Ice climbing season drifted right into rock climbing season nicely this year.  Personally, I left the ice climbing season kicking and screaming.  Once I got back to the Gunks and started climbing hard, that kicking and screaming turned to laughter and joy.  It also turned into logging some serious air time climbing those hard routes.  Hey, trying to get better always involves some failures.  Those failures are actually small battles won.  The small battles your mind likes to fight with you while trying to push your limits.

So another amazing Gunks rock climbing season gets back into full swing.  Warm days on these southeast facing cliffs, watching birds catch thermals, the leafs pop and then change, temperature inversions with low-lying clouds in the Hudson Valley, and yes even bugs bring the love of this area back again.  So many wonderful classic routes to climb it will make your mind swim.  It’s time to get back to one of the oldest and best climbing venues the U.S. has to offer.

The approach trail from the Orebed Trail is packed and easy to negotiate right now.  Once in the bowl we decided to take a line way to the left, since the ice up the middle seemed to be verglas.  Couple more days and that line will be in better shape.  The snow is super firm making the climbing very enjoyable and fun.

We connected with the normal line after passing the thin ice to our right.  The snow on the bushes and trees is amazing.  Climbing in the alpine zone close to the top of Gothics is really a sight to see.

The True North Slide is just as easy to get down right now.  Just a little dust over a nice crust.  Get it while the gettin’s good.

The end of the ice climbing season this year came by a little to fast for me.  It has been sad to see it go.  Letting go of it hasn’t been easy, so with the opportunity to get some more alpine climbing in just before the true start of spring was an easy answer.  Climb the Trap Dike on Mt. Colden in the Adirondacks.  No problem.  I got a later than normal start for me, leaving the trail head at the Adirondack Loj at 9:00am.  With the sun out until 7:00pm I wasn’t worried at all.  The hike into Marcy Dam was easy and obviously well packed.  With a small break for food and water at the dam, the rest of the approach to Avalanche Pass and to the start of the Trap Dike went easy.  Caffine always makes the morning approach more manageable.

The lake was still frozen, so we crossed at the closest spot between both sides of Avalanche Lake to the mouth of the Trap Dike.  Once across, it was time to rack up and pick a good line to start ascending the dike.  With the warmer temps parts of the ice bulges were blown out with water running.  The ice wasn’t in bad shape for this time of the season.  Besides, if you have a good attitude, life is always going to be fun.  I short roped the whole climb starting at the Trap Dike itself and ending with the Colden Slide summit.  I only had two spots that I actually set a belay on while climbing the ice in the dike.  We had to post hole a fair amount of the climb.  The sudden warmer temps had made the snow pack softer allowing the deep snow wells to cave in under pressure.  The majority of the Colden Slide snow pack was firm with short sections of slabby ice that was actually a welcomed site compared to the deep snow wells.

The weather cooperated with the sun shinning down on us all day.  It couldn’t have been a better day to enjoy the mountains.  The wind picked up once on the summit making the lunch break/summit celebration a little subdued.  After a quick refuel and gear switch it was time to start our decent.  I decided to descend using the Trap Dike instead of hiking down the back side of Colden.  This turned out to be a fun and interesting way to descend.  The bushwack at the top of the Trap Dike was easy to manage and rappelling the ice bulges went easy.  Once we got back down to the lake it was a straight shot back to the parking area and salvation.  Pretty amazing day.

The weather cooperated with only a few cold days.  No major storms or other issues to speak of that slowed the course down.  Chuck and I pretty much ate out every night with a couple of guides that we met in the course.  What can I say about gingerbread cake and pumpkin ice cream.  I climbed with Patrick Weaver from North Carolina everyday.  Patrick is a great guide and somebody I would be happy to work with any day of the year.

The Palenville Corner WI 4+ is another route that had been on my tick list for sometime.  Both lines are beautiful and ascetic.  They beg to be explored as you look at them.  When conditions are good, don’t miss the opportunity to climb either.  Tree anchors for both at the top allow you to either rap the route or to lower and have the second clean it as a top rope.

A long time client of mine headed up to Buttermilk Ravine on Friday.  This was my first trip into Buttermilk since last season.  I like to wait until mid-season to climb this particular ravine.  With the 10 inches of fresh pow we received the other day I knew the 45 minute approach would a lot more manageable.  It’s just a way more ascetic of a route with a ton of snow on the ground.

I like to do all the pitches even if they are short.  It just seems like that is what was the natural intention was.  Pitch 2 took a serious beating sometime over the warmer months.  Tons of large downed trees litter the pitch and the approach.  I climbed it, but I don’t think I’m gonna do it ever again.  The downed trees have really taken away from the beauty of it.

The rest of the climb is in great shape.  Some of the easier lines are not really ready for safe solid screws.  The creek is still open is spots that are typically used for hiking from fall to fall.  With a little bit of a warm up this coming week, the snow should consolidate and make travel a little easier.

The upper pitches are in pretty good shape right now.  The right side variation of pitch 6 seemed a little thin in spots but totally doable.  The final flows are all ready to take a beating by tools & crampons.  Have at it.

I finished by climbing Plattekill Falls.  Some odd parasols guard the top out making for some interesting climbing.  Coupled with the cracking and moaning noises being made by the main tube made the last pitch of the day pretty exciting.

Wednesday Kirk, Wes, and I headed up to Stoney Clove to climb the East Side Corners.  They are in great shape right now.  The right side goes at WI4+ and the left side being strange WI3+.  A WI4+ has formed to the left of these corners.  Have fun!!!  Happy New Year.

The photos are from me guiding on Wednesday.  We climbed Climax, Ice Capades, &  Ron’s Gully.  Moore’s Center & Moore’s Right are looking good.  Moore’s Left and Moore’s Bridge Gully are still pretty thin.  Palenville Corner is good to go.  The ravines look like they are all pretty fat.

The next morning, bright and early, we headed up to the Adirondack’s to climb Roaring Brook.  It was in amazing shape.  Super easy and fun from top to bottom.  Dustin, Ralph and I blasted it pretty quick.

We had some more time on the watch so we headed over the Cascade Pass to climb some single pitch routes.  I had never been on any of the top roping area so we finished the day running laps.  Saturday and Sunday we guided in the Catskill’s.  Conditions are pretty good for this time of the year.  Some lines are better than others depending on the volume of water running.  We could certainly use some snow to make the approaches more enjoyable.

Headed up to Stoney Clove yesterday with the red coats to climb some ice and to see if conditions were improving.   Things are moving along nicely up in the cloves.  The usual suspects are patching themselves up and some rarely seen lines are appearing.  The ice is a cross between sticky, wet, and brittle.  I guess that’s to be expected since it’s pretty darn cold out after a heavy rain.  As can be expected the approach to Stoney Clove is hideous.  A lite glaze of ice and snow over choss.  Move slow to keep your ankles pointed in the right direction.

We think we may have climbed a new rarely formed route yesterday 40 feet to the right of The Gurgler WI 3.  We called it The Red Coats Are Coming WI 4R/X.  The bottom is extremely thin ice with no gear for 45 feet.  Once you hit the yellow ice and a thankful stance you can finely get a 13cm screw in.  After that life is good.  These photos are of Wes Converse gettin after it on a onsighted  maybe/new route.