PRINT: Climb Poison Berry, Niagara Escarpment & Kettle Moraine

Poison Berry

V3-, Boulder,

Avg: 2.3 from 6 votes
FA: Jay Knower/ Jesse Mattner
Wisconsin > Niagara Escarpm… > High Cliff SP > 1. N Side > 2. Pavilion Overhang

Access Issue: Parts of High Cliff are included in the DNR's State Natural Area program so please respect that and do not climb with ropes in areas that are signed as State Natural Areas. BOULDERING IS ALLOWED EVERYWHERE. Details

See dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/sta… and click on the maps tab. The PDF map will give you the overview, but is not very detailed. Use the DNR's mapping app and zoom in for more detail.

Description

This route is located in the leaf-filled corridor. It is right by "The Overhang." It starts in the corner and uses the the right wall to gain the upper part of the roof. Climb through the upper jugs and top it out.

This route is a very fun "warm-up" route before tackling "The Overhang." It requires some intricate hand matches. The top-out is also not bad- a rare occurrence at High Cliff.

Protection

Pad and spotter.

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Poison Berry

Poison Berry follows the blue line.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Jay Knower
Plymouth, NH; Lander, WY

V3-

I think Jesse Mattner and I may have done the FA on this line back when we were working on The Overhang, sometime around 1999 or so. I think we called it "The Right Variation." Poison Berry sounds much better.

On a side note, I always felt that High Cliff bouldering didn't get the attention it deserved. The few people who actually climbed at High Cliff would always head to the cliffs around the campground. I thought the bouldering provided a better experience and a better workout given the angle of the problems.

I remember watching a British climbing movie ("One Summer," I think) where Ben Moon and Jerry Moffat do some eliminate-style bouldering on the chossy limestone crags around Shefield. We thought, "Hey, we have chossy limestone near us, maybe we can get as strong as those guys." We didn't of course, but there were certainly some fun days out at this area. Dec 7, 2006

Peter Dodge
Duluth, MN

V3-

Jay, I will be willing to change the name of this if you want. I only call it Poison Berry because when one of my buddies and I climbed this, at the top-out section, there was some kind of berry plant. We always seemed to get some berries in out mouths topping it out. They did taste pretty bad so I'm hoping there weren't poisonous.

I also agree that High Cliff needs more credit. Yes, it may be pretty short- 35 feet max, but you can definitely find some high-quality routes. Plus, the bouldering is awesome. Dec 7, 2006

Jay Knower
Plymouth, NH; Lander, WY

V3-

I think the name sounds good. Dec 7, 2006

mike Taylor
versailles, ky

mmm yummy berries!
the sweet reward for a gutteral sharma grunt Aug 17, 2009