Gear stolen at Pinnacle, CT

Hi all,

Just wanted to alert everyone to some stolen gear - a lot of it.

I work for The Mountain Workshop, and was setting up some stuff at Pinnacle this morning (Monday, July 21st). Some miscreant absconded with 13 harnesses, 11 helmets, and approximately 30-40 pairs of climbing shoes while I was humping the ropes et al up the trail. The two bags holding the shoes and harnesses/helmets were NOT in sight of the trailhead/road, but were in fact about 50-60 feet up the Metacomet Trail towards the Pinnacle trail turn-off. The bags were also labeled TMW - The Mountain Workshop - Rock Climbing Gear. One was quite large and bright yellow, one was smaller and green/blue.

All of the gear was labeled with either TMW or TW (the shoes). The helmets all had TMW on them, and so did the harnesses.

Eleven of the harnesses were Black Diamond Vario (the older, black ones not the newer, gray ones); one was a Black Diamond Alpine Bod (small), and the last was a Blue Water Voyager.

The shoes were nearly all Scarpa - the classic green leather ones - with TW and a size on each.

The helmets were all Camp Rock Star helmets, in solid blue, red, or white.

I can only assume that someone watched me unload, then sneaked up while I was carrying the ropes, static line, etc.

I'm honestly not expecting to get any of the gear back, but thought it worth my time to alert any other users of the area.

Cheers,

Tai Grosjean
Senior Rock Climbing Instructor
The Mountain Workshop

Sorry that happened to you. It's crazy to think that someone would be in that neighborhood watching you and then take your gear; it's crazier to think someone would think that there's a "black market" for used climbing gear.

Which leads me to think...do you think it's possible that someone wasn't psyched about you coming from out of state and setting up shop (13 harnesses; 11 helmets; 30-40 pairs of climbing shoes) on one of the more popular crags in the state? Of course I'm just playing the devil's advocate.

--Marc

I wonder if it wasnt the same psycho who verbally assaulted me there this spring for climbing too close to him. he lived in the hood. I'd keep an eye out on Craigslist hartford.

Marc Horan wrote:Sorry that happened to you. It's crazy to think that someone would be in that neighborhood watching you and then take your gear; it's crazier to think someone would think that there's a "black market" for used climbing gear. Which leads me to think...do you think it's possible that someone wasn't psyched about you coming from out of state and setting up shop (13 harnesses; 11 helmets; 30-40 pairs of climbing shoes) on one of the more popular crags in the state? Of course I'm just playing the devil's advocate. --Marc

The site is regularly used by schools/camps, and I wasn't from out of state - TMW is based in CT. *shrug*

UPDATE:

Turns out that a construction company about ten miles away from Pinnacle called the office yesterday, saying that the entire bag of shoes had been found dumped on their site.

Scuttlebutt says that there's a disgruntled local that doesn't like groups using Pinnacle; that seems to support the theory. *shrug*

Cheers,

T

Pretty weird... I know that pinnacle has always had a bone of contention, since it offers such good climbing and easy access (esp. for TR).

In your defense, you chose a good time to string up Pinnacle. Monday morning is hardly a busy time for the area, so setting a bunch of TRs at that time should not be a problem.

Disgruntledness might come from the fact that the AMC group is often known to string up a number of climbs on an afternoon weekday, and A) not let people use their ropes, and B) not pull the ropes for those who want to lead the climbs. A friend of mine went to climb one of the classic routes there only to find that the AMC had set it up for the purpose of "Rappel Practice"

Another alternative might be to seek out areas like Porcupine Hole, which has a little more difficult access, but contains some great moderates. You will need to find a copy of Ken's Book, which can be hard to find: tinyurl.com/56yaq6 . This book is worth the money. I had started entering climbs that I did into the MP/Rock Climbing database, but have since moved to CO. You might also get in contact with Chuck Boyd, who is a local AMGA Rock Instructor. I know he guides for the YMCA at Porcupine, he might have some other ideas for you as well.

Hope this helps you out. Glad you found the shoes, hopefully the helmets/harnesses materialize, although you may consider them a loss since from a liability standpoint, you do not know what condition they will be in, regardless if they "look" ok. Certainly sounds like the thief has some maliciousness in them.

cheers.
-chris

Thanks for the update, Tai. Good luck in getting the rest of your gear back.

--Marc