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AntinJ
Jun 24, 2009, 1:55 PM
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Thanks Rob; I have checked out your videos and the website.
How is the bouldering there?
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robbovius
Jun 24, 2009, 2:07 PM
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the bouldering is good too. at least i think so. there's a bunch of interesting problems and some wicked steep stuff that I won't even bother with ;-)
I've been sticking mostly with stuff up to V1+, and have found the problems interesting and challenging.
understand that I dont have a lot of experience at the other eastern MA/RI gyms, I've been to BRG like twice, 4 years ago, and RIRG a couple times also at least 3 years ago, that's about it. I've never been to Metro or Carabiners. the last gym I climbed at with any regularity was Gravity in franklin, which compared to CRG (or any of the gyms with the climbing structure built by Rockwerx) was uber-ghetto.
still, I find the routes at CRG to have a nice variety of moves, and the routesetters really seem to put some thought into what they're doing. they change the routes frequently too, if the placarding on the routes is anything to go by. there's only a few left from the initial route-setting in april, and several have been changed/put up within the last week.
hopefully the weather will cooperate for outdoors sessions next week, but I wouldn't mind getting to CRG for an evening workout sometime next week. I've been going about once a week.
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AntinJ
Jun 24, 2009, 3:43 PM
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Rob - Thanks for the feedback.
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jakedatc
Jun 24, 2009, 9:35 PM
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Yep.. the bouldering is pretty good.. the setting isn't super creative yet.. perhaps they will find some better setters and make use of their nice features better but for now it's decent. Boulder pass is only 10 bucks so it's well worth going if you're in the area to check it out.
like rob said.. similar look to Metro Everett but shorter and smaller.
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LiClimbs
Jun 25, 2009, 3:51 AM
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Central Rock Gym - Any cracks for climbing? I am curious.
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jakedatc
Jun 25, 2009, 4:41 AM
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no crack routes. no slab either(unless they have something on the beginner 2nd floor) ;) vert or steep... the way climbing should be done bahahaha 
Rumney this weekend.. hellls ya
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AntinJ
Jun 28, 2009, 11:53 AM
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Yesterday evening I went and checked out Central Rock Gym. Just as you guys described, the layout and variety is somewhat similar to MetroRock…but smaller. The gym has not been over run by “climbers” yet, so it still has that “birthday party” feel to it.
I enjoyed the bouldering there. A majority of the problems are overhanging, so it provided a great workout for me. They also have a 50+ move traverse problem which is always nice when you’re not in the mood to create your own or looking for a great burn. From the looks of it, I think CRG will have some great potential to cater to leaders: The walls are covered with draws.
Overall a good experience. It’s only 10 minutes from my work, so I’m sure I’ll be back.
Li - no cracks…
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robbovius
Jun 29, 2009, 2:02 PM
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three days at the Gunks, mini TR:
Thursday, arrived at the creekview campsites in rosendale (5 miles from Npaltz) about 3:30, was at the Trapps by 5, did what is becoming my traditional Gunks "Welcome Back" headspace climb - rope soloed Black Fly. then got chased off by rain and approaching darkness. back at the campsite i sat in the car for 40 minutes eating leftovers and waiting for the torrential downpours to pass.
Friday, woke to rain, drove to New paltz, hung out at Rock and Snow cruising their free WiFi. bought another Petzl Fuse 9.4 rope to see if that would work miore smoothly in my new ropesolo belay system. the rain abated and I drove back to creekview to batten my tentsite down further (online weather prediction included a severe thunderstorm warning with damaging winds)
got back to the trapps about 1:pm with the skies still pretty sunny, figured I'd have plenty of time. set up to rope-solo the Brat. did the first easy boulder move, stepped up and set a red tricam. by then I had an audience of a guy on a mountain bike.
I moved up into the crux below the left-facing crack, and set a green C3, downclimbed one move to think it thru. jammed my left hand, it felt good, grabbed a flake edge, stepped up higher onto small feet, didn't quite have enough reach for the next right hand. I downclimbed agin to rest and look and think it through some more.
at this point I pulled a bit of slack out of the rope solo system and set the belaydevice.
the bicylist asked, "have you climbed this before?"
"No."
"I've climbed it a few times, you're at the crux...not fun with the rock greasy like it is today. I've fallen from there"
"yeah, Black fly weas greasy yesterday too. all this rain and humidity, "says I.
then we felt the first raindrops, and quickly it became a light shower.
"DAMN!" again says I.
I think for a miniute and then add, "I'm gonna pull my gear and downclimb." at this point I'm only 12-15 feet off the ground.
"you want a spot?" asks the guy on the bike.
"I wouldn't say no" I reply.
I stepped back up and jammed my left hand, but then couldn't get the C3 out, because my hand was in the way, so I grabbed the flake edge with my right, retracted and pulled the C3 with my left hand, and...
...my right greased off and down I went with just enough time to blurt, "'FUCK!"
The system arrested the fall on the red tricam with 3 feet to spare. no summit, a minor plummet, and a minor scrape on the back of my left ankle. the red tricam though was now WELDED in place. no amount of tapping or fiddling made any progress in its removal.
by then though it was raining for real so I left it and finished the downclimb, thanked the bikerider for his spot, packed up and made it back to the car in time to drive to NPaltz in another torrential downpour. Dinner at Bacchus - mmmmmmmmmm.
after dinner the rain had abated and the skies had cleared, so I drove back to teh trapps, and walked back to the brat with my dry pair of MRs, my old foundling nut tool, and a small ballpeen hammer from my auto-tookit.
At the Brat I bouldered up to the red tricam, and had it out in 3 whacks of the ballpeen.
part of this trip included meeting up wioth some other climbers I know thru meetup.com, and they all arrived at various times friday night. we had a nice round of welcoming beers adn campfire at creekview. I whipped out the guitar and plucked a few notes.
saturday, woke to partly cloudy skies, and we all had breakky at the picnic table at the tents. then we drove to the mountain bistro where some bought lunchtime sandwiches adn we split up into two groups: there were only to leaders, myslef and a guy named kevin. I teamed up with a woman named Atsuko who had previous trad experience (but hadn't led anything in 5 years) and a young guy who hadn't climbed outside before though had done some gym toproping.
long story short, in between dodging the frequent rain showers, we got up Easy Overhang, of which I finally did the correct second pitch, (rather than linking up the top pitch of Baby as I did last year) which I found to be a nice mellow pitch, but with enough exposure to be very fun.
Atsuko was a solid second, and our new guy, andrew by name, was very game and got right up the climb with no noticable drama. we rapped off in the rain.
Oh yeah about that. at the bottom, we'd wondered if Andrew would need a belay device, and him not having to belay, I somehow forgot he'd need one to rap. way to lead the team , robb. Thus, he got my reverso 3, and I got to practice my mad munter hitch skillz. at the bottom I immediately gave him the extra belaydevice I had in my pack.
then we dodged showers for a while, ate a bit of lunch and finally (after a couple hours) waited for our turn at the bottom of Jackie, which had a watery sheen in places.
it was sketchy in places, a lot of wetness ( below the trees anyway) but I had a great time. that's a nice long first pitch, thoughtfull moves, another gunks classic, I can claim as an onsight. W00t Me.
Atsuko seconded in fine style, but it began to shower again when she was about 2/3rds of the way up. we huddled at the belay as I flaked rope 1 out to teh right and she belayed Andrew up, who again belied his newbishness by climbing strong, and a few folks previously on the route rapped down past us.
Ultimately, the concensus was to Press on Regardless, and the rain had again abated so I threw myself into the last juggy pitch, running it out a good 25 feet in one spot, just hauling up the jugs.
about halfway up,. the leaded of ouer second team, Kevin, was rapping down past, we shook hands and went our opposite ways.
at the top, we EDKd my two ropes and did the full length to the bottom, packed up, bailed out, bought beer, took showers started the campfire.
and, Then the Party Started.
good Tymez, pictures later.
Robb
(This post was edited by robbovius on Jun 30, 2009, 4:56 PM)
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LiClimbs
Jun 29, 2009, 6:18 PM
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Thanks for checking, I would still like to check it out. Anyone heading that way, need a belayer? Let me know.
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cracklover
Jun 29, 2009, 6:26 PM
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Nice TR, Rob! And good job making lemonade out of rather watery lemons.
GO
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jakedatc
Jun 29, 2009, 6:40 PM
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climbed with Epoch, Doc, Biner and her friend at Rumney. Much fun had by all. dodged rain for a good amount of sat and sunday. Doc and i wanted to try today but bailed when we awoke to much precip.
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wonderwoman
Jun 29, 2009, 8:45 PM
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Had a thrilling weekend in da Gunks, from which my body still aches!
Saturday: I led (and hung  ) the crux of Directissima. Ironically, I had no trouble with the crux move - it was the traverse that I came peeling off from. At the top it started raining, so Josh and I decided to simul-rappel at the High E station (extended and backed up rappels). At the final ledge, after lowering our rope to the ground, Josh and I started to rappel, and somehow his rap device snagged the back of my helmet and pulled me off the rock. I was left hanging from my chin strap and gasping for air, but never let go of the brake hand! Josh was trying to push me off his device and finally got me loose. (I told him later that he could have just lowered, and that would have released me, but I think he was just freaked out at seeing me hanging in the air, choking). Anyhoo, all is fine, and he went on to send Simple Suff, which I was unable to even top rope at that point.
Sunday: I attempted to lead Modern Times, and now I have a project! I can now say that I totally understand what all the hype is about that route now! I managed to pull the roof by heel hooking, but then got myself stuck in the big horizontal crack and couldn't get out. My whole body was wedged in there, minus my left leg that was dangling out. Thinking that I was about to take the biggest whipper of my life, I started screaming at the top of my lungs. I allowed myself a moment of panic before I saw that I could easily get a purple alien in the little hand crack there. Unfortunately, I did not have it in me to finish the climb at that point, and made Josh do more work. He finished it with no problems and then went on to send Nurses Aid, which I 'Aided' for the last 'wild hand traverse'.
So even though I did not finish anything that I started this weekend, I did have a crazy fun time. Well, except for the hanging in mid air choking part. That kinda sucked.
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cracklover
Jun 29, 2009, 9:37 PM
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WW - sounds thrilling indeed!
Don't feel bad about that traverse on Directissima. My first time on it I pumped out so badly from hanging out to place gear on the traverse that I couldn't finish the climb.
Regarding those choke marks - sure it was the helmet straps. Come on, you know you don't have to take this abuse, right? BEC - as your friend, we need to have a little chat.
Regarding Modern Times - that thing is no joke, huh! Thanks for the vivid imagery!
My weekend - Saturday was in Eldo, I led Allison up Bastille Crack. She loved it. Sunday: http://www.rockclimbing.com/...rum.cgi?post=2164914
GO
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AntinJ
Jun 29, 2009, 10:54 PM
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WW - I've been trying to work up the nerve to lead Directissima all season. Your TR was great to read, but certainly not helping my confidence!
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ratherbe
Jun 29, 2009, 11:46 PM
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Thanks for the mini-TR Rob, you brought a little life into the ol'MCT! And sounds like you had some good adventures. WW obviously felt she needed to one-up you and stage both a mid-rap strangle AND horizontal off-width climbing. Those super-heros, always clammering for attention! 
I did a brief Gunks assault on my way back from a visit to family in NY, hitting the Nears for a couple routes with Lucander when he got off work. We did Broken Sling and Criss Cross Direct, with much better results than the last time I was on either route.
Last year, I fell while placing the first piece on Broken Sling and busted my belayer's hand. And a few years ago when seconding Criss Cross Direct, I only managed the move over the piton by stepping on the silly thing (oui, oui!). This time, I let Lucander lead the first pitch of Broken Sling and I had fun on pitch 2. And with a couple attempts and one bruise, I worked my way through the start and then above the piton (without stepping on it) on Criss Cross Direct - my second Gunks 10a lead!
Now please weather gods... give us back the sun. Despite these reports, rain and mossy rock is not conducive to climbing!
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losbill
Jun 30, 2009, 1:32 AM
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Alright, I'll play. First off Rob I love the positive attitude and perseverance. Jackie is a great climb and a righteous onsight.
I was sitting at home very early on Saturday looking at the the unexpected blue sky and kicking myself for not making any climbing plans. Then the phone rang. "Want to go climbing?". It was an out-of-town friend who was intown and unexpectedly free. I knew Crow Hill was sopping and so it was out. Given the forecast didn't feel like driving to Rumney. And since my wetsuit was at the cleaners Cannon was out. So we headed west.
We clipped bolts as J & J and company did, but in Massachusetts. Good on you guys for getting out and get'n it dun as well.
Things actually dried out enough for my friend to break out the rack and do Barn Door. Great route! I pitched off the crux after several attempts and took the lower. It is tough and was pretty wet. I will give it a go on lead later in the season when it is dry and I'm in better shape. We had a great time and finished with brews and burgers at the Gardner Ale House. Life is good.
Jen congrats on the first Gunks 10a. Very impressive.
WW wow sounds scary! Also sounds like I really need to work on upping my game since MT and Directissima are on the tick list for this year.
There is always a silver lining! The tendonitis in my elbow has improved quite a bit over the last week and an half or so.
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robbovius
Jun 30, 2009, 2:49 AM
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Damn ! several of us at the Gunks and we all missed each other! ah well...next time I'm going I'll post up here too...
WW, so that's what that screaming was about.
losbill, thanks it was exciting and fun!
Jake, I bagged a .10c toprope ground up at CRG tonight. what's happening to me?
(This post was edited by robbovius on Jun 30, 2009, 2:56 AM)
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wonderwoman
Jun 30, 2009, 2:37 PM
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Wow - sounds like everyone had a great time this weekend! Massclimbers kick butt!
It is a bummer that we didn't meet up in the Gunks, Rob! Sounds like a great time! I did see a whole bunch of other familiar faces. Everyone seemed be be out and getting as much climbing in between rain clouds!
AntinJ wrote: WW - I've been trying to work up the nerve to lead Directissima all season. Your TR was great to read, but certainly not helping my confidence!
Don't let my experience influence you! I actually went out and purchased a new pair of shoes right after that climb. I got a tear in the toe of my evolves (after only 2 months of moderate use  ), and could actually see the rubber peeling back as I was trying to smear with my left foot. Yeah - let's blame it on the shoes and not poor footwork! 
ratherbe wrote: Criss Cross Direct - my second Gunks 10a lead!
Yeehaw, sister! What's next on the tick list? I think we need to do a gunks weekend together! Let's make it happen!
losbill wrote: WW wow sounds scary! Also sounds like I really need to work on upping my game since MT and Directissima are on the tick list for this year.
And I'm sure you'll do both very gracefully and in good style!
robbovius wrote: WW, so that's what that screaming was about.
 Was it really that loud?
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robbovius
Jun 30, 2009, 4:45 PM
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wonderwoman wrote: robbovius wrote: WW, so that's what that screaming was about. Was it really that loud?
yeah but it was totally Kewl. I just figured someone was focusing their Chi the same way I do. ;-)
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epoch
Moderator
Jun 30, 2009, 4:53 PM
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robbovius wrote: Damn ! several of us at the Gunks and we all missed each other! ah well...next time I'm going I'll post up here too... WW, so that's what that screaming was about. losbill, thanks it was exciting and fun! Jake, I bagged a .10c toprope ground up at CRG tonight. what's happening to me?
The grades are soft.. real soft?
Rob, you should know about gym grades and how they don't apply to the real world.
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wonderwoman
Jun 30, 2009, 4:54 PM
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robbovius wrote: wonderwoman wrote: robbovius wrote: WW, so that's what that screaming was about. Was it really that loud? yeah but it was totally Kewl. I just figured someone was focusing their Chi the same way I do. ;-)
Chi? More like pure terror, for me!
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robbovius
Jun 30, 2009, 4:57 PM
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LiClimbs wrote: Thanks for checking, I would still like to check it out. Anyone heading that way, need a belayer? Let me know.
Li, it so happens that I've been going there mondays pretty regularly, FYI...I'll post up definite plans next mon.
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robbovius
Jun 30, 2009, 5:00 PM
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epoch wrote: robbovius wrote: Damn ! several of us at the Gunks and we all missed each other! ah well...next time I'm going I'll post up here too... WW, so that's what that screaming was about. losbill, thanks it was exciting and fun! Jake, I bagged a .10c toprope ground up at CRG tonight. what's happening to me? The grades are soft.. real soft? Rob, you should know about gym grades and how they don't apply to the real world.
WW, terror, chi..."a rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet..."
(This post was edited by robbovius on Jun 30, 2009, 5:03 PM)
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jakedatc
Jun 30, 2009, 5:26 PM
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i don't think CR is that sandbagged.. compared to technical vert. routes at Rumney.. ala Romancing the stone, lonesome dove, Jolt. even the .11's like Lil devil, worlds easiest, and mind is a blank are pretty on par
gotta rock the variety
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robbovius
Jun 30, 2009, 6:35 PM
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jakedatc wrote: i don't think CR is that sandbagged.. compared to technical vert. routes at Rumney.. ala Romancing the stone, lonesome dove, Jolt. even the .11's like Lil devil, worlds easiest, and mind is a blank are pretty on par gotta rock the variety
I really don't think it is either, its just tricky on a lot of routes.
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