Maine Climbing

Background:

Maine is historic, wild, rural, and in parts developed. It is many quixotic things, and its history is a fascinating cycle of boom and bust, beginning with the earliest European exploitation for lumber, which lead to the loss of huge amounts of it's forest. In the 18th and 19th century Maine's famously rocky coast was quarried and many cliffs and mountains disappeared as Maine became one of the nation’s premier suppliers of granite for major construction. Historic Schooners sailed the coast trading, as the very islands themselves were blasted and carved and shipped off to major cities farther south. As farming became more efficient and railroads connected to the Midwest Maine's many coastal farms diminished, and as the steam engine replaced sail the shipyards and populous communities along its coast shrank. Woods reclaimed the land leading to Maine now being one of the most heavily forested states in the nation.

Now sustained primarily by the twin economic poles of lobstering and tourism, Maine has several charming cities and many small lovely towns. Portland is its biggest city, undergoing intense redevelopment as people from away flock to the state for its quality of life and small town charm. Augusta is the capitol, picked for its relatively central location and to show no favoritism between the economies of the coast and that of lumber. Bangor, another major area, hosts Maine's largest university and is the gateway to Baxter State Park and downeast.

Absolutely worth a visit, both for the climbing and the culture, Maine is worth your time.

The Climbing:

 Some of the most well known and easily accessible climbing in Maine are the following crags:

• Acadia National Park one of the best national parks in the country, and filled with lovely granite. Climb above the ocean here.
• Camden Hills historic, charming, over run with tourists in the summer. A jumping off point for sailing on schooners in legendary penobscot bay, and also a great area for trad and ice.
• Clifton Crags tucked away outside of Bangor, these cliffs have excellent sport climbs. Put up by much of the crew who went on to develop Rumney, they are a bit of a local's secret.
• Shagg Crag if you climb hard, then hit Shagg, and some of the other cliffs in the western mountain. Entry starts at 5.10.

Ethics:

Lastly, a word on ethics, Maine is so large and the climbing so geographically separated that at any given time there are little pockets of locals, often operating at the same cliffs and not even aware of each other. Climbers band together and climb, then as time passes they move on and the moss and the woods reclaim what had once been local knowledge, and things are lost. Nonetheless, the general ethic of Maine is that of traditional protection, bold leads, and especially Leave No Trace. There are some cliffs that are exceptions to this, but locals are the ones who know these areas and put them up.

Some of the climbing here is part of incredibly fragile ecosystems, and sometimes climbing is found on private property. In all cases be discreet, and respect the rock. Do not chip or glue, do not bolt, do not cut that tree or leave trash in the woods or have a bonfire. Please be good stewards so we can all continue to climb here well into the future.

Have fun, be safe, always check your knot!