Thoughts on the Gunks

Although I wouldn't consider myself a true Gunks aficionado, meaning I haven't climbed All of the routes here, I've come to realize that the place isn't all it's cracked up to be. For two years now I've been making weekend visits and have managed to climb the best of the 3 star routes all the way up to the 5.11 range (followed some of the hard stuff). Now, I'm sure there are plenty of one star hidden gems out there that are great once you've done all of the classics, but my climbing experience tells me that there are probably not any as good as Doubleissima or Trans-con. I've climbed at Lost City about a half dozen times and did a majority of the areas good top-ropes and leads including Lost City Crack, Resistance, Forbidden Zone, Red Route, Persistence, and even a few hangs on Survival.
Now that you've seen my Gunks climbing resume. Here are my thoughts.
A. Gunks routes are hard but easy and often boring in-between the action
B. Routes aren't as steep as they look from the ground. (Again, lots of 5.3 between cruxes)
C. Lines are long for the best routes
D. Prices are insane!
E. The Uberfall routes are lame. Especially Horseman, which is god awful sandy at the top
F. The Mac Wall is a zoo and very mediocre compared to other high end sporty areas I've
I've climbed. I've climbed 10's at T-Wall
G. There is an overall lack of adventure to be found.(some say Millbrook is cool despite
it being a chose pile) I haven't climbed it but I did take a piss off it once!
H.
I.
J............This list could go on forever.

Despite these negatives, there are some positives too.
A. Hard stone. Never loose on the classics. (unlike at T-wall)
B. Amazing views.
C. Few bolts. Keepin it rad!
D. Friendly rangers
E. Bomber gear (almost always) even though it is spaced you can build nests
F. Grades are on point once you get used to them. Sorry locals, there not that stiff.
G. One word DOUBLEISSIMA

This isn't a troll. i'm bored and stuck in this god forsaken city until the storms over and then moving to Boulder. Peace Gunks. Good times and rad adventures!

This would have fit perfectly in the crag blasphemy thread.

I was there in '97, and had such fond memories that I have wanted to get back for years and finally made it happen in Sept of this year... and I'd have to say that it did not live up to my fond memories. Oh it was fun, don't get me wrong, but I'd agree with your assessment of "boring stuff between the action", and I'd add that the constant roar and groan of traffic in a big section of the Trapps was unpleasant. Also, yeah... not super adventurous. I did enjoy being able to climb multiple pitches of trad, but then again there are other places that offer this experience with much more wilderness feel.

I thought Horseman was fun!

If the Gunks let you down that much I would love to hear about where you have been climbing that is so much better :)

The Coop wrote:If the Gunks let you down that much I would love to hear about where you have been climbing that is so much better :) Yosemite, The Dacks, Squamish, NRG, T-Wall, Eldo, Moab, Verdon Gorge, Devils Tower.........

I haven't been to Squish or Verdon - they are on the short list - but I have been to the other areas on your list and to me the Gunks don't take a back seat to any of them.

>> If the Gunks let you down that much I would love to hear about where you have been climbing that is so much better :)

> Yosemite, The Dacks, Squamish, NRG, T-Wall, Eldo, Moab, Verdon Gorge, Devils Tower.........

When you've climbed those other areas every weekend for two years, post up about how you're bored of them too.

In the meantime, get yer lazy butt out to Millbrook.

Coop:
I have done some climbing in the Gunks but have not been back for nearly thirty years. The rumors seem to imply it is getting crowded so your post may be something we need more of.

Thanks for the help!

jstan

Yeah, the Gunks is horrible. For the next 3-4 years (while I'm still living relatively close to the Gunks), I would advise everybody to steer clear of that over-priced, over-crowded, over-rated wannabe destination. :D

Blessings in disguise:
1) overcrowded --> learn how to love other climbers & how to climb respectfully when others are present (a valuable trait since classics everywhere are getting crowded).

2) Prices --> reduce crowds

3) boring in-between --> learn how to climb hard on gear as you recover and build nests on a bomber stance before the next crux.

4) lack of adventure to be found --> focus on climbing and getting stronger, not route-finding or impending doom. Save the adventure for another time out West when you're stronger on gear (thanks Gunks!) and where you can be as off-route/cold/far-from-help/worried-of-afternoon-storms as you please (adventure!).

Eldo still sucks

I'm not sure of the Gunks are the best bad crag or the worst good crag - but I call it home and I don't think there's a better place to live.

The season is long, there's other stuff to do besides climb, the powerful climbing keeps ya in shape for trips elsewhere, the stone is so bomber it holds falls on micronuts, the nature of the cliff lets you just walk until you find an open route, it feels like an adventure if you're on the right route at the right time, and the after work access is incomparable making it easy to rope up 100+ days a year and still have a rewarding career.

DL

I like the Gunks, and would be psyched to have them as a local crag. It's about on par with the New or Chattanooga area as far as quantity, diversity, style of climbing, and length of season goes. I don't really think it's fair to compare any of these areas to excellent granite areas (Yosemite or Squish) or excellent sport areas (the RRG). Rather, they're just all-encompassing face and roof climbing areas that are rad.

However, the big thing that the Gunks lack that Chatt or the NRG have is sport routes. The best way to get stronger and more solid at trad is to build your strength on sport, so I would be afraid of just getting fat, weak, and stuck on 5.11s if I lived at the Gunks.

Camhead sounds like he's talking about me - and dozens of others =)

I agree with a lot of what camhead wrote.
For a weekend warrior, Gunks can be annoyingly busy and this has been the true for many years now, not just along the crag but the roads too!
Hoping that Skytop will once again be accessible to all at a reasonable price!

Personally I could never compare the gunks to the new or chatty.Especially when talking about length of season, you can climb in certain areas of the new in december if sunny (such as pirates cove and surrounding area.....and chatty is a primary winter destination on the east coast along with HP40, but t-wall is also known for its winter climbing. Pretty sure you cant climb in the gunks very often in december-february. And as far as quantity, doesnt even compare to the new unless you include the entire Dak's regions. not to mention when talking about the diversity of climbing, the gunks is completely one-dimensional (unless you include the bouldering surrounding the area or in the area)

The new has such great diversity amongst crags as well as in both sport and trad climbs. Chatty also contain several different climbing areas in a way (t-wall, stone fort, the obed could be also considered). I dont see how the tierred roof multi-pitch TRAD climbing of gunks compares at all the the single pitch areas such as the new which is predominately a sport crag with large amount of awesome trad throughout.

thats just me though

mozeman wrote:Personally I could never compare the gunks to the new or chatty.Especially when talking about length of season, you can climb in certain areas of the new in december if sunny (such as pirates cove and surrounding area.....and chatty is a primary winter destination on the east coast along with HP40, but t-wall is also known for its winter climbing. Pretty sure you cant climb in the gunks very often in december-february. And as far as quantity, doesnt even compare to the new unless you include the entire Dak's regions. not to mention when talking about the diversity of climbing, the gunks is completely one-dimensional (unless you include the bouldering surrounding the area or in the area) The new has such great diversity amongst crags as well as in both sport and trad climbs. Chatty also contain several different climbing areas in a way (t-wall, stone fort, the obed could be also considered). I dont see how the tierred roof multi-pitch TRAD climbing of gunks compares at all the the single pitch areas such as the new which is predominately a sport crag with large amount of awesome trad throughout. thats just me though

I agree mostly with you, but 1) The Gunks are a bit nicer in the summer than the NRG or Chatt (though I'd hate to be stuck at any of those areas in the summer).

As for the diversity, I was speaking only for features and movement, not sport versus trad. If the Gunks had more of a bolting ethic, they would be every bit as diverse as Chatt or the NRG.

Went to the Gunks for the first time as well in September and really loved it. So, going to go every year now around that same time! It's well worth the trip. Even got to the Lost City to check it out. Also agree on the sandbagging not being that bad. I mean, you have horizontal cracks pretty much every six feet, so almost a guarantee of a handhold and pro of some sort. Nothing felt desperate at all.

Eldo is pretty excellent. Once you get to Boulder you'll love it. We do have a wide variety of rock just in the Front Range alone, but it varies in quality and denseness of good routes. Eh, not bored yet!

So Dave.... Quality routes of all grades, Great 5.5's, no crowds and fantastic German heritage foods? Why is it I couldn't go?

Glad you had fun, sounds like a great time!

camhead wrote: I agree mostly with you, but 1) The Gunks are a bit nicer in the summer than the NRG or Chatt (though I'd hate to be stuck at any of those areas in the summer). As for the diversity, I was speaking only for features and movement, not sport versus trad. If the Gunks had more of a bolting ethic, they would be every bit as diverse as Chatt or the NRG.

Agreed. Although the NRG does have a subtle advantages in the summer as well (i.e. summersville lake and the new river to get your hippy bath on)

Not sure on the bolting issue. A lot of the non/scarcely protected climbs are desperate finger strength routes like Death's Head Mask or Bone Hard - not the juggy thugfests of premier sport crags.

A bigger issue is access & ownership. "The Ridge" is 20+ miles long and full of rock. Put that in perspective: the Trapps are almost 1.5 miles long. If everything was open and documented the guidebook would be huge and the volume of climbing would rival that of better (IMHO) east coast crags. Those other cliffs also have slightly different stone that might (wink) lend itself nicely to modern sport climbing.

I would just like to point out that none other than John Stannard (Assuming it's not a troll account) himself resurrected this month-old thread. That's fucking cool.

There are not many of us Stannards, fortunately for everyone else and I climbed at the Gunks with Goldstone, of whom there are not nearly enough. So I have to plead guilty.

The underlying theme for the thread is the old American attitude that more is always better and only best is good enough. That attitude degrades our lives and in fact produces nothing. Thus it was I was encouraged to respond.

The area has its merits, as do all things, and it is available to us only because of the unremitting efforts of an amazing family over nearly a century and a half. That alone is enough to encourage us to appreciate what we have and to appreciate each other, more.

I think the objective of learning to appreciate both of these things, equally, is the central task of American democracy for the next century. The people of the Gunks have an unequaled opportunity to have at it.

That process will be fun. When Bragg and I managed to get over the last ceiling on Kliegfields folly we planned to get Wunsch belaying in that last tenuous inside corner and to jump off from above, smiling and waving to him as we went by. It would have been a hoot. Maybe next year.