3 choices..

Rumney

whitehorse/cathedral

Gunks

what do folks in those areas think?

Hey,

After "the deluge", I dont care if it's still a bit wet, just let me climb. I'm going with options 4 and 5, Rose ledge or Ragged depending on whom I can scrounge up. Rose will be nearly bone dry for Sunday.

Scott

Rumney will be seeping in the normal areas, many moderates wil be wet. however, jimmy cliff will be dry as will hinterlands, most of triple corners, vadar, main cliff(closed)will be dry. Some of meadows and parking lot walls will prob. be dry-ish

Any predictions on whether Venus Wall at Rumney will be dry? I'm looking to make my first trip to Rumney on Sunday. This will also be my first outdoor lead, so I was looking to hit up a bunch of moderate routes to get a feel for things, then maybe step up as much as I feel comfortable.

Since it's going to rain fri and sat. perhaps not. The easy to moderates are in a pretty seepy section of the rock too..

there are far faster drying routes at the meadows, parking lot, both vadars that you might hit up.

Also is that part of main cliff cleared from the falcon closure? If you try to go up make sure you check the message board and look for any signs on the trails on the way up for closure info.

Venus Wall and climbs to the immediate right are still open after the Main Cliff closure. The major part of Main Cliff is closed, which is the stuff near Little Big Man and rightward, basically anything right of and including Sesame Street.

Rumney is surprisingly dry right now...though after a few rainy days, this could change.

Thanks for the advice.

We won't go anywhere that's marked closed.

I really need to get a guidebook, but a bookstore owner in Lincoln tells me there's a new one coming out for Rumney soon, so I'll probaly wait and get something up to date. I may check in with him on Saturday.

"soon" is a relative term.. Maybe i should send Ward a PM to see if he has an idea yet.. but don't expect it for the weekend. best is to find someone with the old book and borrow that

"sometime this year" I'd say buy the old one. it's only 15 bucks and it will get you around for a while.

Looks like the most recent Ward Smith guide is getting hard to come by.

Amazon says this: Currently unavailable. We don't know when or if this title will be in stock again.

EMS.com also says its unavailable.

Any other suggestions for finding one? The bookstore I usually go to, the Mountain Wanderer, in Lincoln is closed for the next week or so because the owner is going on vacation. I don't think he had any last time I was there anyway.

I'd say call Shimberg at the Rock Barn and see if he has a copy.

Also call the EMS's near you in VT and either the concord or manchester store if you go near those might also have a copy. If it's off the website there are less than 15 or something available(i forget the exact amount) in the company but they may still be in stores.

It does make sense they stopped printing since the new one is due out. Who's going to want the old one after that.

Are the bugs out at Cathedral yet?

I was out at Cathedral on Saturday and the bugs weren't bad. We stopped early (6pm) and were hanging out at the top of the cliff, so we weren't in the prime bug area, but it was altogether enjoyable.

Any chance of anything being dry to climb this weekend in/under the 5.11 range?

I was hoping to make a nice trip out of the next Sun-Tues at the Gunks, Cathedral and Rumney. Anyone think I have any chance of climbing those days? Any good dry routes you recommend (5.10 trad or less...5.12 sport or less.) Thanks for any help and any prayers to the rain gods to hold off for a while...

Dan Godshall

According to http://www.weatherunderground.com, it is going to rain for the next week ... good luck!