Gunks Partner August 6-12

What is the weather like at the Gunks in August? Looking for partner(s) to climb some of the easier classic lines and get a feel for the climbing before doing something harder.

My brother lives in the city I could stay with him and/or camp.

Have rack, rope and transportation.

Too early to tell. Generally you can expect snow-covered ledges and cold temps. If there hasn't been any precip. or severe melt-out in a few days the rock should be dry. Even if the rock is wet you can still climb easy stuff due to the positive nature of gunks holds. X-country skis or snowshoes are pretty clutch for getting around up there when it's really snowy. Good luck!

The drive is 1.5-2 hours depending on where you are in the city. A very manageable day or weekend trip.

Simon - Looking at your profile I see you soloed Snooky's and Columbia yesterday. Impressive. The rock was soaked!

simon-

free soloed?

if so, you've got balls my friend.

I was out yesterday and it was way soaked and slippery.

no crowds though!

Mostafa-

the ride from nyc is no biggie. leave early and there's no traffic, it's about 90 min.

don't fuck up and die Simon!

Yes, free solo. When I did snookie's on Thursday it was dry except for the 2nd pitch, but yeah yesterday everything was soaked. I don't have big balls I just know my limits.

If you're here that long I would put the odds of getting a couple climbable days at better than 50:50. Just don't expect to camp out here and climb 5 days in a row. Odds of THAT in February are just about zero.

was up there sunday, and even on a "warm" day (mid 40's), there was still snow/slush/ice on the carriage road and on most of the ledges. Also the warm weather brought in the fog and really really wet rock. Kind of a waste of a day, but I like new paltz and it was a great break from the city.
Also peterskill is closed for climbing for the winter.

Another option if you don't want to bring your rack is west point/poison ivy wall. Sport crag a few minutes closer than the gunks in the same direction.

Piggybacking off that question, can I assume mid April will be decent? Planning a trip with the wife to the northeast. Will involve fair bit of city stuff, but hoping to spend 2-3 day in the Gunks.

Paul-B wrote:Piggybacking off that question, can I assume mid April will be decent? Planning a trip with the wife to the northeast. Will involve fair bit of city stuff, but hoping to spend 2-3 day in the Gunks.

from what I've gathered talking to friends (this is my first season in the north east), april is wet and still a little cool. Last winter was so temperate that I know my friends were climbing in april, but it's going to be hard to tell this early in the game. Remember April all over the east coast is pretty damp.

February is what I think of as "dead of winter", and can have stretches for weeks that don't get above freezing. In the past decade thnigs are noticeably warmer overall, with only occassional "real" winters. But it usually isn't until sometime March at the earliest that climbing on rock is possible in the NE for most mortals.

Last April there was a record warm spell. We just happened to time a Rumney vacation at that exact moment and it was awesome! 70F in April is not a guarantee though, but when I look back at my photos over the last 5 years, I see a lot of rock climbing starting mid-April in the Gunks. My rule of thumb is 50F+ and sunny, I'm on rock!