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enigma
Jun 10, 2003, 7:05 AM
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---It's easy to remember the great places, those you'd return to time and again but what about those places you wouldn't.
---Mine would include Margeritteville in Southern California, sharp and chossy, Gilbrator Rock in Santa Barbara, because I got motion sickness every time I drove there,and couldn't climb. :( .Generally most crowded climbing areas during the height of tourist season. :roll:
What about you????
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tarzan420
Jun 10, 2003, 8:18 AM
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Registered: Jun 19, 2002
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hot potato - in the foothills around idaho falls, ID. This basalt cliff/hilbilly landfill isn't listed in the routes database for good reason! Last time I was there, there was even the remains of a moose carcass (including the head) strewn about over the rusted barbed wire, trashed snowmachine/dirtbike/yugo/lawnmower, etc. The smell was, at best, quite rank.
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jerrygarcia
Jun 10, 2003, 12:26 PM
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Registered: Aug 27, 2002
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Boucher rocks in Va. Its only about 5 minutes downstream from Great falls. The guide books claim the trail to it is maintained by PATC, well I hope I never hike on another trail of theirs because it hadnt been cleaned in about 20 years. I now have poison ivy all over my legs and so does the girlfriend. To top it off the 4 climbs that are in this small area had lichen all over them.
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photon
Jun 10, 2003, 1:46 PM
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Registered: Jan 31, 2002
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Red River Gorge stay away from there!
too many reasons to list.........
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katydid
Jun 10, 2003, 2:09 PM
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Registered: Aug 13, 2002
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I'm going to catch crap for this, but Franklin, WV. It's like a climbing gym with a horrible approach and bugs.
k.
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crag
Jun 10, 2003, 2:36 PM
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In reply to: I'm going to catch crap for this
You shouldn't considering how close Stu's place is or Seneca for that matter. With just a pitch over the next holler yins can be at the New Franklin doesn't have much appeal other than for local-yokels. Kinda of like me saying B-boro is a great place, when it's just a chipped and glued old stone quarry.
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cloudbreak
Jun 10, 2003, 4:01 PM
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Registered: Jul 15, 2002
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Texas Canyon......the sh!tt!est rock "I've" ever climbed on. You can't trust your feet if the holds won't hold them.
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petsfed
Jun 10, 2003, 4:17 PM
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Registered: Sep 25, 2002
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The Boulder Sport Park. There is something intrinsically wrong about being able to clip the next three bolts from one stance. Just wrong.
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maculated
Jun 10, 2003, 4:18 PM
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Registered: Dec 23, 2001
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Mount Diablo. Every climber and their brother here in the Bay Area goes there and thinks it is "a great place" and "fun." The rock is destroyed, there is lots of p.o. and the climbs are BORING.
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bandycoot
Jun 10, 2003, 4:22 PM
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Registered: Nov 25, 2002
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Otay in San Diego County. The routes are all featherbagged, the bolts can be clipped 3 at a time (~ 3' apart) and are typically really short. The setting is a small creek canyon with a large pipe running overhead across it, the bottom is marshy, and it's next door to a prison.
Josh
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pbjosh
Jun 10, 2003, 4:31 PM
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I second the Boulder Sport Park. Manufactured like mad, to boot.
For San Diego area stuff - Descanso is a nice chunk of rock with a few very poorly protected leads and a history of chopping and a pain in the ass to toprope. Bummer, could be a great place to teach people.
Otay his a hunk of sh!t as bandycoot mentioned.
josh
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kevlar
Jun 10, 2003, 4:36 PM
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Registered: Jun 5, 2002
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how about bed...sleep on the rocks/ground an you will never have to say..." ??? " I dont wanna get up out of bed
that said...we all have to enjoy the wonders of the world...so rock on
cheers
john
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apolobamba
Jun 10, 2003, 4:38 PM
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Registered: Jan 22, 2003
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I would have to agree with Texas Canyon as a place I would not go back to. This place is the definition of chossy.
I would add the boulders in Hope, NY, but I end up going back every time I am home.
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bumblie
Jun 10, 2003, 4:42 PM
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In reply to: Franklin, WV....... a horrible approach and bugs.
The approach is about 150 yards. Are you a gym rat?
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alpnclmbr1
Jun 10, 2003, 5:05 PM
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Registered: Dec 10, 2002
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pequop (sp) NV
horrible
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hyhuu
Jun 10, 2003, 5:13 PM
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Registered: Jul 25, 2001
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In reply to: In reply to: Franklin, WV....... a horrible approach and bugs. The approach is about 150 yards. Are you a gym rat?
Should also definitetly avoid Seneca or any alpine climbing out West for that matter. And the bugs in the East Coast? You don't say so. Let's not leave out the humidity also. Cheer.
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katydid
Jun 10, 2003, 5:17 PM
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Registered: Aug 13, 2002
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In reply to: In reply to: Franklin, WV....... a horrible approach and bugs. The approach is about 150 yards. Are you a gym rat?
No, I'm a Seneca/NRP climber who *doesn't like* gym climbing. Hence my comment about Franklin being like a gym -- big, juggy holds, all about power. If I want to go to the gym, I'll drive up to one and walk in the door. Besides, I prefer trad to sport. :mrgreen:
What I don't like about the trail at Franklin is that it's steep and unstable in many places. Very hard on my bum knee, even though it's not that long. I'll take the Stairmaster over the Franklin approach any day. It may be longer, but at least I know that what I'm stepping on is likely to stay put.
k.
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jman
Jun 10, 2003, 5:20 PM
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Registered: May 28, 2002
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Hey Katy...not going to give you too much crap about not liking Franklin, WV. :) Personally I like the area, but to each their own. Plenty of sport leads mainly from 5.9 to 5.11. The trails are not very well maintained but most of the climbs are within a 150 yard walk from the parking area. Oh well.
The place I would not go again is Cottonhill Boulders at the New River Gorge in West Virginia. Good looking boulders with potential. I think the area is park service land and a lot of non climbing people camp near the boulders and use the boulders as outhouses.
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vegastradguy
Jun 10, 2003, 5:20 PM
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Registered: Aug 28, 2002
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That small cliff outside of Las Vegas is Lone Mountain, Urban Crags. Ugh, all the bases of the routes are spray painted with letters, its in the sun all day, and the climbing is mediocre at best. ugh. that's the only place i've ever climbed that I would never go back to.
luckily, there's a few climbs here and there in Las Vegas that are...tolerable. :wink:
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tecais
Jun 10, 2003, 5:36 PM
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Registered: Jul 18, 2002
Posts: 58
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LA’s Point Dume. Checked this area out for the first time after a year’s worth of climbing at most other areas in the Santa Barbara – Ventura region. Got there early at 8:00 and had to pay $6 for park entry (apparently increased by $1 for the summer season). Well, not quite early enough as the point was already swarming in the LA County Sheriff’s Department Mountain Rescue Team. The Oceanside face was slimy and wet so we had no choice but the drier slab. Thought I’d lead up the only section that was not draped in the MRT’s ropes (the center route, 5.8) but quickly found the lead bolts are terrible with their heads almost rusted off! Bad pro plus the threat of more ropes and sand raining down from the MRT practice activities above convinced me to lower off at half height to set up my own TR for a safer outing. The climbing was repetitive on polished crimpy little edges and much the same on the three routes we did. You could wander anywhere on the slab under 5.10. So, as the guide said, certainly not a climbing destination area. On a positive note, the ocean view was different and nice.
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markc
Jun 10, 2003, 5:40 PM
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Registered: Jan 21, 2003
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I don't think I'll be back to Beams Rock, in southwestern PA. It's a small crag that sees a lot of groups. There aren't a whole lot of lines there, and more groups seem to be rappelling the good lines than actually climbing them. That's irritating, but it's also a drinking spot for local kids. There are cans and broken bottles strewn about, litter, and graffiti on the rock. On my last visit, there was a broken bottle of sunscreen at the base. No effort was made to clean it until we got there. It was just depressing.
I'm also not wild about McConnell's Mill (also in PA). Climbing is restricted to a pretty small area, it's crowded with groups every weekend, it stays wet for several days after a rain, and there's a lot of moss and lichen growth. It's not bad on a weekday, but I don't think I'll be there on the weekend again.
mark
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uncle_big_green
Jun 10, 2003, 6:39 PM
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Registered: May 15, 2002
Posts: 261
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-Table Mtn. aka Table Pile, Golden, CO - can you say grid bolting?
-Garden of the Gods. C Springs. Pretty, but the rock is sh*tty.
-Bubba City. The New, WV - not terrible, but why go there when there is nearby world class stuff at the other walls?
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maynardgkrebs
Jun 10, 2003, 6:58 PM
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Registered: Feb 28, 2003
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The Sport Park in Boulder Canyon is the worst crag I've ever been to.
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floridaputz
Jun 10, 2003, 7:00 PM
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Registered: Dec 30, 2002
Posts: 136
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I'm sure this will be unpopular, but the only place I will never go again that I've been to in the last 5 years is New River Gorge WV.
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dingus
Jun 10, 2003, 7:04 PM
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I've given this some hard thought. I can't think of a single destination to which I would categorically rule out a return visit. Not one.
The sport crags I've been to... they're OK.
Even the marginal trad places, like Tollhouse CA, or some of the crappy limestone crags we climbed in Tennessee back in the 70's and 80's... I can't rule em out. If they were at hand and I needed a fix, I'd be back there pronto!
Then I thought about some of the alpine and mountaineering routes I've managed. Some of them were true horror show choss fests where I was sure I would die or was even more afraid I'd survive. LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT (in hindsight that is)!
Ice climbing, bouldering, general fooling around; most places I've been to I've been to more than once. I'd go back again, cause when ya gotta climb, ya gotta climb.
Here's the single exception I can think of... (and I go back there too, if circumstances dictated, seeing as how I've been there twice so far)... the Pumpkin Patch outside of Reno NV. Place reminds me of that Kansas bouldering venue where the tallest boulder is like 8 feet and you have to climb in circles to get in any distance at all. Except that they are building a major eyesore of a housing development all around the place. May be plowed under now, for all I know. Vicious sandbagger locals too.
DMT
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