As one looks upon the boulders at Snowy Mountain, confusion sets over them. WHAT IS THIS!? Where are my beloved crimps!? Why have my blocky jugs turned into wavey textured huecos and slopers!?!? AM I STILL IN NEW YORK!?
Well, yes, you are, and in a mighty good part of the state too! Yes this past weekend WB took its first trip out to Snowy Mountain boulders. Nestled in the heart of the Adirondacks, Snowy Mountain was very reminiscant of our trip to the South. Instead of the normal crimpy gneiss that the adirondacks is famous for, we got to play around on huge huecos and slopers. A very strange treat indeed.
The day started off hot and humid, but our hearts were inspired by the amazing quality problems all so close to eachother. And so began the sends. First stop was the Coitus Boulder which contained the five started V6 - Coitus, as well as a few other nice warm ups and a V10 Micheal and Ben wanted to try. While Ben and Michael polished Coitus off quick, Adam, Kyle and I were left to work out the moves. Coitus moves through pinches, crimps and huecos to a dynamic crux and a not-so-short top-out. The problem ended up being a test of determination. Adam, who had sent with the V4 top-out very quickly, was discouraged when he could not repeat to top it off the real way. I was discouraged after passing what I percieved as my personal crux, and falling off the top. However, we pushed on and got a good send. Kyle shall get Coitus another day.
As for the V10, it was Jingus, so we all moved on to the next gem on the Pancake boulder. IHOPP, a four starred V7 was quickly destroyed by Ben and Micheal. Adam, Kyle and I all tried, but could not pull that send train into the station.
Next came the BEAUTIFUL Cave Boulder. Nowhere else have I seen as amazing formations as here. A room sized cave splashes back into a 3 Inch Wide overhanging fin which extends for about 8-9 feet before curving back down into a strange Hammerhead feature. First came The Cure - V8. This problem starts on the fin and leads straight up and right to a very commiting roll-over top-out. Micheal sent, but everyone else found themselves a little too scared... Also on the boulder, The Sickness - V6 cuts an interesting line straight through the boulder to a scary but fun top-out. Kyle and Michael sent.
We then moved to some more quality problems, Never Been to Hueco and Never Left Hueco, a V8 and a V7. The V7 saw a quick send and after working the very dynamic last move, Ben sent strong.
We worked a few other problems, nothing note worthy, but fun! One thing was clear however, Snowy Mountain is sweet.
As we rapped up our day, it started to rain a little. It felt like it would blow through, so we took our time... little did we know... Within the next ten minutes the drizzle turned to a downpour with raging winds and distant thunder. There was no use avoiding it. And with heavy, wet packs soaked bodies, we began our long, moist ride home.
A movie with a couple of the sends from snowy will be coming out soon.
-WB
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