Rock Adventures - The Bullet Crag, Part 1

This past Saturday my partner John and I decided to take a chance on a little-known and probably long-forgotten crag.  Just under a 1 hour drive followed by a 20 minute moderate trail hike and a 10 minute uphill bushwhack led us to a series of large boulder-like outcrops with some truly fantastic climbing. 

The rock is a bullet-hard gray “conglomerate”.  The climbing is certainly unique and the rock is good quality although there is a possibility of some of the blocks being loose.  

 

The climbing felt a lot like “top-rope bouldering”.  The starting moves were usually very difficult with the feet hidden by an overhang followed by 2-3 pumpy moves before gaining purchase and balancing out.  But it’s good to rope up since beyond the V starts there’s at least another 15-20 feet of climbing.  If the ground was more level this would probably make for a fantastic high-ball crag. 

 

Our day was a mixed bag climbing on slabs, splitter cracks, or on what I can only describe as stacked flakes.  All of the terrains perfectly complemented style as most of the slab is low-angle, the splitters are steep, and the blocky “stacked flake” climbing is on bulging or overhanging rock with a lot odd vertical pinches.  Unique to this rock formation are the many arêtes which call for side pulls as well as razor sharp flake edges which were brutal on our hands on that frigid winter morning.  On account of the cold we finished early but plan on returning as soon as the weather is a little more accommodating to continue exploring and climbing these rock formations.  

 

The pictures I shared are the left and right sides of the main outcrops that we climbed.  The routes we climbed are the 5.5 Inside Corner with V-1 Face Start, the 5.7+Splitter Crack, and the 5.9 Right Side of Right Arête.  The routes marked with an asterisk are not listed or graded in the guidebook and contain my own opinion of their grade. Along with some scattered boulders there was another large outcrop to our left as well as a smaller one to our right that both have established routes but we didn’t climb either of them.

 

Left Side of Main Outcrops



Right Side of Right Side Block of Main Outcrops

Alcove "Middle" of Right Side Block

 

 

Far Right of Right Side Block



 

 

I’m not aware of any access issues at this location.  In the interest of not stirring up a hornets nest I will withhold publishing the name and location of this area.  However, this area listed in the Rock Climbing New Jersey Guidebook (and contains the same disclaimer regarding unknown access).  My personal guideline is to go quietly, climb quietly, depart quietly, and most certainly not leave a trace.      

Calm before the Storm

Late October 2012 Hurricane Sandy devastated my home state of New Jersey and much of the North East.  Weeks later many of us are still recovering as things slowly begin to return to normal.  My family and I were fortunate to be spared any severe damage but were still forced to deal with our own share of hardships.   

 

The weekend before the storm my wife and I had planned on an overnight camping trip to Stokes State Forest.  Saturday would be a relatively windless and dry day with overcast skies.  But late in the night the forecast called for high winds and rains that would only continue on.  Obviously camping was no longer the plan.  But, this lead to good fortune as my wife suggested we go climbing together.  Climbing with my wife is a rare privilege.  Early into our exposure to climbing, before her pregnancy and the birth of our son, my wife and I were dedicated gym rats.  In fact, my wife was actually a very strong climber before the priorities of motherhood took over.   

 

This would be the third time in nearly a year (fifth time in total, not counting two ice climbs) my wife joined me to climb outside.  We decided on Ricks Rocks, a 30-50 foot cliff band near the Delaware Water Gap, popular with the Boy Scouts (my partner Ashish ran their climbing program here back in 2011).  I put my wife on the Boy Scouts “test piece” known as One Bowl Gulley, a 5.0 climb that is mostly 4^th class with a few very safe but technical climbing moves.  For my wife the difficulty was the heights, not the climbing.  She would climb and be lowered off in 10 foot intervals, but always ending higher than where she left off.  For my turns, I could actually start a few feet to the right on a variation of the route called One Bowl Ceiling, 5.8.  There’s a bulge crux along with some slab sections that made for a good climbing workout.  Later, I set up a top-rope on Jason’s Crack, 5.7 but the route as well as the entire wall was very wet and muddy making it an unpleasantly filthy grovel and after I topped out I told her not even to bother.  She told me she had already made up her mind after listening to all my grunting and watching me scoop mud out of the crack.   

Looking down One Bowl Gulley

 

Looking up One Bowl Gulley



 

After lunch we decided to call it a day.  By then we could feel random drops of rain and the wind had picked up.  Despite only a few hours of climbing, I had a wonderful time with my wife and was happy to see she enjoyed her time there (although she’s not quite lukewarm to climbing with me regularly).  As we descended the trail I asked her about making salvaging the distance we drove by taking a short hike at The Gap.  But as she thought this over a snake slithered out on the trail in front of us and began to hiss loudly and I knew right there wasn’t even a chance.      

 



My Favorite Climbing Partner

The Snake that ended the day

One of My Favorite Pieces of Gear

Climbers lover their gear and love to sing praises of their most trusted pieces.  Climbers went head-over-heels for release of the GriGri 2 and others swore by the original, which is still on the market.  Trad Climbers still use and stand by their original Aliens or Friends, having only replaced the worn out slings.  These are some examples of diehard mainstays that may only need a few minor tweaks and upgrades through the years as their original concepts were genius designs.  An often overlooked and critical piece of climbing equipment often left out of this discussion is the Carabineer.  Aside from the development of twist locks, hood wires, grid locks, and now the new magnetic lockers, the fundamental principles for use remains the same with new and improved features continually making them lighter, stronger, safer, and easier to open, shut, and lock.  Probably my favorite carabineer and also one of my favorite pieces of gear is the Omega Pacific Five-O Wiregate Carabineer.  It’s not my belay biner and it’s usually not part of my master point.  But it’s still a critical work horse serving multiple purposes.    

The strength ratings are nothing extraordinary: 25kN Major Axis, 8kN Minor Axis, and 7kN Open Gate.  It’s large for a Wiregate.  The Five-O weighs 1.7 ounces and is 4.27 inches in length, 2.69 inches in width and has a monstrous1.26 inch Gate Opening, one of its most redeeming qualities.  I can’t stress how ideal the biners are for racking rock pro.  Black Diamond Oval Wires were my original go-to biners for racking until I realized not only how much more the Five-O could rack but also how much easier it is to handle due to its size and gate opening.  Another attribute to their size is how well they can carry a Clove Hitch, especially if you want to back it up with an overhand or figure-eight knot.  A task usually limited to larger and heavier lockers. 

Racked Loosely - 3 C3s, 3 C4s, 3 Master Cams (x2) / 6 Stoppers, 4 Stoppers, 4 Tri Cams

Surprisingly, I have yet to see anyone else carrying one of these but everyone who’s seen mine in use really seem to like them.  I know smaller and lighter wire carabineers, like Camp Nanos, are often the choice for trad climbers.  But having a few Five-O’s on your harness might be worth the few extra ounces of weight.  Check them out for yourself!       

 

OP Five-O, BD Oval Wire, BD Live Wire 

 

Betty

Redpoint - To complete while placing protection on a lead climb after making previous unsuccessful attempts, done without falling or resting on the rope. (wikipedia.com)

Named after Betty Woolsey who completed the first ascent in the 1940’s, “Betty” is a popular beginner lead climb located in The Trapps (Gunks, NY).  For the first twenty or so feet I followed a wide crack capped by a small boulder then on to a small ledge with bit of rock scrambling over scattered blocks.  From here, I climbed left (right would be on less protected face climbing) pulling on flakes up until reaching a short ledge, traversing right to the belay tree. 

 

Prior to leading, I had climbed this route on Top Rope a total of 4 times (last time doing a mock lead) on two separate visits.  It’s a pretty straightforward climb with relatively comfortable gear placing stances.  It’s a bit ledgey so falls should definitely be avoided.  Probably the most challenging move or moves are just before the reaching the very top of large crack system.  I found myself employing the “chicken wing” as it is a bit of an offwidth climb.  After pulling through the crack and clearing the blocks, it's much easier to place gear staying to the left instead of venturing out to the slabby right side (which is still only 5.3-5.4 climbing).

Cleaning the first pitch in back in August 2012

 



Working up the nerve to lead obviously took time.  I wanted to be absolutely sure I was comfortable with all the moves, stances, and placements.  The day I lead it I literally walked right up to the route from my car and cruised to the top.  My eleven or so placements were a bit on the overcautious side but it kept my mind at ease.  And honestly, I was mentally comfortable the entire climb - which I believe is an absolute requisite.  I felt prepared, sure of myself and steady as I moved with a calm sense of purpose as opposed to winging it and taking chances.  Today was a great success, and I’m very happy to share the story of my first lead climb.  The remainder of that gorgeous October day was spent under a blanket of yellow autumn leaves climbing the routes “Jackie” and “Ribs” with two of my partners and one of their friends whose first climbing experience could not have come on a better day. 

 

 View from the top, Redpoint on October 16, 2012

Duobus Annis

I decided on October 3, 2010 that I was going to become a Rock Climber.

For my 31^st birthday my wife and I signed up for an EMS Rock Climbing Clinic at Allamuchy State Park.  It was a random decision to try something new and exciting.  I remember saying something along the lines of “I’m getting older I need to go climb some mountains”. It wasn’t just the climbing as much as it was the knots, the rope anchoring, and the rappel rigging that grabbed my interest.  I spent the next few days watching YouTube videos and practicing knots with paracord, determined to master the Figure-8 and Alpine Butterfly.  This quickly led to browsing related video searches and coming across Chris Sharma climbing “Dreamcatcher”.  Before I knew it I had signed us up for a second clinic with EMS at Ralph Stover.  That trip scared me.  The day was cold, the cliff was high, the rock wasn’t as grippy, and I dared to say out loud what I’m sure my wife and I were both thinking, “why are we doing this?”. 

 

Restart.  Recover.  We joined and climbing gym and by early spring 2011 I was building my own top-ropes and learning the ways of the rock at a little dirty cliff less than 30 minutes from my house.

 

And here I am now, two years later and still as enthusiastic as the morning I crept up the trail on Allamuchy Mountain.  I began a blog thinking I would have fantastic tales of “rock adventures” and scores of high quality action photos and dramatic videos of mind blowing sends. The reality is that I’m not a Pro Climber, and I’m not climbing hardcore and really don’t have it in me to push my climbing into that level anyway.  I’ve only documented my first multi-pitch (I’ve since repeated Triumvirate) and an excellent ice day since I felt these were meaningful trips.  Otherwise I have spent countless of days on rock.  Most aren’t worth posting because I’m on rather pedestrian routes.  But I decided from now on I’m going to tell some of my tales anyway.  My epics are unique to me.  My stories are mine to share, and I’m happy to share them with those who want to hear them. 

My biggest challenges now are finding the confidence to lead, scheduling with partners, and having the time to climb regularly in order to maintain a decent level of climbing fitness.  The summer of 2012 was bleak in terms of climbing.  I had to consider taking the time away from my wife and son, dealing with the heat, rain, and even hail (see repeat of Triumvirate).  I also suffered a pretty severe abdominal strain in late June and had to nurse it for several weeks.  

 

As of now, I’m back on track.  I’ve been gym climbing more and have a handful of prepaid visits remaining that I’ve been able to use here and there during the week on days when my wife is working from home.  In the past 45 days I’ve ticked 5 routes in The Gunks and even managed to squeeze in a long route on Mt Minsi one morning before visiting my Father.  In the coming weeks, as the wonderful climbing season of autumn approaches, I have climbing days scheduled and my eye on ice forming early this year in the Catskills (fingers crossed!). 

So, here’s to Two Years of Climbing.  Good days, bad days, fun days, long days, hard days, hot days, cold days, wet days, but all days spent doing something I set out to do for some reason…I still don’t know why I climb.  The question is often asked, the responses are always varied.  The motivation is unexplained.  I guess it’s just because it’s who I am, Rock Climber. 

Catskills Ice Climbing

The Winter of 2011-2012 has been disappointing.  Today, January 24, it is a balmy 50 degrees outside.  Over the weekend we got a 3 inch dusting of snow (first snow since the freak late-October storm) and it has all but vanished. 

I had been keeping a close eye on the weather waiting for a solid cold-snap to arrive and stay in place.  The snow that came over the weekend was preceded by a decent spell of proper winter weather in the Catskill Mountains.  Without hesitation, I contacted Alpine Endeavors to reserve a private guide.  To my surprise, I was paired up with Ryan Stefuik who is featured in this month’s Rock and Ice and Climbing magazines on none other than Catskill Ice.  Ryan brought me to a new area he was developing called “The Dark Side”.  This was my third time Ice Climbing but it ended up being a fantastic day.  I managed to climb a WI4 without too much difficulty and felt at ease with my movements and sticking my axes and crampons.  The only downside of the trip was to leave wanting more, ready for more…and then coming back to an early Spring in the middle of Winter. 

 

 



Delaware Water Gap, Mount Tammany, Triumvirate.

In August 2011 Triumvirate was my first multi-pitch climb. I followed (third) and cleaned both pitches behind leader Barry Rusnock and second Ashish Patel. Barry is an AMGA climbing guide with Riverview Outdoor Adventures. Ashish, my good friend and regular partner, is a BSA Climbing Instructor and sometimes works as an assistant alongside Barry.

Triumvirate is a Gap classic with a 5.4 PG rating. The first pitch is the longest and easiest section following a blocky ramp through large off-width weaknesses. The second pitch is a well-protected airy traverse. As you climb further to the left the exposure increases. The climb ends at a bolted rappel station which we descended with a two-rope rappel.

The actual climbing on Triumvirate wasn’t very difficult. The first pitch was more of a technical scramble but there’s definitely the danger of a bad fall on lead. The second pitch is much cleaner climbing with friendly horizontal cracks and excellent gear placements. If anything, the exposure and empty air space below the protruding rock of the traverse is the most difficult obstacle to overcome.

At the time, this was my first "climb of consequence". All of my climbing up until then had been short top-roping.  The length of this route is a little over 100 feet, much higher than my usual 30-50ft climbs.  I also had to deal with for the first time the technical aspect of belay stations and cleaning gear.  It was a fanstastic learning experience.