Mountain Skills Climbing Guides and Gunks Rock Climbing Instruction
Gunks Rock Climbing – 845-853-5450 – www.mountainskills.biz – Guiding the Gunks and BeyondArchive for Rock Climbing
Great Gunks Climbing Weather, Fall is not over!!!
Chuck Boyd on CCK 5.7+
Cruising the crux on CCK 5.7+ in the Trapps
Classic Routes and Classic Fall Weather in the Gunks
Pitch 2 of Beginner's Delight 5.3 Trapps
Monday I guided Joe and Suzanne in the Trapps. I have been guiding these two for a couple of days. We decided to start the day with Beginner’s Delight 5.3. This route is the best of its grade. The exposure on pitch 3, belay situations and excellent rock quality make it a total classic. After the long rappel off the Madam G’s ledge we headed down to Frog’s Head 5.6-. Both pitches on Frog’s Head are fantastic. Totally different from each other. We finished the day with the three star classic City Light’s 5.8-. It’s hard to complain about life with routes and weather like this.
Rock Climbing the Gunks in the Fall
Carla on pitch 2 of Gelsa 5.4 in the Near Trapps
Dickey Barre in the Peterskill
Saturdays for the last three weeks have been a wash in the Gunks, but any other day has been pretty amazing. Mid-week climbing right now is really good. The temps have been very comfortable and the rock has been dry. The leafs are a beautiful yellow across the ridge line. This makes sitting on the GT Ledge even that much better. The local farms are once again busy selling fall favorites. The next couple of weeks should be great.
October snow in the Gunks 10-15-09
High Exposure 5.6 just before the GT Ledge
Chuck Boyd climbing the last pitch of High Exposure 5.6 in a October snow storm
Full conditions in the Gunks
Well all I can say is yesterday was pretty interesting and fun. Chuck Boyd and a friend went to the Trapps to climb High Exposure 5.6+. I decided to tag along and take some pictures. The weather report was for precipitation around 5pm or so. I think we made it to 12:00pm before we were in a full on mid-October snow storm. The snow started to stick to fallen leaves and spider webs. I’m sure the spiders were caught by surprise as well. This short lived taste of winter won’t last long. Hopefully we can get back to some real fall weather.
Gunks peak colors this weekend!!! 10-14-09
Mark Folsom guiding Classic 5.7 at the Trapps
Looking down the cliff line at the Near Trapps and Millbrook
The fall colors in the Gunks are really popping right now. It seems if you turn your head they are a different color. The Adirondacks and White Mountains are already receiving snow in the higher elevations. With the cooler temps hitting earlier this year it’s time to get to the cliff and climb some classics while it’s still warm out. We are running daily climbing trips to the Gunks. If you would like one or two last hoorah’s outside call 845-853-5450 or check out or web site at www.mountainskills.biz
