Recommended rack near Syracuse?

Hey all,

I'll be new to the area in August and am looking for crags around Syracuse.
I know the Addies are close, and southern mountain and little falls. Its all a little bit of a drive but not bad.

While looking at these, for most routes the pro just says standard rack, and having climbed enough to realize that that isn't always the same thing, I was curious as to if someone could give me a bit of advice on how to stock my rack for the Addies and maybe Gunks?

Thanks all!

.3-3 BD or equivalent w/set of nuts. that will tackle most routes. tricams are nice for gunks but not necessary. i know of no other crags. have fun

Found a .3/.4 x4 offset very useful for a number of tricky to protect gunks cruxes. Pink, red, brown tricams is the standard addition if you're headed to the GUNKS. Grew up in Rochester so I commiserate that this part of the state sucks for a climber. Sorry abou that!

Be sure to check out the Southern ADK crags. Closest quality climbing to CNY folks. Little Falls will get old quick. Lost T, Statebrook, Otter Lake Cliffs. Nine corners for quality bouldering.

Addies? ADDIES??

Puhleeze.

Gunkiemike wrote:Addies? ADDIES?? Puhleeze.

+1

I lived in Utica for about a year which is about an hour East of Syracuse. Awful area... some of the most boring days of my life. To make up for it I drove 3 hours every weekend to the Gunks or ADKs. Usually by myself to meet people from Albany or other points to the East as no one from CNY seems to climb.

Little Falls is pretty bad. I would go after work and treat it more like a gym.

Eagle Falls is pretty cool and it is closer to the West side of the park but still like 2 hours from Syracuse. Little T and some other southern crags are good also.

Rack wise the standard rack is good. I seemed to place a lot of stuff in the fingers sizes.

Good luck. Its a hard place to live being a climber. Glad I left.

Step one.. seriously never call them the addies ever again.. you sound like a 13 year old girl talking about her boy band crush... if you want to abbreviate.. go ahead and just say ADK's...

Second.. .5-3 c4's set of c3's down to 0 or 00 nuts.. good to go and get at lies 6-8 alpine draws.

crakatoa wrote:if you want to abbreviate.. go ahead and just say ADK's...

"Dacks" is also a common and acceptable abbreviation.

And for equipment, I recommend a fast car.

Don't hate on little falls. It's a great little spot for lazy days when you don't want to spend six+ hours driving.

For example, I used to love running laps on devil won't care: mountainproject.com/v/devil…

Plus the setting is interesting to say the least. If you do more then climb, central New York isn't a bad place to live.

The upsides is (when the winter doesn't suck like last year) there is some pretty high class ice at Salmon River Falls. To survive in CNY you need to embrace winter and pick up winter sports like Ice Climbing, XC skiing, that can be done close to home. Otherwise, cabin fever grows fast because there are very few sunshine days from November thru March. Apline skiing in CNY is pretty running laps on tiny local hills of town (3 min down, 10 min waiting for the lift). Head 45 min north to the Tug Hill plateau and the XC ski options are pretty much limitless, both single track and groomed skate skiing on state land or private ski areas.

I very rarely head towards Central NY, for anything/any reason. If that gives you some idea of what you're facing. I lived in Utica for 2 years, not by choice (high school age). It's a very economically depressed area, industry up and left decades ago.

Like previously mentioned, the only climbing (outside of Little Falls) is 2+ hours away. Little Falls has its use, but during hot sunny days it's not even an option. The black rock just bakes.

You will find some people from CNY who climb. You can hopefully car pool which will help a bit on gas and miles on the vehicle.

In Syracuse you have recreation options on Lake Ontario, if that's your sort of thing. Lots of birding and other wildlife refuge nearby. Just nothing 'destination' worthy for most people, at least nothing that can't be found comparable elsewhere within a shorter drive. Wine tasting tour maybe? *shrug*

Fishing rod

Relevant discussion here.

I spent a few summers working in the high peaks in the 90's, and even "Dacks" marked you as an outsider.