Whiskey Springs Bouldering

Whiskey Springs is a small but well-established bouldering area in south-central Pennsylvania, near Carlisle. People have been climbing in this spot since the 1970s. The area is located directly on the Appalachian Trail, less than 5 miles from its overall midpoint. Whiskey hosts a variety of problems from 5.7 highballs to a V11 roof. The climbing is largely characterized by sharp crimps, good jugs, slippery slopers, and the occasional pocket. Both overhangs and slabs exist in abundance. The rock is a rough quartzite, sometimes with large quartz stripes and crystals in it. It is very solid and generally quite clean, though less-traveled lines occasionally have lichen on them.

The area consists of a series of quartzite outcroppings and freestanding boulders on the crest of a narrow ridge. The main area is about an eighth of a mile long, though scattered outcroppings pop up on the ridge for several miles in each direction. These smaller areas are slowly being developed.

Whiskey Springs is popular with local boulderers, and it is not uncommon to see other climbers there in almost any time of the year. However, it is never crowded and a large portion of the people one tends to see there are hikers passing through on the AT. As it is located on a ridge, it tends to be cooler than the surrounding valley, though in the summer and fall temperatures can get unbearably hot and the rock slick.

A guidebook exists for the area, though much of the history is unknown. Unfortunately, the guidebook is no longer in publication.