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seanbon15
Apr 28, 2004, 2:25 AM
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Im going to the University of Maine next year and was wondering what good spots there were to climb around there, indoors and outdoors. Im aware they have an outing club, but any other information you can add would help. Thanks
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mother_sheep
Apr 28, 2004, 3:35 AM
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GO BLACK BEARS!
YAY ALPHA PHI!
Okay. . .sorry. I'm of no help! I went to UM way before I started climbing.
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flexdex
Apr 28, 2004, 2:57 PM
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I lived in the area for 15 years and went to Umaine. I fortunatley started climbing about 45 min from Umaine when I was 16.
It would be hard to give you directions to places ... to tell you the truth I did not know names of climbs or crags ... I have had a 4 year lapse in climbing and just started again... I rember Eagles Bluff was great. But as far as Umaine is concerned there is a great indoor wall they just reopened...lots of bouldering practice. And it is free for Umaine students. The outing club that runs it will be able to show you local stuff...
There is also a climbing store right on Main St. in Orono called "Alpenglow"
They know thier stuff and run trips.
If you get to it, I recomend a winter decent of Katahdin (SP). Great stuff.
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agilbert
May 15, 2004, 9:50 PM
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Climbing in Maine is a little limited. Probably the best gym would be Portland Rock Gym on Marginal Way in Portland. As for climbing outdoors there isn't much except for bouldering (Portland Headlight, Bradberry State Park, etc...) New Hampshire is unquestionably the closest place to find any quality sport or trad routes. Pick up a thick climbing volume for either the entire country or just New England to know all the little spots, but be prepared to trek between 2-4 hours for most good trips.
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tenacity
May 15, 2004, 10:05 PM
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I will also be going to UMaine next year for grad school. I have been living in the area during summers for my entire life however, and I can highly recommend the Clifton areas (Eagle Bluff, Fletcher's Bluff, Park's Pond and Chick Hill). Good granite face routes, some bolted, some trad, some mixed. Some are even multi (2-3) pitch.
It's one of my favorite places to go, and it's only 30 minutes or so from Orono. There's also lots of great stuff in Acadia (Otter Cliffs, etc.), but it's slightly farther away.
Look me up if you need a partner.
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sujones65
May 16, 2004, 12:02 PM
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definately make the trip to Acadia to climb at Otter Cliffs. It's a really beautiful setting and it's worth the trip. There are also some more substantial trad climbs on the Precepice and some other areas withing the park...you can buy a guide at Cadillac Mountain Sports which will help you make the most or your time there! AND..I'll be there this summer so if you ever want to climb or need a place to stay, get in touch!
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dorkmaster
May 16, 2004, 1:00 PM
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Welcome to Maine!
The Clifton Crags are a short ways away from the college. Go to the store alpenglow (as suggested earlier) and talk to John Tiereny. Purchase the guide book titled "Rock Climbers Guide to the Clifton Crags" it has over 200 routes ranging from like 5.3 to 5.13. Clifton is probably the most accesable place from the college for outdoor rock. UMO has an indoor climbing wall in the big white barn across from the Performaning Arts Center. Acadia is about 2 hours (i think) from UMO.
Have fun, and hope to see you at the crags!!! :D
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sujones65
May 16, 2004, 3:10 PM
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acadia is only one hour from UMO..maybe a tad longer but not two hours
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dorkmaster
May 16, 2004, 11:47 PM
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Oh okay, sorry, thanks for correcting me.
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cfnubbler
May 28, 2004, 8:10 PM
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In reply to: Climbing in Maine is a little limited.
Don't listen to this nonsense. Maine has tons of superb climbing. As mentioned, Acadia and Clifton are both great and close to where you'll be.
Farther away, but totally worthy, Baxter State Park has excellent adventure trad routes. Shagg Crag has fantastic steep sport routes. Wild River (OK, it's in NH, but only just) has more great climbing. Camden has decent climbing. And these are just a few reasonably well known areas with published route info. With a bit of digging, you'll find that there are tons more good crags in Maine.
This doesn't even take in to consideration the worldclass climbing in and around N. Conway, NH, which is an easy weekend trip away.
The guy posting above should drag his @ss out of the MRG and look around! Is it Yosemite? No, but it ain't bad.
-Nubbler
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maineman
Jul 29, 2004, 3:30 PM
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If you like less-than-vertical face climbing you're in for a treat. Clifton offers some of the finest granite face climbing to be found on the East Coast!
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mother_sheep
Jul 29, 2004, 3:33 PM
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If you go to Acadia, you'll drive right by my old house. :-( It's on rte 1 just next to Ellsworth Giant Sub and Blueberry Hill. Man am I ever homesick. Seems to always happen this time of year.
Once again, I'm no help.
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jumaringjeff
Jul 29, 2004, 4:48 PM
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Are you going to UMO? Watch out for all the washed-up Maine highschool sports stars that become miserable drunks and potheads by the end of their first semester.
:lol:
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cantdog
Jul 29, 2004, 7:53 PM
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Sweet, a load of maine folks. I'll be finishing up my last year at Colby this fall, so I'll be an hour south of you guys. I'll be looking for some climbing partners for the fall, since I've never climbed in maine. For climbing knowledge I can exchange ski knowledge.
You guys hit saddleback or the loaf much?
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jumaringjeff
Jul 29, 2004, 8:06 PM
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cantdog, I grew up in Waterville. Ahhh the memories of partying with the Colby folk. Stale beer, cheap reefer, and easy women. Good times.....
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illclimbthat
Jul 30, 2004, 9:30 PM
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hey, i go to school in maine too at Bowdoin. It seems like people covered most of the good places in the area (besides Shag's crag which is sooo cool). One thing I'd say is that as a student you're in maine from about september to may. September and october are great for climbing, but by november it's already rainy and cold. april is a bit sketchy and may isn't bad but there are A LOT of mosquitos. it's such a short season for climbing rocks so take advantage of the fall! since school was just starting and i was but a wee freshman, i didn't get to climb much and then when i started having time, the season was basically over.
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dorkmaster
Jul 30, 2004, 9:40 PM
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In reply to: If you go to Acadia, you'll drive right by my old house. It's on rte 1 just next to Ellsworth Giant Sub and Blueberry Hill. Man am I ever homesick. Seems to always happen this time of year. |
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thewreckage
Aug 1, 2004, 4:15 AM
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I am looking for help. This person "Nabbler" seems to have the most informed and unbiased opinions of climbing in Maine. I started climbing 4 months ago and have been to the Clifton area and loved it. I live in Portland and am not a fan of the gym climbing scene as it is not pure at all really. As far as additude goes mostly and also, obviously, it's fake "rock". So what i am looking to find out is where there is outdoor climbing within, say, 1 hours drive maximum. Day trip stuff. I know about Portland Head Light. Lot's of pads needed if bouldering. I am mostly climbing by myself when around home. I also went to Bradbury Mountain State Park in Pownal and found just a small ammount of bouldering (and please, correct me if i am wrong on these things). Is there much else around the Portland area? I also was informed of some cliffs in Waterboro on route 35 by a non-climber. I drove by them one day and saw that there were indeed some nice cliffs and was wondering if anyone knew if they were established or if i could get some info on them. I am trying to get a friend from Boston to come up and check them out with me and would like to know anything there is to know before i go. Thanks for whatever you've got to share.
-Derek
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haroldhal
Aug 5, 2004, 6:14 PM
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I also grew up in Maine (Belfast) and climbed extensively in Maine. Good advice talking to John Tierney of Alpenglow. The school year is the best time to climb in Maine. I have climbed at Fletcher's Bluff into January as long as you can drive the road or know someone with a snowmachine. Although it was cold temps, at the base of the cliff it was t-shirt weather. I find the summer to be the worst for climbing in Maine with all the humidity and bugs.
The directions I got the first time to Fletchers was to drive out route 9 past Clifton and turn left on a dirt road after a long left curve with a guardrail. Cross over the wooden bridge and drive until you see the cliff on the right. We made it. (I think that the road is "9-13")
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haroldhal
Aug 5, 2004, 6:17 PM
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I also grew up in Maine (Belfast) and climbed extensively in Maine. Good advice talking to John Tierney of Alpenglow. The school year is the best time to climb in Maine. I have climbed at Fletcher's Bluff into January as long as you can drive the road or know someone with a snowmachine. Although it was cold temps, at the base of the cliff it was t-shirt weather. I find the summer to be the worst for climbing in Maine with all the humidity and bugs.
The directions I got the first time to Fletchers was to drive out route 9 past Clifton and turn left on a dirt road after a long left curve with a guardrail. Cross over the wooden bridge and drive until you see the cliff on the right. We made it. (I think that the road is "9-13")
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dsafanda
Aug 5, 2004, 6:47 PM
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Even thought I went to Bowdoin way back when, I don't know much about the climbing scene in Maine. However, I recently designed a web site for a Maine guide service. Just taking a look their site, you get the idea that there is some fantastic trad climbing in Maine. I need to make it back to the east coast one day and check it out.
http://www.acadiaclimbing.com
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ikefromla
Aug 5, 2004, 7:49 PM
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ya'll are making me wanna move to maine.
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flexdex
Aug 5, 2004, 9:26 PM
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No offense ... but coming from LA HOW COULD you not want to move to MAINE..."It's the way Life Should BE"
I am jsut not a city guy...I am also not a toothless redneck barfighting type...finding the lesser of 2 evils.
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cantdog
Sep 7, 2004, 10:56 PM
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just moved on back up, I'm in waterville. If anyone is hitting acadia or elsewhere this week...let me know. I havent climbed up here before.
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sarcat
Sep 7, 2004, 11:16 PM
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Took the wife and climbed all over Arcadia back in June. We loved it. Since I like the ocean so much I might even trade Maine for UT. Well.... maybe not.
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