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mojomonkey
Nov 15, 2011, 2:53 PM
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Good to hear!
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mojomonkey
Nov 15, 2011, 5:10 PM
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So, anyone who actually is familiar with the area want to sort out the database? I'd like to check it out and guess I'll just get on whatever looks good and has OK looking bolts :) And ask anyone else who happens to be there. I scanned the database a little but it doesn't look like there is enough info to reliably pick out climbs.
There was a post about a guidebook that was pulled since it was closed - is that available again?
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Dip
Nov 16, 2011, 2:10 PM
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mojomonkey wrote: So, anyone who actually is familiar with the area want to sort out the database? I'd like to check it out and guess I'll just get on whatever looks good and has OK looking bolts :) And ask anyone else who happens to be there. I scanned the database a little but it doesn't look like there is enough info to reliably pick out climbs. There was a post about a guidebook that was pulled since it was closed - is that available again?
I think Safe Harbor is included in Rob Holtzman's (sp?) PA Guidebook. Eric Horst is also working on a Safe Harbor guide which is supposed to come out in 2012. If i can find my old guide i can email it to you if you'd like.
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mojomonkey
Nov 16, 2011, 3:59 PM
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Dip wrote: mojomonkey wrote: So, anyone who actually is familiar with the area want to sort out the database? I'd like to check it out and guess I'll just get on whatever looks good and has OK looking bolts :) And ask anyone else who happens to be there. I scanned the database a little but it doesn't look like there is enough info to reliably pick out climbs. There was a post about a guidebook that was pulled since it was closed - is that available again? I think Safe Harbor is included in Rob Holtzman's (sp?) PA Guidebook. Eric Horst is also working on a Safe Harbor guide which is supposed to come out in 2012. If i can find my old guide i can email it to you if you'd like.
That would be great. I'm hoping the weather is nice enough to check the place out on Sunday and it would be nice to know what I'm getting on :)
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mojomonkey
Nov 17, 2011, 10:35 PM
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Anyone familiar enough with the area that could just copy the main area route list and sort it left to right? Or note some easily recognizable features to pick out some of the good climbs?
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gosharks
Nov 18, 2011, 1:46 AM
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mojomonkey wrote: So, anyone who actually is familiar with the area want to sort out the database? I'd like to check it out and guess I'll just get on whatever looks good and has OK looking bolts :) And ask anyone else who happens to be there. I scanned the database a little but it doesn't look like there is enough info to reliably pick out climbs. There was a post about a guidebook that was pulled since it was closed - is that available again?
I have photos of a photocopy of an old guide that was printed in a magazine back in the day...
http://rgb63.com/stuff/safeharbor.zip
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mojomonkey
Nov 18, 2011, 3:11 AM
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awesome, thanks!
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justinjohnsen
Nov 18, 2011, 1:09 PM
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Thanks for the heads up, I figured I'd never get a chance to climb there. Shark, that's the OG Rock and Ice guide, sweet!
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mojomonkey
Nov 18, 2011, 5:07 PM
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I made a PDF with the images from the scans gosharks posted, and the text re-tpyed. I couldn't attach it here because of size.
I will likely update it, so let me know if you see things to fix / change. I will at least put in new maps/directions/etc.
Sounds like the place will be busy this weekend.
(This post was edited by mojomonkey on Nov 18, 2011, 6:06 PM)
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hyhuu
Nov 18, 2011, 5:25 PM
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So how many cars can fit into that parking space at the tunnel?
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Hotoven
Feb 14, 2012, 5:29 PM
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Here is also a new mini guide that is out.
http://safeharborclimbing.com/SH-MiniGuide-HORST.pdf
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j_ung
Feb 14, 2012, 7:09 PM
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I doubt I'll get up there any time soon, but this is fantastic news. I have a lot of fun memories from the early nineties at Safe Harbor. Autumn Arch was on of the first 5.10s I ever led. It's so great to hear this place is finally open again.
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helfrich
Mar 24, 2012, 11:17 PM
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This week, we revisited the recently re-opened sport climbing cliffs at Safe Harbor, Pennsylvania. Safe Harbor is only 2 hours away from DC over the border in Pennsylvania on the Susquehanna River. It currently has 88 bolted routes including many moderates in the 5.8 to 5.10 range (which we did) and others up to 5.13. The routes are generally face climbs on slabs of various angles to near-vertical with a few small but challenging overhangs. The routes are fairly short, up to 60' high, well-equipped and require only quick draws and a 50m or 60m rope.
The cliffs face south with little shade but could provide a good time on sunny winter days but best avoided in hottest summer. They cliffs run straight along a wide rails-to-trails trail paved with bluestone gravel. Some routes have amazing 4" drill holes for handholds from the original dynamite blasting for the railroad cut in the early 1900s.
The Safe Harbor Climbers Coalition, a new non-profit climbers association, has replaced many old bolts from the 1990s with reassuring shiny new bolts and anchors. It’s soliciting contributions for more re-bolting. Because of access issues with townships and the railroads, the area was closed to climbing in the 1990s. The South section re-opened in late 2011 and the North section is expected to re-open in 2012, see newspaper link below.
Eric Horst published a Safe Harbor South "miniguide" online in November 2011. His guide is available at http://safeharborclimbing.com/SH-MiniGuide-HORST.pdf . On the website, http://safeharborclimbing.com/ he said he plans to publish a guide for both South and North areas of Safe Harbor when the North end opens up again later in 2012. Eric Horst is well-known from his climbs at the New River Gorge in the 1980s and 1990s and other areas, as well as his training books and guidebooks. Climbers certainly owe the comprehensive development and bolting of the Safe Harbor cliffs to Eric, including his relentless efforts to re-open the cliffs. He equipped about 100 routes himself and lives only 10 miles away in Lancaster, Pa.
A newspaper article announcing the re-opening stated: "’This is no world-class area,’ Horst says, putting the cliffs' reputation into perspective. ‘In the spectrum of rock climbing, it's kind of a backwater training area. But in the context of a flat, rock-free area in the Mid-Atlantic region, it's a diamond in the rough.’” Lancasteronline, Nov. 15, 2011. That article also stated that the area was “[n]ot challenging enough for the cream of the crop and too tough for beginners. But in the well-populated intermediate playground, it caught on in a big way.”
We agree - we first climbed there with the PATC/MS in the early 1990s, as reported in our own club Up Rope newsletter. It’s a great training area close to DC, well-equipped and it made for a pleasant spring outing into the bucolic countryside yesterday.
Anyone who climbs there should heed the Safe Harbor website’s directions on access, parking, fixed anchors, overgrown/dirty routes, fund raising, sweat equity and walking the talk. For example, parking is extremely limited and car pooling is recommended while improvements and final regulations are considered.
A special note on directions from DC: The guide gives directions from the north/Lancaster side to the tunnel parking on Green Hill Road. However, one can also get to the tunnel from the south from Pequea, PA. From the south, a high-clearance car would do better; my minivan struggled a bit. To arrive from the south, put Pequea in your GPS. From the north, use the village of Safe Harbor. I would suggest adjusting the route your GPS tells you. Our GPS directed us north on busy Route 1 from Baltimore. Instead, we would recommend staying on I-95 north of Baltimore and exit on Route 24 to Bel Air MD, then up to Pequea PA.
This trip report is from the three members of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club’s Mountaineering Section who made a day-trip to Safe Harbor yesterday for lots of fun climbing -- Derek Marble, John Rayner and Jeanette Helfrich.
Links:
1. U Tube video of climbing at Safe Harbor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lmxFrlqyrU
2. Rockclimbing.com forum on Safe Harbor:
http://www.rockclimbing.com/routes/North_America/United_States/Pennsylvania/Southeastern_Region/Safe_Harbor/
3. Newspaper article announcing reopening of climbing, Nov. 15, 2011:
http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/497863_Safe-Harbor-cliffs--After-15-years--time-to-rock-again.html
4. Mini-guide to Safe Harbor South, Eric Horst, November 2011:
http://safeharborclimbing.com/SH-MiniGuide-HORST.pdf
5. Safe Harbor climbing website: http://safeharborclimbing.com/,
Author: Jeanette Helfrich, Member of PATC/MS, Adelphi Maryland, posted 3/24/12.
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cintune
Mar 25, 2012, 2:41 AM
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helfrich wrote: Anyone who climbs there should heed the Safe Harbor website’s directions on access, parking, fixed anchors, overgrown/dirty routes, fund raising, sweat equity and walking the talk.
Yes, please do; as the quoted article said, it's no world-class destination, but for those of us who live nearby it's pretty sweet to finally be able to go there on the up-and-up.
You can also get updated info at the Facebook Safe Harbor Climbing group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/216213511783864/
(This post was edited by cintune on Mar 25, 2012, 2:43 AM)
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