new to CT - partners/beta?

Hey, y'all. Megan, 24. I just moved from Seattle to start a grad program in New Haven, and I'd like to keep climbing outside. Looking for weekend partners, weekday gym buddies, or any advice/beta on local crags and the climbing community. Looks like the Gunks and Rumney are close enough for weekends, is it possible to just show up and make friends or would it be hard to find someone at the crag to pal around with?

Have rope, rack, draws, helmet, aid gear, and enough women's size 7-8.5 climbing shoes to share with all. Been climbing for 5 years - sport, trad, etc. and comfortable leading up to 10+ on desert towers, cracks, and the sort. Have heard the Gunks are sandbagged, but down for fun either way.

Farley is relatively close to you as well if you like sport, mixed, trad and bouldering. No guidebook, just show up and people are plenty friendly.

If you think the Gunks are sandbagged, you need to get an old traprock guidebook. You do know that the first 5.9 established in the United States is Vector at Ragged, even though it is only 5.8.

There's a strong trad ethic in CT and the Gunks. Not at Rumney. Gunks are very crowded on weekends. I don't bother anymore - I blow off work and go to the Gunks on a weekday.

Parking is difficult at most CT crags. Some CT crags where you might just show up and find partners are Pinnacle and the Main Cliff at Ragged. Your best bet would be to post here as you have done or show up at one of the gyms and make friends. Let them know you are interested in going outside. I'm partial to Prime Climb, as I like the vibe there.

You can PM me if you have specific questions. I've done some work on or contributed to 6 CT guidebooks.

Here's some info that might get you started.

Local Gyms:

City Climb Gym (Probably closest to you but not my fave)
342 Winchester Avenue, New Haven, Connecticut 06511 New Haven
(203) 891-7627
cityclimbgym.com/

This is where I go in bad weather/winter)
Prime Climb
340 Silversmith Park, Wallingford, Connecticut 06492
(203) 265-7880
primeclimb.com/
facebook.com/primeclimb/

Central Rock
259 Eastern Boulevard, Glastonbury, Connecticut 06033
(860) 659-8260
centralrockgym.com/glastonb…

Stone Age Rock Gym
195 Adams St., Manchester, Connecticut
(860) 645-0015
stoneagerockgym.com/

There's also Carabiners Gym in Fairfield.

Other sources:

raggedmtn.org/

facebook.com/groups/1054789…

facebook.com/groups/1483246…

facebook.com/groups/5977815…

facebook.com/groups/1351403…

wivanoff wrote:Gunks are very crowded on weekends. I don't bother anymore - I blow off work and go to the Gunks on a weekday.

Agree.

Early Spring and late Fall the crowds are lessened. Holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas... contingent on the weather cooperating) are probably the only crowdless days. Even then you won't be completely alone.

That said your best concentration are the Gunks, next closest concentration probably Farley, then a scattering of CT crags (I haven't yet headed down there to climb anything). Rumney is a bit of a drive, but the best concentration of sport in the NE. Then you're looking at 4+ hours to the Whites and probably 4-5+ hours to the Adirondacks, but both have areas of very high quality climbing.

Welcome to the Wet Coast. Weather is a big factor in how good of a season you can have. And of course the weather is out of your control. :p Weather has been mostly good so far in 2016.

You probably won't have a problem finding people your age to climb with, but if you ever want to get a tour of the Gunks with some old farts (40 somethings) send me a PM.

Hi Megan, I'm Diana, 26 and I live in the New Haven area and I was interested in getting back into climbing this fall. I use to go pretty regularly to my rock wall gym back in college but I've been out of touch with climbing for the last few years. If you're interested in a local partner (although I'm probably much less experienced than you), let me know!, My plan was to go to City Climb during some of the week nights.

Thanks for the info! I think I'll check out Prime Climb soon. I went to City Climb the other day and was slightly underwhelmed coming from Vertical World in Seattle, but I suppose it doesn't do to compare.

Feel free to message me any time about partners, climbing trips, cool meet ups that might be happening!

Welcome to CT!

I am also a grad student in New Haven. I am not a particularly strong climber, but I get outdoors every weekend or two - usually at Ragged, Sleeping Giant, West Rock, or (less often) the Gunks. I would be happy to show you to some of the local crags / connect you to a few other climbers in the area, including a few who are closer to your ability.

If you'd like, drop me a note at jmarks07(at)gmail(dot)com and we can talk more.

-Jesse

This echos some of the other comments ... but here goes

City climb is certainly a bit underwhelming, but is a reasonable place to meet people. They'll almost all be Yale affiliated, which has upsides and downsides (the main downside being that everyone is so busy that it's hard to reliably get out). Prime climb is also small but it's taller and the route setting is *much* better. It also has AC, which is nice at this time of year.

Grading at some of the older crags in CT is pretty stiff (some might argue even stiffer than the Gunks) - beware the 9+. Theres even some 7s (e.g. Careys Corner at Ragged) that you'd want to be a solid 5.10 leader to get on.

As to showing up at crags and trying to meet people, I probably wouldn't do this at either the Gunks or Rumney as the crags are so spread out that people don't congregate in one area. People also tend to be pretty objective focussed at these crags and it's also a long way to drive if things don't pan out. You might have some luck at Chatfield, Ragged (these are both about 40 mins away from New Haven, busy enough to run into lots of other people, and reasonably compact), or possibly Farley, but your best bet will probably to try and organize something in advance.

David - The mystique of the 9+ seems to be a common phenomenon everywhere. Can actually be a little harder than a nine, or it seems to be harder than an 11a ;)

I feel confident leading 10s, so thanks for the heads up on that. I've been most recently enjoying climbing long, trad moderates. Some of the routes in the Cannon Mountain area look like tons of fun. Four hours is a bit of a trek from New Haven, but I think it'd be well worth it to climb something like this:

mountainproject.com/v/vmc-d…

!!!

Matt Conroy ( facebook.com/matthew.r.conr…) runs a nice gym in Fairfield called Rock Climb Fairfield ... facebook.com/RockClimbFairf…. If you get a chance to meet him, you will not be disappointing.

Welcome... no need to travel to Rumney or Gunks just to climb. Check these areas out on MP. There's enough there to keep you busy for a few years and I suspect you will be pleasantly surprised by the traprock and the gniess.

West Rocks - Local Sport / Trad
Chatfield Hollow - Local Sport / Trad
Ragged Main Cliff - Trad/ TR
Firewall - Sport
East Peak - Trad /TR
Cathole - Trad / TR
Great Ledge - TR

afemery wrote:Matt Conroy ( facebook.com/matthew.r.conr…) runs a nice gym in Fairfield called Rock Climb Fairfield ... facebook.com/RockClimbFairf…. If you get a chance to meet him, you will not be disappointing.

They have been doing a great job at turning that place around with the new mgmt.

wivanoff wrote:There's a strong trad ethic in CT and the Gunks. Not at Rumney. Gunks are very crowded on weekends. I don't bother anymore - I blow off work and go to the Gunks on a weekday. Parking is difficult at most CT crags. Some CT crags where you might just show up and find partners are Pinnacle and the Main Cliff at Ragged. Your best bet would be to post here as you have done or show up at one of the gyms and make friends. Let them know you are interested in going outside. I'm partial to Prime Climb, as I like the vibe there. You can PM me if you have specific questions. I've done some work on or contributed to 6 CT guidebooks. Here's some info that might get you started. Local Gyms: City Climb Gym (Probably closest to you but not my fave) 342 Winchester Avenue, New Haven, Connecticut 06511 New Haven (203) 891-7627 cityclimbgym.com/ This is where I go in bad weather/winter) Prime Climb 340 Silversmith Park, Wallingford, Connecticut 06492 (203) 265-7880 primeclimb.com/ facebook.com/primeclimb/ Central Rock 259 Eastern Boulevard, Glastonbury, Connecticut 06033 (860) 659-8260 centralrockgym.com/glastonb… Stone Age Rock Gym 195 Adams St., Manchester, Connecticut (860) 645-0015 stoneagerockgym.com/ There's also Carabiners Gym in Fairfield. Other sources: raggedmtn.org/ facebook.com/groups/1054789… facebook.com/groups/1483246… facebook.com/groups/5977815… facebook.com/groups/1351403…

Good to know, I guess I've been living under a rock. I will have to go pull on plastic.

I climb (outdoors) in south-western Ct. S. Western Ct, With hundreds more It is easy to like it
Others should too.

There is a lot of easy access rock on state land.

Also

mountainproject.com/v/orena…

Orenaug Park is Trapp Rock that needs more regular climbers. It would be great if there were A planned Thing,
On Weekends or on Tues & Thurs?The Trapp Rock climbing there is great and is worth saving.

Echoing the comment about Rock Climb Fairfield... Good place to meet friendly climbers or go after hours to the Local. The gym is good for around here. Tuesday and Thursday till 8 is team practice so the lead wall may be a bit crowded. Good luck!

Cannon is definitely worth the drive if you're interested in longer more adventurous routs and along with Wallface in the Adirondacks and Huntington ravine in the Whites is one of the more remote alpine feeling areas (other than the fact that you can see/hear the highway from the cliff) in the NE.

Morgan Patterson wrote: They have been doing a great job at turning that place around with the new mgmt.

Matt has a way to bring a certain energy into a place.

SpencerB wrote:Cannon is definitely worth the drive if you're interested in longer more adventurous routs and along with Wallface in the Adirondacks and Huntington ravine in the Whites is one of the more remote alpine feeling areas (other than the fact that you can see/hear the highway from the cliff) in the NE.

Thanks for some area suggestions! If anyone wants to hit up any of these places, shoot me a message.

Was able to get out to the Gunks with some people from MP this weekend and we had a fun time!

Megan Sullivan wrote: Thanks for some area suggestions! If anyone wants to hit up any of these places, shoot me a message. Was able to get out to the Gunks with some people from MP this weekend and we had a fun time!

If you can ever get out on week days let me know. I'll show you some lesser known "secret" crags not far from New Haven. I was climbing pretty far north (Mt Oscar) this weekend in NH and the leaves are already starting to change. Good climbing weather can't be far off.

RE: Gunks-
Weekdays are pretty empty and if you can climb 5.10, you'll find empty classics, even on the busiest weekends, just find someone who knows the routes.

I'll be at Gunks for most or all of Sept.
I am always looking for safe partners!
I know more than 200 routes and am happy to show visitors around.
Some routes are definitely sandbagged but for the rest, it is just getting used to the style and exposure. I am happier leading here than anywhere else because I know the rock.

You might also consider a trip to Cathedral. Great rock and scenery. If you want to do ice, North Conway is a great place to learn

Michael Schneider wrote:Orenaug Park is Trapp Rock that needs more regular climbers.

something, something...I seem to remember that area...something, something

Clearly late to the party but I'm also looking for climbing partners indoor at Central Rock Gym in Glastonbury or Prime Climb, mostly earlier in the day.