Beta please - climbing near NYC

I have an opportunity to move to NJ just outside of NYC. What is the climbing scene like in the area? The gunks are 2 hours away? Other options?

I like to climb 5.10 and 5.11 trad and 11 and 12 sport. Looking for beta on quality climbing, not the local short chosspile. 

Thanks!

Chris R,

 you left off the Entire South? Southern rock using the transportation hubs- (easy travel). from NJ .    There are  destinations that offer as much good climbing below the Mason Dixon line as above it, maybe more. . There are to many to mention, Some challengers for the 'must visit at least twice' list; North Carolina,  Arkansas,  Kentucky,  Tennessee, West Virginia,& the rest, the whole list is in the five-day plan flying/driving from NJ.  That did not seem the point -  though as you point out, with-in in a days drive there are a half dozen climbing zones good for a week-end adventure.

The adirondacks has fantastic trad climbing and is probably about 4 hours drive from Newark NJ

Eric D wrote:

I have an opportunity to move to NJ just outside of NYC. What is the climbing scene like in the area? The gunks are 2 hours away? Other options?

I like to climb 5.10 and 5.11 trad and 11 and 12 sport. Looking for beta on quality climbing, not the local short chosspile. 

Thanks!

The climbing scene is bouldery? Gymmy? Gunksy? It depends what you're into. Not a ton of big rock nearby, so a lot of people day trip out to PA, CT or various NY areas to boulder, weekend trips to further NY areas, RI, NH, etc. Areas of note:

The Gunks: Not much more to be said about that. Around an hour and change depending where exactly in NJ you are.

Adirondacks, NY: It's terrible and everyone should definitely stay away from it. Or at least park your friggin' car at Chapel Pond like a decent human being so everyone fits and quit leaving shit out for the bears.

The Whites, NH: Great, great trad. Cathedral, Cannon and Whitehorse. Everything you could want. Generally a Weekend/Long Weekend trip.

Rumney, NH: Usually done as a weekend/long weekend trip and really the closest quality pure sport area.

Those are the heavy hitters for the area that I think are reasonable. Everything else (Acadia, Red, New, Seneca, etc) becomes a longer trip. Honorable mention to Thacher for having a ton of potential.

If you're expecting after work crags, you'll be sorely disappointed. If you're cool with dedicating a whole weekend for climbing or getting to the Gunks for partial weekends you'll be in good shape.

I'm moving to get away from this lack of climbing situation here. 

Michael has a good analysis. So does Lisa.

Problem is that much of the short crags nearby are strong on 8 - 10a, but light on 11-12, so to keep your outdoor-rock perception sharp, likely better to look for bouldering - lots more opening up. Seems like that's what Ashima + Sasha to maintain there high-difficulty performance.

Presumably you're moving here for a job that's very interesting or high-paying. If the second, then possible strategy used by a top climber of an earlier generation was to have his own light aircraft. Might work better if can conveniently fly to places like New River Gorge (WV) or the best of the Whites (NH) for a weekend -- or even Red River Gorge (KY) for a long weekend?
. . . (never did it myself).

Ken

In a nutshell; trad- gunks, sport- Rumney, bouldering- Rhode island. Am I missing anything?)

Lisa Haze wrote:

In a nutshell; trad- gunks, sport- Rumney, bouldering- Rhode island. Am I missing anything?)

the states known as CT and MA , thats about it

T Roper wrote:

the states known as CT and MA , thats about it

Tried climbing in CT. Wasn't impressed. Oh yeah there's sloper heave in MA. 

I've been there a couple times thinking maybe I just needed to get stronger to appreciate it , I was always disappointed, other people seem to enjoy themselves there though. 

I am in the apparent minority that thinks NYC is a awesome place to live for a climber.  I love the bomber quality of Gunks rock.  The ADKs are one of my favorite places to be in the world.  If you are the type of climber that is also an outdoors-person generally, you will have a blast.  To me, the beauty of the approach materially impacts the whole situation, and spring and fall in the northeast are lovely.  Not to mention the availability of other sports if you have diverse interests (kayaking, kitesurfing, caving, ice climbing, etc.)

The main climbing attractions have been mentioned above.  There are some little hidden climbing spots too, though they tend be harder grades and access is usually questionable (so we will leave that to face to face conversations).  

You can have year-round seasons by going north when it's too hot and south when it's too cold.  

If it ends up not being your bag, a couple of years of professional experience in this area tends to go a long way on a resume, so if you bail because it's not for you living around NYC, it will probably be with a promotion.

Thanks for reminding me of the private property access issue in MA Alicia. I edited my post. I agree with Alicia, if you're coming here to beef up your resume then NYC is always a good choice. If you're coming here to really get into sport climbing and bouldering, not so much. If you're into gym climbing and trad and a little iceclimbing 2+ hours away, fantastic! It depends on where your priorities lie. Not to mention the food is amazing. If you don't mind trading space, privacy, astronomically high rent and generally longer commute times for whatever it is your achieving here, go for it. I know when I interviewed recently everyone was impressed with my resume and I received multiple job offers at the interviews. 

Lisa Haze wrote:

Tried climbing in CT. Wasn't impressed. Oh yeah there's sloper heave in MA. 

Yup, nuttin to see here in CT folks. Move along.

My read is this guy has done some rather good modern climbing and some really good multi-pitch Trad climbing (not much into bouldering?) so most of what's within 4 hours driving is not going to measure up to his hopes.

But there's lots of other interesting challenges and valuable contributions to make ... other than climbing nowadays. The metro NY NJ area is a good place to do those -- and connect with other people for teamwork + support. Also a rather good place to make money and build long-term career which enables more and better of those non-climbing achievements + contributions + fun.

Therefore I suggest that he should accept the local inferiority of the climbing (and inferiority of the mountain environment), move here and learn to build other positives -- and get good at _traveling_ to other places with greater climbing.

The Gunks are great but when I lived in Brooklyn, the distance was prohibitive. I moved to the Gunks for a reason. But it's a world-class trad climbing destination that's doable as a weekend trip.

On weekdays, outdoor bouldering in Manhattan is totally worthwhile. Central Park has a variety of boulders (my favorite is Worthless Boulder at the North end) and I've heard good things about Fort Tryon Park. There's a NYC Bouldering Guidebook, and Gunks Apps just released a guide for Manhattan.

Brooklyn sits on a ridge of the same rock as Manhattan, so I'd expect there to be boulders there too, but if there are I wasn't able to find them while I lived there.

For trad and a little bit of sport, Powerlinez is about half the distance to the Gunks. It's within sound distance of a major highway and the namesake power lines make this not much of a nature destination. But the climbing itself is good quality.

There are a bunch of small, easy-to-get-to locations that have quality but not quantity of single-pitch climbs. St. Stevens and Allamuchy State Parks have only a few climbs, but high quality rock. St. John's Ledges in CT has a few good climbs too.

I'm not much of a boulderer besides in Manhattan, but I've heard good things about Sourlands. Gunks/Powerlinez have good bouldering too.

If you're willing to travel farther than the Gunks, a lot of stuff opens up. Adirondacks, Cathedral Ledge, Rumney.

Lisa Haze wrote:

Oh yeah there's sloper heave in MA. 

Where's the sloper heaven?

Many many people go to the Gunks for the day from the NYC area, myself included. From the NJ suburbs it will take you less than two hours to get there. 

If you like to climb trad 5.10-5.11 the Gunks will be very agreeable for you. 

5.10 is the premier grade at the Gunks. There are dozens and dozens of wonderful 5.10 climbs, which can be led on-sight with reasonable protection, at several different cliffs at the Gunks. The 5.10d selection is particularly good, and many of the 5.10d climbs in the Gunks are climbs which people claim ought to be graded 5.11, or would be graded 5.11 anywhere else, etc etc.

Above 5.10, the pickings get slimmer. There are a relative handful (maybe two or three handfuls) of 5.11 climbs throughout the Gunks that typically get led by anyone. At the 5.12 grade the ones that get led are even fewer in number. There are a good number (a few dozen, maybe) of hard (5.11+ and higher) lines that are top-roped into submission by climbers with some frequency, and there is a relatively small group of people who like to work up to "head-point" style leads of these harder lines, many of which have good gear at spaced intervals but also have portions in which a fall would be a very bad idea. 

The style in the Gunks is somewhat specialized. The rock has horizontal cracks. The area is known for roofs. Even easy climbs often feature (juggy) overhangs. The face climbing tends to feature interesting moves through blank sections to reach bomber horizontals.

If you like to take road trips for the weekend then the Adirondacks and New Hampshire offer a great variety of climbing, including climbing more typical of what you see out west with granite slabs and vertical cracks, at every grade level. There are even climbs you might consider alpine in character, at Wallface in the Adriondacks and Cannon Cliff in NH. But all of this is four to six hours away, depending on exactly where you are going. For sport climbing, Rumney will be about five hours away. The New River Gorge is seven to eight hours away.

David K makes a lot of good points.

David Kerkeslager wrote:

the Gunks . . . world-class trad climbing destination.

Though keep in mind that the maximum height of any cliff at the Gunks is 200 feet. So really you're never more than a single rope-length from the ground. The dramatic ledge on top of the first pitch of ultra-classic High Exposure can be reached by walking, if you know your way around the top. Almost any route in the Gunks could be top-roped if you knew the terrain so well to accurately place directionals.

Perhaps the Gunks should be called "pseudo multi-pitch".
Still many people after climbing their first pitch find that the illusion of commitment "works". 

Keep in mind also that the horizontal-ledge-abundance and the often less-than-vertical Gunks rock implies that actually taking a fall on Lead often results in a broken ankle.

Also because of the Trad style of the Gunks community, some of the great 11s and 12s get climbed little nowadays (compared with the attention they would get at Rumney or New River Gorge). The joke I heard was that The Yellow Wall gets fewer ascents each year than Mt Everest.

Lots of climbers from near and far love the Gunks. So hopefully our OP can love them too (at least for a few months).
Anyway if you want to lead Trad . . .  "It's what's for dinner".

Ken

I think these things go in waves, for whatever reason. I have seen a recent increase in traffic on the harder lines, but it's all relative and certainly nothing compared to the Gunks' reputation for crowding in general. But if you expect to walk right up to Kligfields, for instance, and find no one on it ahead of you, well, you might be surprised. 

Anyway I consider a lack of crowds on the climbs I might want to do to be a GOOD thing!

About whether the Gunks is truly multi-pitch, I think I have to respectfully disagree. Many of the hard testpieces are single-pitch but there are a great number of wonderful multi-pitch climbs, even if they are just two or three pitches.