As climbers, we may disagree on some things (To bolt or not to bolt? Chalk: necessity or graffiti?), but one thing we can all agree on is the need to preserve access to our local climbing areas. Without access to the cliffs, style issues become moot. Imagine you’re a land manager. People are spraying obscene… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Articles
Trashcan Overhang – A Pictorial
In which two people who can’t climb Trashcan Overhang demonstrate how to climb Trashcan Overhang . . . Barry walks us through the opening moves. Start on the super-slick ramp, worry that you’re going to fall off the approach because it’s so slippery, then step up onto solid feet and away you go. That’s the… Read more »
Jean: The Life-Cycle of a Route
This is the story of a route at the Gunks named Jean, rated 5.9 because the 10c roof is so very short. Jean is typically climbed in four phases. In Phase I, the 5.9 leader climbs up to the roof wherein he encounters THE THING. THE THING used to be a Lowe Ball, or at… Read more »
Lyme Disease – A Climber’s Primer
I came home from the gym one night and found what I assumed was a chigger bite beneath the elastic of my sports bra. I’d heard about climbers getting chiggers at the Gunks. The bites–similar in appearance to a very large mosquito bite–are intensely itchy and appear in warm, moist, constricted areas. My bite hardly… Read more »