By Kevin Heckeler
From West Sand Lake, New York
Oct 22, 2012
| Rob Kepley wrote: Does anyone else find it hilarious that the person arguing the most about this has never even been to the Gunks?
Equally funny are frugal CT residents. I thought everyone in CT made six figures? :-D | 
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By Fall Guy
Oct 22, 2012
| Kevin Heckeler wrote: Equally funny are frugal CT residents. I thought everyone in CT made six figures? :-D
according to the town of New Haven 98K a year w/great benefits is not enough to find someone to direct the city Public Works dept. so I guess you maybe right. They should pay 200K to live here really, investments sometimes take a while to pay off though. I'm going to start charging more now thinking of this!
who wants a job as public works director? |
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By CaptainMo
Administrator
Oct 23, 2012
| Kevin Heckeler wrote: Equally funny are frugal CT residents. I thought everyone in CT made six figures? :-D
Hahah I wish man... it seems pretty clear by the gunks prices these days they expect all you NY climbers are bankin an easy 100k a year!!! |
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By Ben Brotelho
From Albany, NY
Oct 23, 2012
| If you don't want to pay...trespass. I've heard its quite easy |
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By Jake Jones
From The Eastern Flatlands
Oct 23, 2012
| 100k per household I think is not unreasonable. If two adults in careers not just "jobs" make 50k, then there you have it. Now, an avid climber that makes six figures by him or herself, that I would think is more rare.
Either way, I make chump change but after everything I've read about the Gunks, I'd be willing to spring for a couple day passes just to check it out. But alas, I'm just above that other state with all that good climbing in the east so a NY trip would be hard to justify. You know the one. Sweet tea, Piedmont, free climbing, etc. |
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By CaptainMo
Administrator
Oct 23, 2012
| Ben Botelho wrote: If you don't want to pay...trespass. I've heard its quite easy
It is... but I wasn't going to get into that here on MP.
The worst is when a ranger interrupts your belayer or you mid crux in a hard climb and starts asking to see passes. I've had to tell a few of them over the years to piss off and demand to know if they were trying to get me hurt or killed. |
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By CaptainMo
Administrator
Oct 23, 2012
| Jake Jones wrote: 1Either way, I make chump change but after everything I've read about the Gunks, I'd be willing to spring for a couple day passes just to check it out.
It's totally worth it for a trip to come check it out and shell out the cash for a day or two. |
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By Ben Brotelho
From Albany, NY
Oct 23, 2012
| ha ha...just thought I'd stir the pot a little. I don't condone trespassing, but I know it's done often |
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By Gunkiemike
Oct 23, 2012
| Kevin Heckeler wrote: Equally funny are frugal CT residents. I thought everyone in CT made six figures? :-D
Almost. But according to the latest census figures, there's a dishwasher up in Torrington that only pulls in 95K/year.
I'm gonna guess he climbs at Rumney. |
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By CaptainMo
Administrator
Oct 23, 2012
| Gunkiemike wrote: Almost. But according to the latest census figures, there's a dishwasher up in Torrington that only pulls in 95K/year. I'm gonna guess he climbs at Rumney.
How does he afford a rope I ask you??? He must be a boulderer with a homemade crash pad, destine to wander local town parks looking for scraps of rocks once quarried for problems... |
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By Kevin Heckeler
From West Sand Lake, New York
Oct 23, 2012
| Gunkiemike wrote: Almost. But according to the latest census figures, there's a dishwasher up in Torrington that only pulls in 95K/year. I'm gonna guess he climbs at Rumney.
Day passes for parking at Rumney are pretty steep, like $3 or something. They probably have to head to Conway. Poor sap. |
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By Kevin Heckeler
From West Sand Lake, New York
Oct 23, 2012
| CaptainMo wrote: How does he afford a rope I ask you??? He must be a boulderer with a homemade crash pad, destine to wander local town parks looking for scraps of rocks once quarried for problems...
www.buildering.net/ |
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By Simon Thompson
From New Paltz, NY
Nov 23, 2012
| Kevin Heckeler wrote: There's not many 5.7 routes, though the few there are very worthy. 5.8 then becomes a very wide range of difficulty, from an extended pull up clinic on Double Crack, to easier face stuff like Arrow. Beware the infamous Gunks PLUS+. Anything with a plus demands respect. Anyone heading there should have Mountain Project with them. With so many quality route available there's no need to climb the chossier, runout stuff. And it's easy for a 5.9 leader from elsewhere to get in over their head. Some of the 9s at the Gunks are VERY demanding.
Not many 5.7 routes? Try Laurel, Classic, Strictly from Nowhere, Overhanging Lieback, V-3, Limelight, Hans Puss, The Yellow Ridge, Westward Ha, Kens Crack, Something Interesting, Thin Slabs Direct, Silhouette... those are the best ones but there are more. Sooo much quality climbing in nearly every grade I've tried at the Gunks. Yeah, the routes can seem pretty intimidating at first, but once you get comfortable with the style of climbing, the grades start to seem a lot more accurate. I used to climb in the 'dax a lot, and when I go back there the grades still seem pretty stiff, even after climbing A LOT in the Gunks. |
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By Kevin Heckeler
From West Sand Lake, New York
Nov 24, 2012
| Simon Thompson wrote: Not many 5.7 routes?
No, there are not many graded 5.7 routes at the Gunks. Look at the list in the guide. Many more 5.8s, and several more 5.6s fwiw. 5.7 seems to be a weird spot in the gunks if you're working numerically at building your lead skills. Most climbers I know who start breaking in 5.7s there also start doing softer 5.8s just to have a wider selection. Many of the 7s are stiff for the grade. Something Interesting, Strictly's, and probably even Yellow Ridge (first 25 feet) would be 5.8 anywhere else on the planet, for example.
That's also, coindicentally, about where I'm at in the Gunks as well. Not very eager to jump on the 8s there due to the extreme burliness of most of them. Great climbs though! Many of my favorite Gunks routes are 5.8 , though I don't feel like I could lead half without hang dogging (in which case I just don't bother, not my style). I'm actually doing pull ups at home, just because of the Gunks. lol |
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By Chris Duca
Administrator
From Hinesburg, Vermont
Nov 25, 2012
| According to the MP route selector option, there are 66 routes rated 5.7 in the Gunks. In the nearly 20 years I've been climbing at the Gunks I can safely say i've climbed all of the routes listed plus about 30 more. In my opinion, the perceived difficulty of 5.7 at the Gunks is on par with any other historically significant climbing area in the USA, save for maybe Rumney, Red Rocks, and St. George. |
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By Erboutitman
From farmingdale ny
Nov 26, 2012
| Colonel Mustard wrote: Only gumbies pay a day pass at the gym. And Rgold is comparing apples and oranges. $85 gets you into the best climbing in the world, not just the East Coast. Sorry, sometimes the gold man is fallible as well.
only gumbies pay for the gym....zing. i buy a gunks pass every 14 months for 80 dollars and it feels like nothing. Every year i get my moneys worth even if i barely go. The reality is I'm there a lot, but I've told my friends that come up for a week long trip to just buy the pass also. They only reason to buy the day pass is if your going for three days or less that year otherwise you might as well just get a year and go again. Seriously though I think I'm way to cheap/broke to pay for a gym but i find the money for the gunks. |
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By Kevin Heckeler
From West Sand Lake, New York
Nov 26, 2012
| Chris Duca wrote: According to the MP route selector option, there are 66 routes rated 5.7 in the Gunks.
Think the MP list is a little short on the 5.6s (only 50 something), but there's 118 5.8 routes. That's almost TWICE as many. Plus many of those 8s tend to be of very high quality. Other than the ones previously mentioned (plus Te Dum), the remaining 7s aren't very good. There's a hand full in the Nears that are very chossy, dirty, or just awkward.
There's difficulty at the 5.7 grade (really, most of the grades). It's not perceived (fictional). Not sure which areas are considered historical, but I'm guessing the climbing community dismisses using these as a standard because they tend to be very sandbagged.
I'm one of those people who welcome the revisionist guide books that have come out. Unfortunately none of them are any good. |
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By Jake D.
From Northeast
Nov 26, 2012
| stop climbing slabs when you go to Rumney and you'll get stronger and the Gunks won't feel as hard.
the folks who whine about the Gunks grades can't seem to climb a roof to save their life. |
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By Ryan Williams
Administrator
From London (sort of)
Nov 26, 2012
| I can't believe this has turned into a "that would be 5.8 anywhere else on the planet" thread.
Please take this from someone who loves NY climbing and most areas in the east. THE GRADES AT THE GUNKS ARE ACCURATE! I can show you plenty of places on the planet where those Gunks 5.7s would still be 5.7. For starters, drive up to the Dacks, or down to the New or to NC. |
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By Ben Brotelho
From Albany, NY
Nov 26, 2012
| Sometimes I actually think Dack's grades are a little more stiff than Gunks' grades, but that changes from area to area and style to style obviously |
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By chuck claude
From Flagstaff, Az
Nov 26, 2012
| From someone who climbed for a long while at the Gunks, but have been living in the West since 1998. The Gunks are what they are. They are a fairly unique experience with little in the way of cracks but if you are looking for face climbing on gear, this is it. I found that up to 5.10 the gear was pretty good, except some like Fritschens Follies and things like that. After 5.10 the gear can be more difficult except on routes like the Sting.
Its a different experience then most climbing in the West. Enjoy it for what it is. Its sort of comparing a Pinot Noir to a Cab. They are different and good in their own regards, but shouldn't be compared, just enjoyed.
As for the price. RGold is correct. The Mohonk Preserve is a private orgonization doing a good job at preserving the area, especially against those that would love to put a 8000sq ft house right at he base to throw dinner parties for their friends from NYC. Stop whining and be thankful. As for comparing it to the $80 National Parks Pass. Its a National Parks Pass, and a lot of the fees are already paid by tax payer money. The Mohonk Preserve is a private organization making it on ther own. |
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By Ben Brotelho
From Albany, NY
Nov 26, 2012
| "Its sort of comparing a Pinot Noir to a Cab"
This comparison MIGHT be lost on all but the most civilized winos on MP. It could also be likened to the difference between Big Bear malt liquor and Four Loco. Both excellent choices of libation, but different vibes. Both will get you wasted though! |
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By SethG
Nov 26, 2012
| Kevin Heckeler wrote: Other than the ones previously mentioned (plus Te Dum), the remaining 7s aren't very good.
Blistered Toe? (Awesome 1st pitch)
Up Yours?
Bloody Mary?
Shit Creek?
Le Plie?
Handy Andy?
Baskerville Terrace?
Cakewalk?
Sleepwalk?
I could go on, off the top of my head. The problem, Kevin, is that the more limited point you should be making is uncontroversial. I would agree with you if you said the 5.6 grade has more standout classics and that the 5.8 grade has more routes. But when you make broad blanket statements like the one above you are incorrect. There are many many more quality 5.7's. Do you really have broad enough experience to be dismissing the whole lot of them as "not very good?"
I should also add that while 5.7 may be a somewhat problematical grade the best Gunks 5.7's are among the best climbs in the Gunks at any grade! CCK, Thin Slabs Direct and Limelight are just amazing amazing routes. I will cherish the experience of doing these climbs forever. |
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By Ryan Williams
Administrator
From London (sort of)
Nov 26, 2012
| Ben Brotelho wrote: "Its sort of comparing a Pinot Noir to a Cab" This comparison MIGHT be lost on all but the most civilized winos on MP. It could also be likened to the difference between Big Bear malt liquor and Four Loco. Both excellent choices of libation, but different vibes. Both will get you wasted though!
Oh come on - I hope that most people on MP know the difference between a Pinot Noir and a Cab. And if you seriously drink Big Bear or Four Loko, I'm surprised YOU know the difference between a Pinot Noir and a Cab ;-) |
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By lucander
From Stone Ridge, NY
Nov 26, 2012
| At this point Mr. Heckler could say that the sky is blue and someone would disagree with him... |
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