I have the Dick Williams' guide, but I can't seem to find some of the routes mentioned here and other sites. Routes such as: Layback, Gelsa, Yum Yum Yab Yum, Petey's Spare Rib, and Disneyland and ton of others. Any idea what they were renamed to?

I don't know Petey's Spare Rib, but all the rest of the routes you mention haven't been renamed; they're in the Nears. If the Williams guide you have is "The Climber's Guide to the Shawangunks" (aka the Grey Dick), you won't find them because this guide covers only the Trapps. Williams has a separate guide -- black cover, I'm pretty sure -- that covers the Nears; you may also be able to get your hands on the out-of-print "Gunks Select," which has routes in the Trapps, Nears and even Sky Top.

Speaking from personal experience, by the way, Gelsa and Disneyland are "don't miss!" climbs in the Nears; Layback is okay; haven't led YYYY.

JL

Yes, let me add my vote to Gelsa being a nears must-do. the third pitch is a blast! though most dislike the Swain guide, it doesn have the NEars listed. tho some of the route descriptions and directions are unclear, and you can wind up offroute.

if you walk over to the near trapps most of those routes are near the road, I was just there on Sunday. good stuff, nice walkdowns.

LayBack(P1)and Gelsa are worth the wait to do if there is a line. I never got on the second pitch of Layback and couldn't do the offwith/chimney start, but there is a nice crimpy/slabby start to the left that was a bit PG-13 if I recall correctly.

div,

Mr. Williams is updating his guide to the Nears. Rumor has it as being released this year.

Jim

If you go on a weekend a really easy way to find any of these classics is by asking any one of the thousand climbers "Hey, you know where Gelsa is?"

I highly recomend Disneyland... as far as 5.6's go in the Nears it's at the top of the list.

On weekends there's typically a line for any of these routes.

BTW: I relocated to New York this month (not in Colorado anymore - great climbing with all of you folks though). So if anyone wants to hit up the Gunks let me know.

- Brian

Petie's Spare Rib is at Skytop.

The Williams guide to the Near Trapps, which has at least 100 new routes in it, is at the printers now and is supposed to be ready in early September.

In the meantime, its either Swain or Black Dick.

Dick Williams' 1991 guide to the Near Trapps and Millbrook (aka Black Dick) is available from several sellers through Amazon.com.