Advice for Sport Climbing in Rumney

Hey,

Heading to Portland, ME with my brother to see my sister and I thought we'd stop by Rumney for a few days to get some climbing in. I've heard good things, but never been to the area before and never posted on here so I thought I'd see if anyone has any advice on where to climb, where to stay, and the like.

My brother hasn't climbed much before and so we're looking to climb sport, anything from 5.8 to 5.10+. We're going to be there in early May and hopefully stay for 4 days or so.

Any help on where we should go and where we should stay would be awesome. Thanks MP!

Are you looking to camp?

mountainproject.com/v/rumne…

mountainproject.com/v/rumne…

As for climbs, go into the rumney mountain project page, and sort by difficulty and then climb the ones with the most stars grouped closest together (so you don't walk 15-20 minutes just to find out the one climb you want has a line/being gang roped). Be warned that on a good weather day on the weekend it's going to be busy. The earlier you start the better. There's also a small fee for parking.

Everything climbing related is on the MP Rumney page. There is/was a map someone made and uploaded that will be useful for finding the crags, which are scattered.

mountainproject.com/v/rumne…

Bring bug repellent for May. And be prepared for a gong show at the closer walls on a nice weekend.

Car camp across the street at rattle snake camp ground. Call Tom, hes the man, (603) 493- 5266. Camping there is $10 a night per person, but then you dont have to pay the parking fee and can walk to all the crags.
Climb the high starred routes not on the weekend, and on the weekend climb whatever is open, if you can find anything.

May weather can produce anything (I've experienced both snow and hot humid weather at that time of year) but is more likely to be reasonable than otherwise.Of course, if the weather is good--there will be crowds, especially on the weekends---the parking lots are big but fill up remarkably quickly. There WILL be bugs---May is the start of black fly season. A good repellant helps but not always--long sleeves and bug nets would not be out of place on the worst days. Another very important seasonal factor is the "Bird Closure" on certain of the crags. The exact location and duration of the closure varies from year-to-year but always includes the Main Cliff crag and usually several others. Details can be found on the Rumney Climbers Coalition website.

As for climbs--the adjacent Meadows and Parking Lot Wall areas are very close to the parking lot (as implied by the name), are quite extensive, and have many routes in the grade range you are seeking.These same factors, not surprisingly make them very popular. Many of the routes tend to be slabby so not what many associate with Rumney climbing and also a number (especially at Parking Lot) may still be wet from winter run-off.Still they are worth a visit or 2. A bit further down the road, The 5.8 Crag is small but also easily accessible and with a good selection of routes in those grades. A good bit further from the road, the Hawks Next and Lonesome Dove areas (forget what the crag is called in the book)are close to each other, somewhat less likely to be over-crowded, and have a number of very good routes in those grades. None of the above crags, as far as I recall, has been affected by the bird closure in the past. Most of the other crags on the hillside will have at least a few routes in those grades--especially at the 5.10 end. Enjoy. Despite the crowds, etc, it is still a fine place to climb.

willynelson wrote:Hey, Heading to Portland, ME with my brother to see my sister and I thought we'd stop by Rumney for a few days to get some climbing in. I've heard good things, but never been to the area before and never posted on here so I thought I'd see if anyone has any advice on where to climb, where to stay, and the like. My brother hasn't climbed much before and so we're looking to climb sport, anything from 5.8 to 5.10+. We're going to be there in early May and hopefully stay for 4 days or so. Any help on where we should go and where we should stay would be awesome. Thanks MP!

Alan Rubin wrote:May weather can produce anything (I've experienced both snow and hot humid weather at that time of year) but is more likely to be reasonable than otherwise.Of course, if the weather is good--there will be crowds, especially on the weekends---the parking lots are big but fill up remarkably quickly. There WILL be bugs---May is the start of black fly season. A good repellant helps but not always--long sleeves and bug nets would not be out of place on the worst days. Another very important seasonal factor is the "Bird Closure" on certain of the crags. The exact location and duration of the closure varies from year-to-year but always includes the Main Cliff crag and usually several others. Details can be found on the Rumney Climbers Coalition website. As for climbs--the adjacent Meadows and Parking Lot Wall areas are very close to the parking lot (as implied by the name), are quite extensive, and have many routes in the grade range you are seeking.These same factors, not surprisingly make them very popular. Many of the routes tend to be slabby so not what many associate with Rumney climbing and also a number (especially at Parking Lot) may still be wet from winter run-off.Still they are worth a visit or 2. A bit further down the road, The 5.8 Crag is small but also easily accessible and with a good selection of routes in those grades. A good bit further from the road, the Hawks Next and Lonesome Dove areas (forget what the crag is called in the book)are close to each other, somewhat less likely to be over-crowded, and have a number of very good routes in those grades. None of the above crags, as far as I recall, has been affected by the bird closure in the past. Most of the other crags on the hillside will have at least a few routes in those grades--especially at the 5.10 end. Enjoy. Despite the crowds, etc, it is still a fine place to climb.

Thanks for the help everyone. We are looking to camp in as cheap a place as possible. Camping doesn't seem too cheap, but we'll make it work. Looks like I'll try to make those 4 days weekdays and will get ready to have some fun. Seems like there is a ton of stuff for us to do. Maybe we'll try to get a few more days in on the way back.

Thanks again for all the responses. See you out there!

$10 a night a person is not that expensive especially when other places are the same or more expensive than Tom and you'd still have to drive to the crag, pay to park, and deal with the hassle of finding a place to park instead of just walking across the street.

Yeah, you're right. 10$ isn't bad at all, what I should have said is that I'm cheap. And didn't realize it would just be a walk across the street either. Seems great. Thanks TLyons

Breakfast - Common Cafe

I have camped at Walmart down the street before... that's cheep ;) there really is a nice tent spot in the woods there. if the budget is tight, its a place to sleep and I haven't been hassled there.

In Plymouth, Lee?

I'd suggest upper Darth Vader wall for moderates. Short routes but great for a new climber. Also sometimes less crowded than Jimmy cliff

Eric Chabot wrote:I'd suggest upper Darth Vader wall for moderates. Short routes but great for a new climber. Also sometimes less crowded than Jimmy cliff