck.  Many of the tree used to be the rap stations but the webbing around the tree would injure the bark and kill the tree.  This has led to the use of bolts right beside nice big trees.

Sixish 5.4

After seeing what the Horseman was like, I felt I should try a more tame lead.  We were close to Sixish, a 3 star 5.4.  It was called Sixish because it climbs more like a 5.6.  

I was quickly humbled by this '5.4'.  I was not expecting to come up against a small ceiling.  I backed off and Leo took the lead.  I was glad I handed over because it was the stiffest 5.4 I had ever been on.  After that I figured I needed to get on a 5.2 while wearing diapers.

This climb actually enlightened me to a weakness I have, exposure on lead.  I could follow Leo on many of the roofs and corners, but they shook me on lead.  My head is my weakest link.

Horseman 5.5 (Day1 Gunks)

The Horseman was a climb recommended to us by a friend of Dottie's.  He has been a Gunks climber your a long time and he said this was his favorite climb.  He also asked Leo what he lead at home.  Leo replied '5.10'.  this guys response was 'Thats great, you will be able to lead 5.8 here!".

The Horseman is a 30 meter 2 pitch climb.  It starts with some face climbing up to a right facing corner.  Towards the top, it traverses left out onto the face to a ledge for the first belay.  The second pitch was interesting face climbing to the top for a tree rap anchor. 

We know it is a little over 30 meters because we were told that with a 60 meter rope, a rap from the top would get us to a ledge about 2-3 meters off the ground that we could easily down climb.  We simul-repelled and just managed to reach terra firma. 

Enough Bill

Bill has been harassing me about not post any pic from the Gunks yet.

Well here!

Bill has been harassing me about not post any pic from the Gunks yet.

Well here!

It has been a while.

I am back!  Took the summer off from blogging.  I got a little too ambitious with the profile stuff.

Leo and I are going to the Gunks on Sept 20th.  Full on climbing for 5 days at the temple of trad!  This will make up for a pretty crappy summer here in NFLD.  I have not put up many new routes and haven't sent much either.  So much for the tick list!

Funny...the summer is becoming my 'off' season.  I train hard all winter feel strong in the spring and then life happens.  I don't get out as much and slack up on training and before I know it, it is august and I am flailing.  This is like the 3rd season in a row I have noticed this trend.  Role with the punches I guess.

Too Cold

Calling for -3 C tomorrow morning. It seems colder than that right now. We will not be goi8ng out!

Tuesday is calling for rain. Next saturday is the Adult Training Bouldering Program sponcered by Viagra and Geritol.

When will the season start????

Season is Starting!!!

FINALLY!

The outdoor season is finally starting and it is going to be awesome. Leo and Matt have been scouting out a face south of Spanky's. It is not really a face but a huge freakin wall. They have rapped down the majority of the face on a fixed line. The wall is roughly 100 meters and is broken up by 3 ledge systems creating what will likely be a 4 pitch 5.8ish climb. Both Leo and Matt are pretty stoked.

Leo also had mentioned seeing other lines including splitters and offwidths. SO when these lines start going down, Flatrock will be a one stop climbing destination. It has bouldering, easy and moderate trad, hard sport climbing and then to top it off, multipitch climbing.

After that I almost feel embarrassed to mention Cemetery Face. Saturday morning Bob, Kim, Yan (sp?) and myself plan to go out to Cemetery Face and scope out a new face. It is about the same size but slabby. Bob and I checked it out last year but never climbed it. There is a crack that will go down easy but the slabs to either side look kinda featureless. The plan is to set a couple of top ropes and see what we can bolt. We will probably meet at Tim Hortons, Majors Path, at 6:00am Saturday morning.

Profiles-Leo Van Ulden

I asked Leo to send me some info on the junior climbing club. I think it was probably a tall order. If you are interested, send me a photo and a short bio to kindasleepy@rockclimbing.com and I will post in due time.

I met Leo back in 1995 on my first visit to Wallnuts just after it opened. Leo and his brother Phil were the rock gods of the time, knocking on the door of twenty years old. There were number of other good climbers around but Leo took a prominent role because of his connection to the gym. At that time he had been climbing a number of years and was puttering around on a home woody with his brother and another fella, Ivan. Leo and Phil with their mothers backing started Wallnuts.

Fast forward seven years and my re-introduction to Wallnuts in 2002, there was Leo. Since then Leo has been a mentor of sorts, as he has to many of us. I took several course from him, including Rock I and Rock II. I have climbed with him on many occasions and always manage to learn something from him.

Leo has been active in maintaining and upgrading his education with climbing. He currently is the only Newfoundland climber (that I know of) who is ACMG certified.

I can't comment about his hardest sends but I have a bit of a sense what he may consider to be big accomplishments. First would be his work with the Junior Climbing Team. He has seen a group of teens come a long way and looks forward to what they can do...in and out of the gym. Author and FA of Sledgehammer. This was likely the first well bolted moderate (5.10ish) sport climb. It is listed as 5.11a but that is primarily to it very thin start. Once to the first bolt it climbs like a 5.10 minus. Others prior were either runout or very difficult. Leo opened this grade for a number of us.

Another great FA of Leo's is Paging Don Keidik (5.10b). This is a beautiful 25 meter climb that became an instant classic.

I hope I don't have too many of the details messed up.

Profiles

For awhile I have been thinking about posting profiles on some of the local climbers. I figure I should start with myself.

I first started climbing in 1995 when Wallnuts first opened. I climbed indoors for 2 years when I stopped. I left Newfoundland and returned in 2002 when I took it up again. My first season climbing outside was 2003 and that was limited. I slowly increased my climbing and training. I went from slogging up 5.8 in 2002 to my first onsight of a 5.11a earlier this year.

I built a bouldering wall in my garage 2 years ago and it has helped my climbing drastically. It allowed me to climb 3 to 4 times to per week and create a system wall for training.

I took a trad climbing course last year at the Gunks in New York State. I would recommend this to almost anyone. I learned a lot and got good practical experience. The guides I have climbed with have been really solid interesting people. Even for the well seasoned, it may be worth while to just get the lay of the land.

I like to develop routes with my climbing partner, Bob. We have noticed a big lack of moderate routes. Our goal is to safely bolt lines between 5.2 and 5.10?. So far we have put up about 10 routes in that grade. This summer we intend on further developing Manuels Face and climbing as hard as we can at Main Face.

I am hoping to get a little profile on the Junior Climbing Club going to Toronto next month.

Middle Cove Bouldering

Middle Cove Beach has a short wall on the left side as you face the ocean. I boulder here in the summer...early morning before it becomes dirty with people. There is a nice traverse, left to right. It is about 30 feet long and probably goes at V3 or V4. I haven't done it clean yet.

The wall is about 10 to 12 feet high and is about 5 to 10 degrees overhanging. I have done a number of 'straight up' problems ranging from V0 to V3. There are more in the waiting.

To the far left is another face, a little higher but with fewer features. Lots of beach below it at low tide but wet at high tide.

One the right side of the bay there are some other faces, but they are decaying and always wet.

There is another