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Gunks 5.10 circuit recommendations

Original Post
Christian Schrader · · Phoenix, AZ · Joined Oct 2013 · Points: 75

Hey I am hoping to get out to the Gunks at least once this season and would like some recommendations for a whole day of 5.10's. I have only been once or twice to the area in general and it seems like allot of the gems are in that range. Looking through the guide book has me a little overwhelmed (in a good way).I'd like to think I climb pretty fast and could get allot in if there is a circuit that flows nicely. 20 pitches?

I should add that I am writing this with the Trapps in mind but it would be cool to check out the other areas and try out the same approach.

Josh Squire · · East Boston, MA · Joined Nov 2006 · Points: 66

Starting at the beginning of the Trapps:

Retribution and Nosedive (both 10b)
Stirrup Trouble (10b)
P38 (10b)
Mother's Day Party (10b)
Birdie Party (10a)
or do a link up called Mother Bird (10b or c) that combines Mother's Day party to the crux of Birdie Party
Try Again (10b)
Co-Existence (10d)
Welcome to the Gunks (10b or c)
Never Never Land (10a)
Nurse's Aid (10c)
Feast of Fools (10b)
Face to Face (10b)
Erect Direction (10c)
Directissimaissima (aka Doubleissima) (10b)
Ridiculissima (10d)
Simple Suff (10a)
Falled on Account of Strain (10b)
10,000 Restless Virgins (10d)
Wedgetables (10a)

If you make it to the Near Trapps do Fat City Direct (10d). One of my favorite climbs at the Gunks.

There are many more but I tried to give you only 3 and 4 star routes that weren't too scary ;)

Have Fun! Josh

Christian Schrader · · Phoenix, AZ · Joined Oct 2013 · Points: 75

Thanks Josh this looks great

Bill Kirby · · Keene New York · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 480

I hear there's an app for that.

MojoMonkey · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2009 · Points: 66
WiseOldMoon wrote:Thanks Josh this looks great
Sounds like a fun goal! Reviewing this article (30 pitches of 5.10 in a day at the Gunks) may give you some ideas too. They started at the far end and worked their way back.

Sounds like most would be onsights for you? There are some logistical challenges too, like figuring out the best route between (i.e. stay along the cliff or back to carriage road) and where to get back to the ground.

Good luck!
PeterW Whitmore · · Dryden, NY · Joined Mar 2010 · Points: 50

I think MF direct and Teeny Face are also worthy.

chris vultaggio · · The Gunks · Joined Dec 2008 · Points: 535

Mac Wall will have a ton of pitches in that grade range, but expanding to the rest of the cliff will require a bunch of walking.

Other Trapps 10s that are worthwhile:

Beetle Brow Bulge
Star Action
Graveyard Shift - one of the gunks' best 10s, bit spicy but 3-star
Balrog
Cheap Thrills
Erect Direction top pitches
Amber Waves of Pain - can get ED, Amber, Face to Face all from the GT ledge.
Nurse's Aid - spicy but 2 great 10 pitches
Tweak or Freak (linkup with Obilque Tweak)
The Winter (linkup with Spring top pitch - 2 stellar 10 pitches in 1)
Frustration Syndrome

Christian Schrader · · Phoenix, AZ · Joined Oct 2013 · Points: 75

Thanks for the quick replies guys. Hoping to get out with someone who knows the area well. Logistics sound like they might be just as hard as the climbing. Now if only I could find someone that would let me lead them all...hmmm

Chris Duca · · Dixfield, ME · Joined Dec 2006 · Points: 2,330

Here's a nice 5.10 circuit I've done before. Multi-pitch routes slow you down (thus not finishing Balrog).

5.10s

MojoMonkey · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2009 · Points: 66

Looking forward to a follow up of how it went!

Dan Flynn · · Northeast mostly · Joined May 2009 · Points: 5,065

One of my best days at the gunks was 10 pitches of 5.10, like so:

Mother's Day Party (10b, 10a), Coex (10d), try again (10b), nurse's aid (10c, 10a), feast of fools (10b, 10b), frustration syndrome (10c), spring (5.9, 10b), then tr'd the winter/spring to finish it up.

Obviously a lot of other variations, but this was a fun one.

Christian Schrader · · Phoenix, AZ · Joined Oct 2013 · Points: 75

So i ended up getting out for Veterans Day. I had a late start at around 9:30. I was able to onsight retribution and nosedive and have my partner clean both by 10:30. Next on the agenda was P-38. I botched the crux at the end of the crack and took a pretty big whipper onto a #5 BD stopper. I pulled the rope, rested and sent next go with gear before my last piece still placed. My partner and I decided to skip Stirrup Trouble considering the gear is supposedly, sparse with 5.9r sections. We moved over to the Mac Wall area next and I onsighted Mothers Day Party to the MF p1 anchor. What an amazing climb! The dynamic beta I used going through the corner had me feeling a bit tired at this point. I geared up for Co-ex and headed up confidently only to take a fall pulling the roof. I figured it out next try, climbed to the anchor and sent it in good style next try. By this point it was nearly 4 o'clock and based on my advanced math skills decided that my original goal of 20 pitches was just not in my cards today. So to finish off strong I ran over to Doubleissima and gave it an attempt only to be stopped 15 or 20 feet off the ledge when my hands started to open up involuntarily on JUGS! It was a pretty scary feeling and so began the depressing down climb/back cleaning to the small belay ledge were luckily, I found a bail anchor not too far away.

Overall, I think I was satisfied with the routes we did and I'm fascinated with the idea of eventually doing 20 ( or dare i say 30) 5.10 pitches in a day. If anyone has any tips or suggestions on how I could improve upon this or even share past experience with this kind of goal I would love to hear.

Thanks

Suburban Roadside · · Abovetraffic on Hudson · Joined Apr 2014 · Points: 2,419

Way to get after it !!
On the goal of as many .10's as you can. The climbs at the beginning of the Nears are a good bet

Criss Cross
Broken Sling
Disney point or do the link
Point, Swing
Inverted Layback(only .9)
Sissy Boys (spicy and .10+)
No slings Attached(old school spicy)
Fat Stick Direct or not
those last two may be not?
The Hounds
or move on to
Transcontinental Nail way
Bird Cage
and if you like
Fat city
that is eleven.
The climbs are all really
near each other and you
can pick and choose without a lot of
walking. There are a number of
Good harder climbs that are right in the same zone
that often get gang TopRoped you may want to save
Some for On sights.

Rui Ferreira · · Boulder, CO · Joined Jul 2003 · Points: 903

Sounds like you had a good day anyway.

Many of us would be happy with a 10 5.10 day and I think that is within your reach now that you have sampled what 5.10 Gunks climbing means. Going for 20 will raise the ante a bunch.

Kevin Heckeler · · Las Vegas, NV · Joined Jul 2010 · Points: 1,616
WiseOldMoon wrote:If anyone has any tips or suggestions on how I could improve upon this or even share past experience with this kind of goal I would love to hear. Thanks
Try it when there's 15 hours of daylight, not 9? [or learn to climb 10s by headlamp :) ]

You also lost almost 2 hours of climbing getting started at 9:30AM. You'll need to be a bit more serious than that... :-D

Yesterday turned out to be great even though the sunshine never materialized.
SethG · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2009 · Points: 291

Dude I am so not worthy. I am going to make some suggestions below even though I am only working my way through the tens myself. Most of what I say below is based on routes I've led and some I've seconded. I will disclose when I haven't actually been on a route.

Anyway if your goal is numbers spending more time at the Mac Wall before moving on will help you do more routes quickly, especially as the Mac Wall tens mostly have brief cruxes (as opposed to, say, Doubleissima which is a long pitch with a lot of hard steep climbing).

At just the Mac Wall you can knock off:

Mothers Day Party (2 cruxes)
Try Again (short stiff roof crux)
Coex (move into shallow corner then roof crux)
Star Action (2 move doozy of a crux-- roof move then weird transition)

At your level you may be comfortable with MF Direct (I haven't done it)-- short crux but poor pro for the moves afterward. Then you can do one of the Pitch 2 roofs just above, for example the Birdie Party roof. And then do the Dangler. This is three pitches each with a brief 5.10 crux, then rap back down using the bolted stations. (You could also transition from Mother's Day Party to Birdie Party and then the Dangler as well.)

There are yet more good quality tens at this one wall.

Insterstice-- two cruxes. Hard move up seam above corner right off the deck and then heady moves above gear near the top of the pitch. Hard 10d.

Tough Shift-- (I've never been on this one.) 10a crux is reputedly followed by some poorly protected 5.9.

Still Crazy After All These Years-- a lot of 5.8/5.9 climbing and then a short 5.10 face move crux.

If you did these you'd have ten pitches of 5.10 knocked off. Back in the day the hard men and women of the Gunks used to do a "Mac Wall Day" in which they would do all of the climbs on the Mac Wall... the list above in itself would be an achievement.

Hard to think of other parts of the cliff where you can concentrate so many pitches to whip off quickly. Starting at the beginning of the cliff, at Retribution/Nosedive then P-38 is a good idea. You could also do Red Cabbage Right (with the left hand start where there is gear); this is a short, soft 5.10 very close to Retribution/Nosedive. And if you throw in Stirrup Trouble (which I've never done) then you are up to 15....

It is a bit of a walk to the very end of the Trapps (maybe 20 minutes) but there are more relatively short 5.10's down there. You can do Wegetables (poorly protected 5.9 move low and then pretty soft triple tiered roof, 50 foot pitch) and Tennish Anyone (pumpy but short), Headless Horseman (short technical corner) and 10,000 Restless Virgins (roof problem) (the last two I have not done). And finish up at the Slime Wall with Frustration Syndrome (pretty short pitch with two cruxes, a hard face move and then a roof).

There, those are my twenty!

I assume you've seen this article?

Thirty 5.10's in a Day

Christian Schrader · · Phoenix, AZ · Joined Oct 2013 · Points: 75

Michael, I really appreciate the list you made for the Nears. I will hopefully try to get out there this season as long as this warm weather continues. I have never been.

Seth, sticking around the Mac wall seems like a good strategy. I'm not sure if you saw my last post in this forum but I ended up attempting my goal yesterday in poor fashion (got a late start, not enough stamina...) but was still happy with my efforts. The idea of focusing on "softer"/short crux .10's, makes the plan seem a bit more feasible. Eventually, it would be great to add in more sustained routes as well.

BigA · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2012 · Points: 0

My girlfriend turned 32 this year, and we did a day of 32 Trapps 5.10s. We started at dawn, and had five pitches done by sun-up at sleepy hollow and from there we worked back. By the time we left the Mac wall, she had done 20 pitches and it was only noon. The last dozen were a breeze. Full disclosure: not every pitch was led. In fact, most leads were picked for their ability to quickly TR an adjacent 5.10 pitch. This made the pitches pile up fast, and I would suggest this method, wise old moon, in the future. Also, pick a partner who doesn't mind taking a backseat for a day providing you hook them up later. My GF climbed all 32 quickly since I was only climbing and seconding when necessary. Also, we had a summer day so the daylight was long, and moved between zones on bikes. Actually, we biked from our house and then coasted down to the brahaus after, but I digress. Biking saved some time for sure. Since it was summer, though, many pitches were done in the blazing sun and that definitely took it's toll. I had stashed water and Gatorade along the way. It was a great day out, and it's a fun way to cover a lot of terrain.

Good luck to you for next time!

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Northeastern States
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