Best sport/easy trad crags and best climber scene crags

Hi I will be in the area from May 21-24 after climbing in the gunks. I am looking for beta on a crag to clip bolts 5.10 and up or easy trad. A mix of both would be great. Also a crag that will be easy to find someone to climb with. thanks for the help.

-steve

Sounds like you should just give up on clipping bolts and just stay in the Gunks. Otherwise, your next best option is head down to New River Gorge (maybe 8 hrs drive) and have all the routes your heart desires, and very easy to find partners at Rogers.

Jon H wrote:Sounds like you should just give up on clipping bolts and just stay in the Gunks. Otherwise, your next best option is head down to New River Gorge (maybe 8 hrs drive) and have all the routes your heart desires, and very easy to find partners at Rogers.

Actually, Roger's is closed now. There are not a ton of easy trad/5.10 sport lines at the NRG, but definitely enough for 3-4 days, as the OP has planned. However, I would try to line up a partner before going there this year, since with the closing of Roger's the scene is a bit more diffused.

Rumney is 4-6 hours north, lots of 5.10 sport and lots of people around.

Rumney. Leave the rack in the car.

I'm already planning to either got to senaca or the new on my trip. looking for something in the new hampsire, vermont, or maine region

I can't think of any place in NH that has sport and easy trad.You can get one or the other for sure, but places like Cathedral and Whitehorse have very little sport .
Humphrey's has a bit but it's by no means a destination crag.

for NH like John said you dont have many choices for having both worlds. id say if you are going to spend a long weekend (4-5 day) up there start at Rumney for sport and then go to North Conway for your trad climbing. Cathedral i think offers some of the best moderates in the area for trad but if you get bored there just head over to whitehorse or Humphrey's. the good thing about North Conway you get a lot of choices for apré climbing. When in the area if you need any local knowledge stop by IME right in Downtown North Conway.

Go to Rumney. There are a ton of 5.10-5.11 sport lines there. Then, if you want to do some easy trad, drive up the road (under an hour) to Echo Crag in Franconia Notch. While not the best climbing, there is a ton of short, single pitch 5.5-5.7 trad lines right next to each other with an easy approach and it isn't far from Rumney. I don't think many of the other trad areas in NH will have the selection of easy trad that you are looking for (Cathedral is awesome, but there are not that many easy lines. I'm guessing from your profile you are looking for 5.5-5.7 range...)

I'm just getting into trad. so yes 5.5-5.7 is the range ive been looking at. I'm comfortable leading most 10's and trying to push into the 11's on sport. If there is a place that is a great classic easier trad i would much rather do that then clip bolts. I can follow strong trad. 9's and 10's but not lead that hard. lol

classic, easy trad = Gunks. Just stay longer. :D

MaraC wrote:classic, easy trad = Gunks. Just stay longer. :D

I have to agree. Best moderate trad routes around.

Do you know what the bigger climber campground is at the gunks? this will be my first time there

Both get about the same amount of traffic, but larger groups tend to stay at the DEC area. Generally, Camp Slime is a bit quieter and attracts folks who just want to wake up and climb. Camping there is free for Mohonk Preserve members and climbing day-pass holders.

lucander wrote:Both get about the same amount of traffic, but larger groups tend to stay at the DEC area. Generally, Camp Slime is a bit quieter and attracts folks who just want to wake up and climb. Camping there is free for Mohonk Preserve members and climbing day-pass holders.

I'd put my vote in for Slime, no driving involved, and you can set up, eat dinner, drink, etc. and then go for a convenient stroll around the carriage roads, night boulder, etc. It's also more convenient to come back to if you want to come back to cook lunch, and you don't have to risk losing your parking spot if it's a nice weekend day. If you get one of the sites towards the rear at MUA, you might have slightly lower levels of traffic noise, but both areas are quite close to the road. It doesn't bother me at either place, but I've heard complaints from others.

lucander wrote:Both get about the same amount of traffic, but larger groups tend to stay at the DEC area.

The DEC area is very crowded, and with new 'designated sites only' rules being enforced it makes camping there a bit of a hassle (whether they did this intentionally/unintentionally they will never tell). You're not supposed to sleep in your car at the parking areas, but it's slowly becoming the only feasible option for late arrivals. I've seen the DEC area filled by 8PM on a fri/sat night.

Fwiw, I've been climbing a lot already at the Gunks this season and the DEC area is already being filled every Fri/Sat night. Can expect it to be worse by May. Even if you arrived early, setup your tent, and came back later, there's no guaranteeing you'll be able to park legally (they're supposedly ticketing cars parked along the road's narrow shoulder (?)).

My best advice is to expect the worse and plan accordingly. There's a few camp grounds around New Paltz in neighboring towns that charge like $10 /night. Or if your vehicle can accomodate, sleep in the back at a parking area.

Camp slime is obviously an option, also fills up most fri/sat nights, and is frankly crappy conditions for camping. But hey, it's there right? It's not called camp slime for nuttin'! :p

There's supposed to be a new campground being built near Peterskill but haven't heard much about that lately.

Oh, and speaking of which, Peterskill is up the road a few minutes from the Gunks. It has a separate day pass fee (not Mohonk Preserve), but has a lot of interesting trad lines, it's almost all single pitch, and most of it can be TR'd. Bring long slings, they frown upon using certain endangered trees there as anchors. They'll have more specifics if/when you might choose to go there. Peterskill also limits the number of climbers allowed entry, so overcrowding is minimized.

Thanks for all of the help guys. Still not sure where I will be for the Monday-Friday. Will more then likely need a partner where ever I end up though. The dates will be May 21-24 or 25

There are trad routes at Rumney - just be prepared for people to look at you like you are an alien from outer space when you walk in with your rack :)

Plenty of easy trad ( mountainproject.com/v/begin…) and sport next to each other. There are also plenty of routes that are retro-bolted so you can go old school if you want.

-Ming

Rumney has more than easy trad. You will need to look for them in Ward's Guide and walk a bit to get from one to the next. Too bad Main Cliff is closed for peregrine nesting now; Space Shuttle is actually quite a good trad route that protects really well. A little easier is Holderness School Corner but you may need a big cam near the top of the corner.

I am sure Lee will have plenty of suggestions for decent Rumney trad routes.

Clifton in Maine is far from NYC and even Rumney but it does offer a good selection of both moderate trad and sport. But, sorry, no 'scene' there, or at least I am not aware there is one! :)

If there's a "climber scene" in north conway, I have yet to find it. The climbing is good though.

For easy trad, try standard route on whitehorse. Classic 5.5. Or do the 5.7 variation- one move and protected by a good bolt.