|
bouldervhard
Feb 19, 2011, 7:34 PM
Post #1 of 57
(6029 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Feb 21, 2008
Posts: 10
|
We all know that the south is notorious for keeping ares under wraps however, I am just wondering how secretive areas are kept in other areas around the country.
(This post was edited by bouldervhard on Feb 19, 2011, 7:37 PM)
|
|
|
|
|
jeepnphreak
Feb 19, 2011, 7:44 PM
Post #2 of 57
(6021 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jul 29, 2008
Posts: 1259
|
Some of them are quite secrete, especially the routes that are not in the guide books, at least for my area
|
|
|
|
|
climbingtrash
Feb 19, 2011, 9:17 PM
Post #3 of 57
(5998 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jan 19, 2006
Posts: 5114
|
I know of some world class places that you'll be hard pressed to find info on. So in other words, pretty secret.
|
|
|
|
|
rocknice2
Feb 20, 2011, 1:32 AM
Post #4 of 57
(5941 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jul 13, 2006
Posts: 1221
|
They are never secret forever or very long for that matter. Usually the developing team picks the best lines and the later on brings a couple of close friends to see what they established. These friends eventually bring two more friends and the secret is over.It takes about anywhere from 2 - 5 years to spread the word.
|
|
|
|
|
cush
Feb 20, 2011, 2:21 AM
Post #5 of 57
(5921 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Oct 2, 2008
Posts: 320
|
there are a couple fantastic places around me that are kept reletively secret. in the northeast, an area with painfully little sport climbing, a fantastic sport crag with fun, steep lines has been kept very low key for decades as well as another series of crags about 10 minutes away which has only recently been made public but before that there was a great deal of climbing and only about 18 or so people knew about it. of course now that it has a guidebook and is published on the internet people will start to show up in droves and ruin my little rock sanctuary.
|
|
|
|
|
K-Tanz
Feb 20, 2011, 2:33 AM
Post #6 of 57
(5914 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Dec 18, 2009
Posts: 34
|
There are some smaller secret crags that are pretty well guarded and don't have any route listings online. Most of the "Secret spots" have hand-made pdf's available online, and then there are one or two spots where the best guides are kind of closely under wraps as more of a locals only type thing.
|
|
|
|
|
brokesomeribs
Feb 20, 2011, 3:33 AM
Post #7 of 57
(5896 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jul 20, 2009
Posts: 361
|
cush wrote: there are a couple fantastic places around me that are kept reletively secret. in the northeast, an area with painfully little sport climbing, a fantastic sport crag with fun, steep lines has been kept very low key for decades as well as another series of crags about 10 minutes away which has only recently been made public but before that there was a great deal of climbing and only about 18 or so people knew about it. of course now that it has a guidebook and is published on the internet people will start to show up in droves and ruin my little rock sanctuary. I think I know the area you're talking about. One 5.9 on the far left, a loooong 5.10 in the middle, and a bunch of harder 5.11-5.12 routes on the right, and then some low angle slabs to the far right? Name starts with a T? (At least, that's what my friends and I have been calling it for about 7-8 years). That area stays pretty off the radar and is within 30 minutes of NYC. In all my 10-15 visits, I've only seen other climbers there a single time. Pretty amazing for good quality sport climbing that close to a major metropolitan area. Personally, I'm pretty selective about who I bring there.
|
|
|
|
|
milesenoell
Feb 20, 2011, 4:40 AM
Post #8 of 57
(5868 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 19, 2006
Posts: 1156
|
I can't decide if the answer is too secret or not secret enough. I know that there are a bunch of secret spots around, but I haven't made the right friends yet to get the beta on them.
|
|
|
|
|
enigma
Feb 20, 2011, 10:42 AM
Post #9 of 57
(5829 views)
Shortcut
Registered: May 19, 2002
Posts: 2279
|
New Jack City -Beautiful Black Basalt- just updated by Jack Marshall, lots of sports climbs, free camping, bathrooms, showers, jack and the box-hamburger,fries and coke, free if you mention RC.Com(jack please handle this) need a map Riverside Quarry- Excellent Great Climbs, Easy Sport Routes, Many Maps, Etc Apple Valley- Shouldn't be missed, alot of great climbs, some on the sharp side, but easy for the grade, nice area, plenty of locals , restaurants, etc maps needed Lucerne Limestone- Only there once very pretty white limestone with a touch of pink difficult to find the routes, but some insiders might tell you if they like you, Close to j.tree Perris-Big Rock- havent been there but very popular, alot of local interest maps and directions needed Devils Punchbowl- A favorite sandstone are hidden locals enjoy towards wrightwood. need map or local Mt baldy- mostly for scrambling, but you can climb anyway towards foothills nice trails also used for skiing. maps and google
|
|
|
|
|
joeforte
Feb 20, 2011, 12:27 PM
Post #10 of 57
(5814 views)
Shortcut
Registered: May 9, 2005
Posts: 1093
|
brokesomeribs wrote: cush wrote: there are a couple fantastic places around me that are kept reletively secret. in the northeast, an area with painfully little sport climbing, a fantastic sport crag with fun, steep lines has been kept very low key for decades as well as another series of crags about 10 minutes away which has only recently been made public but before that there was a great deal of climbing and only about 18 or so people knew about it. of course now that it has a guidebook and is published on the internet people will start to show up in droves and ruin my little rock sanctuary. I think I know the area you're talking about. One 5.9 on the far left, a loooong 5.10 in the middle, and a bunch of harder 5.11-5.12 routes on the right, and then some low angle slabs to the far right? Name starts with a T? (At least, that's what my friends and I have been calling it for about 7-8 years). That area stays pretty off the radar and is within 30 minutes of NYC. In all my 10-15 visits, I've only seen other climbers there a single time. Pretty amazing for good quality sport climbing that close to a major metropolitan area. Personally, I'm pretty selective about who I bring there. There are a lot of "secret" areas in PA, but mostly due to the fact that they are on private land. A good number of these have landowners that allow climbing, but specifically ask that nothing gets posted/published about their land. The private areas in PA outnumber the public areas by at least a factor of 10, and most of them are better quality climbing as well. I was amazed when I found several 250'+ cliffs in PA with great sport and trad climbing on them, but little to no documentation. I used to think it was stupid to keep such good areas secret, until I started talking to landowners myself. Most of them have no problem letting you on their land. They would just rather keep the crowds (and garbage that goes with them) away. BTW, Cush, I think you are referring to the transit cliffs, right? Nice little spot, although I think the secret is out. Last time I was there, there were 3 different groups fighting over that 9 and 10!
|
|
|
|
|
theskibumjohnson
Feb 20, 2011, 12:53 PM
Post #11 of 57
(5806 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Dec 20, 2008
Posts: 6
|
the best way to keep a secret would be to post it on rockclimbing.com under secret climbing, and I am going to tell you a secret but don't tell anyone. This is how i usually kept my secrets and no one ever finds out. I will be looking for your posts in the future.
|
|
|
|
|
rtwilli4
Feb 20, 2011, 1:28 PM
Post #12 of 57
(5789 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Feb 14, 2008
Posts: 1867
|
A lot of the best climbing in NC has never been in any guide or on the internet. A lot of other good areas are only featured in hand made guides that you'd have to really look for to find. Even the current NC guidebook is a "select climbs" style. Many of these areas are not really "kept secret" but I find that a lot of people now a days would rather read about climbing on the internet then actually make friends in the real world who might take you to unpublicized areas. All I've had to do is ask and people usually tell me... but there won't ever be any info about the areas on the internet. It's just in the past year or so that I've started to see pics of the most popular NC areas in R&I and Climbing and those places have been publicized for decades.
|
|
|
|
|
bouldervhard
Feb 20, 2011, 3:39 PM
Post #14 of 57
(5745 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Feb 21, 2008
Posts: 10
|
Around Chattanooga there seems to be a trend of people finding areas and thinking that they are new. Later they find out that the place was semi popular 15 or more years ago and that all their "FA's" really in fact were just repeats from a generation past. Definitely a result of 0 documentation or spray of these areas.
|
|
|
|
|
climbingtrash
Feb 20, 2011, 3:44 PM
Post #15 of 57
(5734 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jan 19, 2006
Posts: 5114
|
enigma wrote: New Jack City -Beautiful Black Basalt- just updated by Jack Marshall, lots of sports climbs, free camping, bathrooms, showers, jack and the box-hamburger,fries and coke, free if you mention RC.Com(jack please handle this) need a map Riverside Quarry- Excellent Great Climbs, Easy Sport Routes, Many Maps, Etc Apple Valley- Shouldn't be missed, alot of great climbs, some on the sharp side, but easy for the grade, nice area, plenty of locals , restaurants, etc maps needed Lucerne Limestone- Only there once very pretty white limestone with a touch of pink difficult to find the routes, but some insiders might tell you if they like you, Close to j.tree Perris-Big Rock- havent been there but very popular, alot of local interest maps and directions needed Devils Punchbowl- A favorite sandstone are hidden locals enjoy towards wrightwood. need map or local Mt baldy- mostly for scrambling, but you can climb anyway towards foothills nice trails also used for skiing. maps and google Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot?
|
|
|
|
|
petsfed
Feb 20, 2011, 3:54 PM
Post #16 of 57
(5725 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 25, 2002
Posts: 8599
|
bouldervhard wrote: Around Chattanooga there seems to be a trend of people finding areas and thinking that they are new. Later they find out that the place was semi popular 15 or more years ago and that all their "FA's" really in fact were just repeats from a generation past. Definitely a result of 0 documentation or spray of these areas. Its my claim that if you fail to publicize an ascent at the time of ascent, you lose the ability to be offended when it gets renamed. That is, you can't be upset that your efforts to avoid publicity resulted in an absence of publicity. Even so, there's no harm in recording the original name, and who did the first ascent is a historical fact, and won't change because the community likes a different person better (vis a vis Incredible Hand Crack or Supercrack of the Desert, or a couple others). I only know of a few secret areas out here. The trick is that there's so much rock in Wyoming, keeping an area secret is pretty pointless. Even Ten Sleep, that long kept secret of northern Wyoming has way more routes than it does sufficient parking for people to climb them. A few seasons back, I parked at the Mondo Beyondo lot, in one of the last available spots, then did not see another party, even walking past us, all day. This was the case for two days in a row.
|
|
|
|
|
bouldervhard
Feb 20, 2011, 4:01 PM
Post #17 of 57
(5719 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Feb 21, 2008
Posts: 10
|
Not really a matter of them getting upset about it. I think the case is more just that some didn't care in the same way then.
|
|
|
|
|
Kartessa
Feb 20, 2011, 4:10 PM
Post #18 of 57
(5706 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 18, 2008
Posts: 7362
|
I'm not sure how well secrets work around here...the more you try to keep an area quiet, the more people want to feel special and climb there.
|
|
|
|
|
lofstromc
Feb 20, 2011, 4:14 PM
Post #19 of 57
(5701 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Aug 1, 2005
Posts: 528
|
I think Virginia has a few secret spots that have been around a while.
|
|
|
|
|
TheRucat
Feb 20, 2011, 10:22 PM
Post #20 of 57
(5650 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Dec 21, 2008
Posts: 234
|
joeforte wrote: brokesomeribs wrote: cush wrote: there are a couple fantastic places around me that are kept reletively secret. in the northeast, an area with painfully little sport climbing, a fantastic sport crag with fun, steep lines has been kept very low key for decades as well as another series of crags about 10 minutes away which has only recently been made public but before that there was a great deal of climbing and only about 18 or so people knew about it. of course now that it has a guidebook and is published on the internet people will start to show up in droves and ruin my little rock sanctuary. I think I know the area you're talking about. One 5.9 on the far left, a loooong 5.10 in the middle, and a bunch of harder 5.11-5.12 routes on the right, and then some low angle slabs to the far right? Name starts with a T? (At least, that's what my friends and I have been calling it for about 7-8 years). That area stays pretty off the radar and is within 30 minutes of NYC. In all my 10-15 visits, I've only seen other climbers there a single time. Pretty amazing for good quality sport climbing that close to a major metropolitan area. Personally, I'm pretty selective about who I bring there. There are a lot of "secret" areas in PA, but mostly due to the fact that they are on private land. A good number of these have landowners that allow climbing, but specifically ask that nothing gets posted/published about their land. The private areas in PA outnumber the public areas by at least a factor of 10, and most of them are better quality climbing as well. I was amazed when I found several 250'+ cliffs in PA with great sport and trad climbing on them, but little to no documentation. I used to think it was stupid to keep such good areas secret, until I started talking to landowners myself. Most of them have no problem letting you on their land. They would just rather keep the crowds (and garbage that goes with them) away. BTW, Cush, I think you are referring to the transit cliffs, right? Nice little spot, although I think the secret is out. Last time I was there, there were 3 different groups fighting over that 9 and 10! It's definitely not the secret I once thought it to be. I think the lack of any moderate routes and the sketchiness of some of the routes/access keep most people away. I've also read about a high quality secret spot near the trisect.. Haven't had the chance yet to head up there and find out for myself whether it exists or not.
|
|
|
|
|
petsfed
Feb 20, 2011, 11:38 PM
Post #21 of 57
(5622 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 25, 2002
Posts: 8599
|
bouldervhard wrote: Not really a matter of them getting upset about it. I think the case is more just that some didn't care in the same way then. Nice! People in your neck of the woods don't act like they do in mine.
|
|
|
|
|
joeforte
Feb 21, 2011, 3:16 AM
Post #22 of 57
(5554 views)
Shortcut
Registered: May 9, 2005
Posts: 1093
|
TheRucat wrote: joeforte wrote: brokesomeribs wrote: cush wrote: there are a couple fantastic places around me that are kept reletively secret. in the northeast, an area with painfully little sport climbing, a fantastic sport crag with fun, steep lines has been kept very low key for decades as well as another series of crags about 10 minutes away which has only recently been made public but before that there was a great deal of climbing and only about 18 or so people knew about it. of course now that it has a guidebook and is published on the internet people will start to show up in droves and ruin my little rock sanctuary. I think I know the area you're talking about. One 5.9 on the far left, a loooong 5.10 in the middle, and a bunch of harder 5.11-5.12 routes on the right, and then some low angle slabs to the far right? Name starts with a T? (At least, that's what my friends and I have been calling it for about 7-8 years). That area stays pretty off the radar and is within 30 minutes of NYC. In all my 10-15 visits, I've only seen other climbers there a single time. Pretty amazing for good quality sport climbing that close to a major metropolitan area. Personally, I'm pretty selective about who I bring there. There are a lot of "secret" areas in PA, but mostly due to the fact that they are on private land. A good number of these have landowners that allow climbing, but specifically ask that nothing gets posted/published about their land. The private areas in PA outnumber the public areas by at least a factor of 10, and most of them are better quality climbing as well. I was amazed when I found several 250'+ cliffs in PA with great sport and trad climbing on them, but little to no documentation. I used to think it was stupid to keep such good areas secret, until I started talking to landowners myself. Most of them have no problem letting you on their land. They would just rather keep the crowds (and garbage that goes with them) away. BTW, Cush, I think you are referring to the transit cliffs, right? Nice little spot, although I think the secret is out. Last time I was there, there were 3 different groups fighting over that 9 and 10! It's definitely not the secret I once thought it to be. I think the lack of any moderate routes and the sketchiness of some of the routes/access keep most people away. I've also read about a high quality secret spot near the trisect.. Haven't had the chance yet to head up there and find out for myself whether it exists or not. I think I've seen that trisect area from far away. I always wanted to check it out as well. Looked like mostly face/slab to me, which is cool because we don't have much of that.
|
|
|
|
|
sungam
Feb 22, 2011, 3:42 PM
Post #23 of 57
(5441 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jun 24, 2004
Posts: 26804
|
bouldervhard wrote: Around Chattanooga there seems to be a trend of people finding areas and thinking that they are new. Later they find out that the place was semi popular 15 or more years ago and that all their "FA's" really in fact were just repeats from a generation past. Definitely a result of 0 documentation or spray of these areas. Heh, this happened to me. I'm kinda fond of finding new areas, and have been on several "FA's" and found 20 year old mank halfway up. Hah! Then I once heard someone talking about a route they though they were popping the cherry on when they found an old cam in a horizontle. I wondered up and asked if it had a hand-tied blue and red sling on it. It sure did, and when I said it was mine the response I got was "You clipped that shit? I got it out and threw it away when I got home". Damnz! I wanted my cam back :/ Seems that route has had at least 3 "FA's".
(This post was edited by sungam on Feb 22, 2011, 3:45 PM)
|
|
|
|
|
mrtristan
Feb 24, 2011, 5:37 PM
Post #24 of 57
(5325 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jun 21, 2002
Posts: 596
|
The secret areas around me are pretty dang secret. There are a handful of guys that develop routes, and sometimes they (we) don't publish the information for a variety of reasons.
|
|
|
|
|
potreroed
Feb 24, 2011, 5:44 PM
Post #25 of 57
(5320 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 30, 2001
Posts: 1454
|
Here in the Potrero Chico nothing is kept secret for very long, after all, there are miles and miles of unclimbed walls. Back in my summer home in Wisconsin, however, we keep a few areas under pretty tight wraps.
|
|
|
|
|
|