Summertimes.

I know these days posts are scarce, and I apologize for that. The past few weeks of summer have succeeded in completely deminishing my will to do anything productive ever, and unfortunately posting on this blog happens to fall into that category of things I really should probably do, but end up forgetting about due to a plethora of distractions like Netflix, Tumblr and Sour Cream & Onion Chips.

On a real note though, as Biggie once said, things done changed! I have a job now and a license, two very dangerous things to have as a restless teenager. On days when I don't have work, but the rest of the climbing world seems to, I escape alone into the Adirondacks, not only to scour the woods for some magical hidden boulderfield of dreams, but also for another alterior motive, a certain quality within me that I discovered on my first outing. The rolling ocean of pine-covered mountains that makes up the park makes me realize how little of this world I have seen. And walking alone on some trail next to nature just feels right. Something in me really wants to get to know everything about this part of the state.

So far, as far as bouldering goes, these excursions have yielded few results. I found two massive boulders on the hike up to Peaked Mountain (Siamese Ponds Wilderness) but the rock was chossy in spots and lacked featured in crucial areas. Most of the hikes I went on I would discover huge fields full of Smartcar sized boulders. Nobody really likes Smartcars, and to a boulderer, these are the worst kind of rocks. They taunt you and convince you that somewhere there's got to be one big enough to climb, but there rarely is.

Despite all this ranting about the Adirondacks and my Summer and such, I have actually been climbing. I've spent a great deal of time at Hogwarts, bonding with the Borg and regaining strength lost in the spring. Additionaly, Ben and I made trips out to Nine Corners and even McKenzie Pond. Rather than summarize every single trip, I'll sate your media hungry eyes with a photodump! Enjoy and keep reading! I may be lazy, but I haven't forgotten about this blog.

Lake Sacandaga from the Summit of Hadley Mountain

Trail Marker on the way up Severance Hill

Ben trying hard on Shut Up Machine - V9 at McKenzie
Poor conditions made this climb a no go!

Ben cutting loose on Cartwheel - V9 at McKenzie

Ben on another go of Cartwheel.

Me trying hard to reach that sloper on Cartwheel.

Ben on the super-incredible intro moves of Flux Capacitor - V8, McKenzie

Me trying the crux move on Flux.

A stellar shot of the Borg on Flux.

Izzy trying the top-out of her super thin project at Hogwarts, red-tagged fellas, sorry!

The Borg in the flesh setting up for the throw on Squibs SDS - V6

A few final thoughts before I dissappear once again for a few weeks...

1. I'd like to acknowledge Jut and his efforts on Southern Adirondack Climber, it's people and blogs like that that keep the whole community stoked. Not to mention he has more than outdone me in the posting department. Kid is posting like every fifteen god damn minutes! Good on ya!
2. I'd also like to acknowledge Kyle and his comments. I really do appreciate all of the comments you guys post and always read all of them, but Kyle's comments have a certain level of urgent-ridiculousness that actually has a significant effect on how much I post, so good work.
3. I'm looking for someone to hike/camp/climb/explore with in the high peaks region for one weekend in August. If anyone has any interest please, hit me up, I have a new phone number that I can get you if you email me or contact me some other way (facebook, telegraph, a formal letter).

- WB

Three from Hogwarts

The first video is of the following problems:

The Goblet of Fire - V7 (FA)
The Seeker - V6
The Sorcerer's Stone - V9 (FA)

iMovie messed up the quality a lot (and was an overall nightmare to work with) but fear not! Soon, my friends, quality footage will run free throughout this blog.

The second is a FULL QUALITY (1080p DESTINY) video of Murph on the FA of Snitch - V8.

In other news, I take my road test on FRIDAY.

Free at last! Free at last!

-WB

The Dark Lord has Returned! Hogwarts is No Longer Safe!

He-who-shall-not-be-named topping out a new, incredible V7.

News from the Pottersville spot is grim this week. Several verified reports have confirmed that he-who-shall-not-be-named has returned to Hogwarts! Yes, the Dark Lord himself arrived in the forest last Sunday,  taking with him on his visit the elusive and prized Sorcerers Stone Project. As well as the Golden Snitch and a few other problems that had remained uncleaned and unclimbed until his evil brushes and chalk met their sculpted holds.

Eyewitnesses captured pictures and videos of this horrible event. Despite his return, Dumbledore refuses to cancel classes for this year, stating that there are still several gems to be picked from the mess of boulders... and perhaps some incredible destiny hidden deep in that forest... only time will tell.

The List of Problems at Hogwarts so far is as follows:
*bold problems are of particular quality

Hagrid - V2
Delicate moves up a dirty, mossy slab. Fun, but needs a bit more cleaning.


The Deathly Hallows - V6
SDS just right of Goblet on a left hand sidepull and right hand sloping edge, move up through sculpted crimps and slopers to a top-out directly above.

The Goblet of Fire - V6
SDS left of Hallows, just around the corner from Sorcerer's Stone. Dynamic moves straight up through perfect, textured slopers lead to an amazing finish directly above and left.

The Sorcerer's Stone - V9
Stand start at patina jug on the obvious, tallest face of the boulder. Move right and straight up through sidepulls and crimps. Burly!

Sorting Hat - V1
A fun, delicate arete behind Sorcerer's Stone.

Degnoming - V4

Dirty Thirty - V8
Above and right of the Stone, but below Truffle Shuffle. Look for a low roof with blocky sidepulls. Compression climbing using the arete and these sidepulls brings you to the lip and a tricky top-out. Photos here.

Truffle Shuffle - V5
SDS with right hand on the right sloping arete and left hand on sidepulls on the face. Quality.

Squibs Stand - V3
A great warm-up. Stand start at obvious jug at about head height. Move directly up and left to a sick mantle press top-out.

Squibs - V6
Squat down in the roof with hands in the jug slot and a thin undercling. Utilizing a key heel, make powerful, dynamic moves out the roof and finish as Squibs.

Squibs Right - V8/9
Start as for Squibs, but after reaching the jug, make a big move out right to the sloping gaston rail. Finish above the stepped landing.

Unknown
Facing Squibs, go left around the corner until your are facing a right-rising sloping lip with crimps in a thin seam at head height. Starting on the large, left-most sloper, traverse the lip.

The Golden Snitch - V8
Crimpy! SDS with hands on right-rising crimp seem. The flake is on for feet. Lock off moves through crimps lead to a delicate top-out.

The Seeker - V5/6
Starting with right hand on a thin pinch below the obvious large pinch, and right hand on the large sidepull, work your way directly up.

Nimbus 2000 - V6/7
SDS at right rising crimp seem. Thin moves up the right side of The Seeker follow.

Dementor - V6
SDS with hands on shallow crimps, move left towards the obvious rail and up to the infamous smile. Utilize the arete to reach the top.

The Hills Have Eyes - V5
Walking up and left from dementor, look for a prominent blocky overhang perched upon a smaller boulder, start sitting on this boulder and make fun compression moves out the overhang to a dicey and a bit dirty top-out. Quality line, needs a bit more love.

The Dark Lord using some black magic to de-moss some rocks.

Sussing out beta on Sorcerer's Stone - V9

Ben Horgen tries to steal the Sorcerer's Stone

The Dark Lord and his evil grin show NO MERCY

On the FA of Sorcerer's Stone

The Dark Lord chillin' with his friend the Dementor - V6

The life-sucking crimps of the Dementor

Will his reign ever end!? Will he leave any boulders for the rest of us!? Will this Hogwarts joke thing ever stop being funny!? WHO KNOWS!!!!!!

Video by the end of this weekend featuring Murph on The Goblet of Fire, The Seeker, The Golden Snitch, and Sorcerer's Stone.

-WB

Hogwarts

After a three week absence from climbing due to awful, awful weather conditions and other reasons outside my control, I finally took another trip to Hogwarts with Adam. I had taken a trip up there a few weeks back, but feet of snow remained in the woods, and we left with nothing to show besides frozen toes and shoes soaked for days.This time, after weeks of rain and warm weather, I knew conditions would be different.

With leaves beginning to show on the trees, and no snow cover at all, the whole area had a different feel. The feel always associated with a boulderfield that has been largely untouched. We quickly found interest in one of the first boulders you approach upon entering Hogwarts. The face is lightly overhung, with strange, patina features and flakes. The sequence is hard. Really hard. And we're not quite sure how it goes yet.

Right now, it seems like a poor heel hook right off of the jug start, strenuous bump moves with the right hand, and a left fall into an incut crack. The top-out is slopey, and the problem will be incredibly classic.

Wanting to not get stuck at one problem, we moved towards another boulder, only to find that the sloped top made it terribly difficult to clean. After disappointment at that rock, we moved towards a face that had caught our eye on our first visit. Crimpy sidepulls and pinches up a lightly overhung, pinkish rock make for an incredibly aesthetic problem. We quickly cleaned off the top, then began trying the moves from the bottom.

The crux for me is the first move. A balancey, thrutchy bump from a poor, poor right hand crimp/pinch (crinch? pimp?) and a left hand incut sidepull. For Adam, the crux revolved around a second thrutchy right hand bump move to another positive crimp sidepull higher up. I almost sent once, but couldn't find the right feet to get to the top.

After destroying ourselves on go after go, we got a little visit from the landowner's son and his friends. They were totally friendly and perfectly fine with us climbing there, the kid mentioned that he had done his fair share of climbing by the cliff as well.

We were too tired to send the problem, but it will definitely go on our next visit.

Overall, I was dissappointed with the spot. Everything there feels hard, and the stuff that isn't has not been very good. There are just less problems than originally thought. I would prefer Gnarnia to Hogwarts.

I'm working on a post about the best "Adirondack Projects" but need some help. Any ideas on the best projects in the dacks?

Pictures later from Hogwarts.


-WB

Adirondack Lowdown - Part 1: Snowy Mountain Boulders

A few years back, when my friends and I were just beginning to dabble in the strange world of Adirondack Bouldering, we had heard rumors of a place of particular mystique. Talk of massive boulders, wonderland-esque features and one, game-changing word: huecos. Surely, such a place could not exist anywhere near us. But the topos in Adirondack ROCK told us otherwise, and soon we jetted out towards Snowy Mountain, unsure of what we would find.

The first thing one is struck by when approaching the boulders is the scale of Snowy Mountain. It is massive. From Rt. 30, you can make out the summit cliff and slide, and as a rock climber that kind of stuff just gets you antsy.

In the woods, a small boulderfield of 6 or 7 rocks makes up the majority of the climbing, but those few boulders pack a plethora of quality problems. The starting place for most newcomers is the Coitus Boulder, and rightfully so. Here, you can find one of the most classic V6's in the Adirondacks, Coitus - V6. Picture perfect technical moves through crimps and huecos and an exciting finish, it's hard to resist this aesthetic line.

Other problems of note include IHOPP - V7 and Never Been to Hueco - V7. These problems alone make Snowy Mountain a destination for any moderate climber, but one boulder in particular sets the area apart from everywhere else... the Cave Boulder.

Words fail to describe the strangeness of this block. It's almost like stepping inside the hollow inside of a boulder and climbing out the cracked shell that remains. The features require a certain form of climbing you won't find elsewhere, and most problems end in an exciting mantle-press top out.

Although small, Snowy Mountain offers a delightful break from hard Adirondack Gneiss, and allow the Northeast climber to play around on huecos, something every climber dreams of. Although my friends and I feel we have climbed out most of Snowy Mountain, there are a few elusive problems that I'd like to return to, and something tells me there are more boulders hidden on that hillside.

LOWDOWN

Name: Snowy Mountain Boulders

Location: Snowy Mountain, Indian Lake, NY

Trailhead: Off of Route 30, see Adirondack ROCK for specifics

Climbing Seasons: Late Spring through Early Fall

Rock Type: Softer, small-grain gneiss

Features: Sandy hueco pockets, fins, crimps and sloping top-outs

Climb Difficulty: Moderate-Hard, (V5-8)

Best Climbs: Cat in the Hat - V2, Coitus - V6, Insomnia - V6, IHOPP - V7, Never Been to Hueco - V7, The Cure - V8, Never Left Hueco - V8

This storm has left the Northeast looking pretty damp, but there is a little hope for climbing this weekend. If anyone would like to join, and has a car, and is psyched on either Lost City, Pottersville or anywhere else, you know what to do. (Leave a comment...)

Also, any ideas for the next ADK Lowdown post?

-WB

The Dawning of the Age of Awesome

The nice thing about continuing a blog for so long is the ability it gives me to go back and read old posts from years past. It's a very nostalgic feeling and it's incredible to see how my friends and I have progressed and just how much we really like this strange habit we fell into. Periodically, I like to go back and look at some old posts, read what I said, how psyched I was, etc, etc. But this last time, I realized that maybe I wasn't putting the same effort into the blog as I used to.

The PPM (posts per month) was on a steady decline, and I knew it.

There was a feeling that people weren't reading it anyway, and there was no point in writing it. However, if I let the fact that nobody gives a shit keep me from doing anything, I certainly picked the wrong sport to get involved with. The simple fact is that nobody really does give a shit about climbing, and nobody should, similarly nobody gives a shit about blogging. Climbing is a personal thing, just like this blog, and I'm finally coming to see the value of this diary-esque chronicle.

The epic saga of Weekend Bouldering is far from over.

With the recent snowmelt, my psyche is back, and I even feel stronger. My mental game has made a complete recovery, and with recent visits to Lost City (post on that later) and other Gunks areas, I really can't wait for warmer weather. Dacks season. Oh sweet jesus yes.

So, to bring in the new era of re-awesomed WB, I'm starting a series of posts on my favorite areas, and the lowdown on all of them. AND to get you all psyched like me, I'm starting with areas in the Adirondacks.

Which ADK Bouldering spot do you guys want me to cover first? Comment. It's easy. I'll respect you more if you do it. All the cool kids are. Don't make me sad.

Look for a post on Lost City later this week as well.

-WB

Warmth

ALWAYS as a rule, the wicked, wet, muddy times of March produce for a moment a perfect weekend of beautiful sun and warmth. As a climber, it's basically sacrilege to miss this prime opportunity. Escaping the clutches of Northeast winter, Kyle and I jetted down I-87 to reach the carriage path, perhaps one last time before the Summer months.

Straight Destiny

The air felt crisp like Fall. Of course, we had to pay, but it was worth it to meet up with Luke, and a few new friends. Erick had an impressive first day ever at the Gunks, sending The Buddha - V7 and The Following - V6. Luke also sent the Buddha and made impressive progress on Boxcar.

Luke's hands

At the Following cave, we met up with a guy name Matt that I had met at Yikes over the winter. After sharing a mutual feeling of "it's been too long for me to try anything hard today" we went and tried Yikes - V9. Matt found himself stuck at the same place as before, but felt good to know he was still there. I made more progress, moving to the iconic dyno and even attempting the jump a few times. It's too bad the season here is ending, I'm just beginning to appreciate Yikes as one of the best on the road.

Sending

We ended the day with a few cold attempts at New Pair, and went home satisfied at 5:30. The sun was still out.

I never thought I would say this, but to see Winter leave isn't all that bad...

We'll see how that goes when I start slipping off of grimy holds.

Send goggles

-WB