Rock Climbing

The sport of rock climbing has been my most enduring athletic activity. Combining strength, agility, intellect, and emotional control in a riveting outdoor environment, there's nothing like it.

If hiking is more to your taste, have a look at out sister site, New England Trail Review, for hundreds of stunning trail photos, and detailed guides to trails, loops, and sights.

The author bouldering in the White Mountains

(Note that the main section of the Orenaug (Woodbury CT) climbing area is currently closed to climbing. Please cooperate with the landowner, and be polite at all times).

Join us on a hike in the White Mountains of New Hampshire (8/00)

Come visit the climb on which I have worked the longest, Charging Rhino 5.10 b/c (Orenaug, Woodbury, CT) - see the pictures, and read a move by move description of the climb. (Closed to climbing)

Get some tips on a good solid 5.10 with some very unusual moves - Water Waves, 5.10c (Orenaug, Woodbury, CT) . (New as of 7/98) (Closed to climbing)

Work with me on my latest nemesis: Congo, direct line, 5.11 b/c (Orenaug, Woodbury, CT) - just completed in 1998. Join me move by move through each crux. (New as of 7/98) (Closed to climbing)

Enjoy a variation on the Rattlesnake Mountain climb "Achilles Heel" - Up The Slick Surface Of Heaven, climbed in 1991 by the author. (New as of 6/99)

Join my friend Mike Schreck and I on a trip up a classic Shawangunks climb - High Exposure, and visit with us and my climbing mentor, Eric Redrup, in Safe Harbor, PA - trads in sport land.

Or see a collection of photos of other climbs I have enjoyed in a variety of locations.

News

Feb 2001

A well-known rock route at East Peak - Dol Guldur - has been defaced by vandals. On Feb 3rd 2001, the author went to East Peak for a day of climbing with Connecticut climbing pioneer Ken Nichols. We found the crux topout hold had been battered with a hammer and the broken hammer had been left behind. The top of an anchor tree had been broken off. At the bottom, I saw that the right hand start holds had been smashed, as had been noted by Mr. Nichols a week before. Since that time, a week later, Mr. Nichols found that the top of the cliff had been further defaced by the carving of the letter K and holds along the length of the route had been battered or smashed, indicating that someone had rappelled the route to do the damage. The crux is now probably a half grade harder as a consequence. In addition, the vandals carved "Hi Ken" in the against Mr. Nichols in the vicinity of the top of Dol Guldur.

Not long before, there was a confrontation at East Peak, initiated by Bill Little and and David Indino against Mr. Nichols. Mr. Indino, who has a police record (including threatening, breach of peace, and third degree assault), made threats against Mr. Nichols, and was later arrested by the Meriden police, apparently on a warrant from Waterbury. It remains unknown whether these individuals are responsible for these acts.

In any event, these vandalous acts should not be tolerated. Anyone with information should contact the Meriden police.

Dol Guldur is one of the most frequently climbed routes in the state. Mr. Nichols holds a record of over five thousand ascents, and has climbed the route more than fifty times in one day.

Fiction

Try a mythically humorous story of the most amazing climber who ever... had a story told about him... in "Portrait of a Legend - An Interview With Hugo St. Legere".

Or visit The Tower, the most fantastic climbing club in the world - the inside of the New York World Trade Tower 1- and meet its owner, who dared to recapture climbing from the suffocation of government control at the end of the 21st century.

Or have a look at an excerpt from my electronic novel Ringclimber, the complete version of which is available for download from The Temporal Doorway Storefront. Read the recent review of Ringclimber at Rebecca Riall's The Outer Rim, a literary newsletter for the Geocities community.

The Basics

Rock climbing can be done solo (no protection against falls, no rope), free (rope and protection used to protect against falls), or aid (protection gear and rope used to aid upward progress). My climbing experience is almost solely with free climbing.

There are really two ways to climb free. Where the cliffs are large, and there are readily available cracks for placing removable protection, lead climbing is the favored method. Lead climbing involves a lead climber, who climbs partly protected, placing gear in cracks to stop a fall, belayed by the second, who follows the climb after the leader reaches the top of the pitch, and retrieves the protection on the way. On those smaller cliffs where cracks are not readily available, toproping is used - a pre-placed anchor is at the top of the climb, and a belayer works at the bottom, maintaining the protection of the rope for the climber.

Climbs are rated on a subjective scale according to difficulty. The easiest climb is 5.0; the hardest confirmed so far is 5.14d (there are letter grades added (a,b,c,d) to grades above 5.9). I currently on-sight (climb the first time, without having seen a previous climber do the route, and without any information from other climbers on how to do the route) at 5.10a (sometimes) and 5.9 (almost always). I can redpoint 5.11b/c with work.

Warning: All of the descriptions of climbs linked to this page contain extremely detailed (sometimes move by move) beta. If you are interested in on-sighting these climbs you should avoid reading that material. However, if you'd like to simply flash these climbs, these descriptions should come in handy.

Note to non-Connecticut climbers: Many visitors consider Connecticut ratings to be stiff compared to their home crags. Connecticut traprock is a complex and intellectually demanding rock, which nevertheless is friendly to feet and hands. But all ratings are based on how hard the climb is believed to be AFTER all its moves are worked out. These are NOT on-sight ratings, nor are they first ascent ratings, but they represent the rating after several successful redpoints by the first ascent party. Also, in most cases, mere length will not raise the grade of a climb; instead the "+" rating is used to indicate a sustained climb at the grade and a "-" rating to indicate that only a few moves on the climb are of that rating. Many times the moves on Connecticut climbs are counter-intuitive, especially if the grade in question is at the limit of your ability.

Climbing Links

Visit my favorite climbing gym in Connecticut - Steve Messina's Prime Climb. Challenging, high quality routes and a comfortable friendly atmosphere make this a worthwhile visit on rainy days or to keep your conditioning and technique sharp through the winter.

Or my other favorite - Kaos West's Stone Age Rock Gym. A wide variety of routes, a friendly and welcoming atmosphere, and a wide variety of routes makes this a worthwhile stop. Website by The Temporal Doorway's Mark Cashman

Also, a good place to visit if you're thinking about Canadian climbing or mountaineering: Yamnuska.com

Don't forget - there's more to life than climbing (yeah, right)...

Use the links in the sidebar to visit the other rooms of my home on the web - there are hundreds of digital images, hundreds of pages of original science-fiction, and much, much more waiting for you. Have fun!