Brendan Mealia on Ron's Bully 2+ with John Mackey on belay

Brendan Mealia on Ron's Gully 2+

The start of Climax 2+ and the first curtain of Ice Capades 2+

I finally got outside after spending the week with my parents who were visiting from Florida.  Gained some weight, got the flu, lost some weight, and climbed some pretty good ice.  That about says it all for the week.  Things are pretty dry and snow-less in the valley and lower elevations of the Catskills right now.  Once you get into the higher elevations of the cloves the snow is starting to build and the ice is coming along nicely for this time of the year.  Stoney Clove has some good ice right now.  We climbed Climax 2+, Ron’s Gully 2+, and The Chute 3+ on Saturday.  The top outs as you can expect are kind of sketchy which makes the ice climbing seem pretty safe.  Everything else in Stoney Clove looked pretty good.  We also drove back to the thruway on 23A to check out the Moores Bridge area.  The Ravines look like the tops are in but not to sure about the bottoms of the ravines.  Asbestos Wall area is non existent.  Moores Bridge and anything below it are in rough shape right now.  Have fun in the high country.

Mark Folsom climbing Blister Toe 5.7 pitch 1 Trapps

Blistered Toe 5.7 Trapps

We have been out rock climbing at the Trapps and ice climbing in Stoney Clove.  Mark Folsom and I went rock climbing on Wednesday.   John Mackey and I went Rock Climbing on Saturday finishing all 3 pitchs of Sh*t Creek 5.7 in cold but sunny conditions.  John got the best of both worlds this weekend by finishing it off ice climbing for the first time this season in Stoney Clove at East Crag.  Johns overall look is pretty good for ice climbing conditions.

Desert plants and beautiful sun rises

Pitch 4 Solar Slab 5.6 Red Rocks, NV

Cat in the Hat Pitch 6 5.6 Red Rocks, NV

Mountain Skills Climbing Guides took a recent trip to Red Rocks, NV.  The climbing was fantastic, the weather was clear blue skies as far as the eye could see,the wildlife was abundant, and the amazing vibrant colors were everywhere. 

Roy Goldberg on the classic Horseman 5.5

Pitch 2 of Belly Roll 5.4 Trapps

The weather is still working out for us.  If it’s sunny and in the 40’s the climbing is going to be great.  The cliffs are starting to quiet down so if you want to climb and not see many people the time is right.  I’ve been out with some new friends and some old ones.  Hear are some recent photos of some guided days after I got back from Red Rocks.