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Tom posted this in Trip Reports
On July 6th, 2010, Matt and I utilized every square inch of the picnic table at our Mary’s Lake campsite to sort all of our gear in anticipation of our climb the following day up the North Ridge of The Spearhead, a 5.6 classic located in the Glacier Gorge region of Rocky Mountain National Park. This climb would be our second high peaks accent this week, with the first one being the Northeast Ridge of Sharkstooths, part of the Cathedral Spires in RMNP. While we used an alpine start for Sharkstooth, leaving at 3:00am, we decided to head in the night before and bivy at the base of the climb to ensure an earlier summit and avoid the summer storms.
Continue reading The Spearhead, North Ridge, RMNP 5.6
 All loaded up and ready to head out from Young Woman's Creek. A weird thing happens when you set foot on Pennsylvania’s Donut Hole Trail: it tends to disappear just like the treat it’s named after. But, if you’re lucky enough to have a keen sense of direction and pathfinding skills and you don’t mind a bit of bushwhacking, you’d be hard pressed to find a more secluded and challenging backpacking trail in the Keystone State.
For the second year in a row, Tom, our friend Chris, and I headed up to Tom’s cabin outside Renovo, PA, for what’s become an annual summer backpacking trip. The cabin, which Tom always generously allows us to use as basecamp, is a stone’s throw from some of Pennsylvania’s greatest trails: the Chuck Keiper loop, the Susquehannock Trail System, the Black Forrest Trail, and, of course, the Donut Hole Trail, which you can pick up less than a mile or two from where the cabin sits.
Running 90 miles through the Sproul State Forest, with termini in Jericho (Cameron County) and Farrandsville (near Lock Haven), the Donut Hole is rife with steep, rocky climbs and descents, rare blazes in sections, and very nice vistas. The chances of encountering another person on the trail are slim, which provides some serious backcountry feel to any trips along the trail.
Last year, we conquered nearly 20 miles of the Donut Hole, heading eastward from Kettle Creek State Park back to the cabin. After two days and one night of serious bushwhacking, rain, high humidity, a hurried camp set up due to a very loud and ominous thunderstorm, a barefoot (and terribly rocky) creek crossing, and several thousand feet of elevation gain and loss, we returned in late June to tack on another 20 miles.
Continue reading Finding the hole in the donut: two days on Pennsylvania’s Donut Hole Trail
 Okay- here’s the scenario…you’re making the approach from the carriage path at 8:30am thinking you’re early enough to jump on High E, but two other parties are parked at the base. Your backup plan was limelight, but it’s taken by another High E hopeful. You’re not quite ready for the thin 2nd pitch of arrow- so what to do? Two words- Red Pillar. This 2 star 5.5 is a wonderful, exposed, and a very clean climb (after the first 20′ of the second pitch). The climb starts right of the pillar (right of 3 doves), which you climb to a nice vertical face with clean climbing to the belay ledge. The protection on Pitch 1 is a little sparse, but the climbing is straight forward and solid. The second pitch starts of quite dirty, but opens up into some of the cleanest climbing at the gunks. The protection on Pitch 2 is really good with solid cam placements and some bomber nuts. The last 20 feet hits you with a series of moves that makes this climb worthwhile. Continue reading Red Pillar 5.5- A “not to be missed” climb for its grade
Okay- think back to Christmas morning when you were a kid…There was that big box that held what you knew could possibly be Castle Grayskull; there was that smaller soft package that was probably unwanted socks. You push through the shirt shaped boxes, the expected toy cars, candy, etc…but over there… just out of sight, there was that odd shaped, slightly heavy box that you could not quite figure out. It intrigued you just enough to pull you over towards it. When you open it, you find that totally unexpected gift- something that just livens up your christmas morning and lingers in your memory for quite some time. Well, for me, Moonlight at the Gunks is that gift. That odd shaped, but beautiful route that still lingers in my mind.
I climbed this with my buddy Matt for the first time this season. I led the first Pitch, and Matt led the 2nd (which is just amazing). The 1st pitch starts off fun- you have the option of heading up the inside corner of the left facing block, or head right for an easier push up the block’s face. Once you get about 15′ off the deck, you follow a straightforward path up the corner for about 110′. The climbing is easy and protection is straightforward. The rock was a little wet, but there were heavy rains a few days earlier. Set up belay on the GT ledge. The ideal belay is to move left after topping out (as always, be careful of loose rocks). Continue reading Moonlight 5.6- guaranteed not to disappoint
Tom posted this in Climbing
 Lou Lutz climbing at Livezey We all know January well…It kicks off with an apple dropping from the sky in Times Square, the start of the winter doldrums; the first month of the year (in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars); one of seven months with 31 days; and in the Northern Hemisphere, the coldest month of the year. One thing, however, that January isn’t known for is outdoor climbing in PA. That is, until, this past Saturday. With temperatures soaring into the 50s, there was little that would have deterred us from heading out to jump on some real rock. With short days and soft fingers, we opted for a trip to the closest climbable rock outcropping to Center City- Livezey Rock.
Livezey Rock is a staple for many local Philadelphia climbers providing quick access to an afternoon climb and an escape from pulling plastic at GoVertical. The main rock, a schist outcropping in the middle of Fairmont park, is around 30 feet high and 60 feet wide. A plaque positioned in the center of the rock, in memory of native Philadelphia climber Lou Lutz, reminds you that this rock has a long and humbling history. Legend has it that Lou was sending the classic Livezey lines at the ripe age of 80. According to Stone Crusades, another local climber, “Bullet Bob” Antonio, joked that he used to go to the Gunks to train for Livezey.
For such a well-climbed and history rich crag, little beta is available on the routes outside of the locals who visit it. I think this adds to some of the charm of the area. Dick Williams, in his Gunks guide book, describes his dilema with writing climbing guides.
Dick writes, “Guidebook writers are caught in a catch 22: the more information they offer, the more they condition their readers to be less adventurous. So my wish is that readers will, from time to time, leave this book in the trunk of their car and walk to some unfamiliar part of the cliff, read the rock, pick out a line, and try climbing it.”
Dominic posted this in General
Wierdly enough, it was Jon Krakauer’s seminal book, Into Thin Air, that made me want to start climbing. It figures that it would take a retelling of a horrible disaster to make me want to take up what some see as a semi-dangerous fringe sport.
That said, I’ve been rather obsessed with Everest, the culture and controversy that surrounds it, and its long and deadly history. Krakauer’s book did a tremendous job encapsulating all of that, but one thing was missing: the epic visuals.
After watching both seasons of the Discovery Channel’s Everest: Beyond the Limit, which pretty much just chronicled goofy L.A. biker Tim Medvetz’s two summit attempts, via Netflix, I discovered that the service has the most awesome Storm Over Everest available both on DVD and instantly.
Originally aired as part of PBS’ inimitable Frontline series, Storm Over Everest is filmmaker and multiple Everest summiter David Breashears’ recounting of the 1996 Everest disaster. With interviews with the survivors, some of whom bear the horrible scars the mountain gave them, it’s a perfect match to Krakauer’s book. And if you’re feeling chilly, the sweeping winds and -30-degree temperatures will remind you that 20 degrees is downright balmy by comparison.
Unfortunately, due to rights restrictions, the documentary isn’t available online, like much of the Frontline series. Check out an excerpt here.
Photo via davidbreashears.com.
Tom posted this in Trip Reports
Located in the relatively flat state of Delaware, less than 10 miles from the PA Border outside of Wilmington, you’ll find some surprisingly fun climbing. Now, when I originally heard about climbing opportunities at Alapocas Run State Park, I instantly turned down the dial of my expectations to a slow simmer…I was expecting a few chossy boulder routes. I did a little more research and found out that there is a pretty good downloadable guide, which managed to peak my interest a little more. So, with a curious mind, I managed to talk some coworkers into heading out to the park to give it a try.
Prior to climbing, you have to get a permit at the park office, which basically consists of just signing a waiver. The permits are free, and from what I was told, will be good for a year. Getting to the park is a little tricky, and being that I wasn’t navigating, I don’t feel qualified to spell out directions. The parking lot is located in a really strange area that feels more like a back alley than a park entrance. If you follow directions from the guide and feel like you’re in the wrong area, you’re probably right where you need to be.
I climbed on the Main Wall, which seems to be the most popular place to climb. I believe the other permitted areas are mostly for bouldering. The park is a former quarry, which seems to make sense when you look at the geography. It surprisingly didn’t have the same feeling as other quarry sites- particularly Birdsboro. You can, however, see the remnants of drill holes and blasting marks on many of the rock faces. Overall, the Main wall was pretty dirty, especially if you made your way to some of the upper climbs. Also, lots of Poison Ivy everywhere- beware if you’re allergic. I was climbing in October, a day after a rainstorm; so much of the rock was cold and wet. It started to dry pretty quickly, but the excessive vegetation and soil made it pretty messy.
The first climb that I set up on was the Junior Slab, an easy 5.3…this was my coworkers first time climbing outside. It was really easy to rig a top rope, thanks to the well placed bolted anchors. The hardest thing about this climb is finding a suitable belay location…avoiding loose dirt, tree branches, and poison ivy. The climb itself was super easy, but did offer some fun slabby moves. I climbed this in boots-mostly because I was being lazy.
Continue reading Climbing in Delaware, really? (A visit to Alapocas Run State Park.)
Fearing a New Paltz rainout this past weekend, Tom and I, who had been talking about heading up to the Gunks for a few weeks, decided to switch things up and head to the great state of … Maryland? We’d heard rumors of the appropriately named Rocks State Park from a friend at our climbing gym, but we hadn’t made the 1.5-hour drive down to check it out. With the weather looking nice along the Mason-Dixon Line, we packed up and headed out early Sunday morning.
It took a bit of tooling around the park for us to find the right road to lead us up to the King and Queen Seat, an outcrop that served as a sacred gathering place for Native Americans, which we were prepared to smear liberally with chalk.
Continue reading Trip report: Rocks State Park, Maryland
The concept of an auto belay system has never done much to excite me, and after reading this article, you can rest assured that I’ll be climbing with a partner for the foreseeable future.
In 2005, Michael Livingston, fell from a climbing wall when an auto belay device failed to catch him. The fall resulted in a broken ankle, and several fractured vertebrae, which led last week to a $2.3 million settlement last week in Palm Beach County Circuit Court.
The defendent in the case, Boomers, a Florida based enertainment company, argued that they had no obligation to adequately test and maintain the equipment.
Clay posted this in Gear Reviews
In an ideal world I’d use a pack for a few years before reviewing, after all, its those later years that really separate the good packs from the great. But as we all know this isn’t an ideal world, products and companies can undergo significant change over the course of only a year or two, and in the hopes of a review possessing some relevance and utility, a season of use will just have to do. The Acrux is a particularly time sensitive review considering that the pack hasn’t been in production for over a year, and is currently wrapping up its life on discount equipment retailers.
 Acrux 50 courtesy: backcountry.com Acrux 40L - $180 from Steep and Cheap
Acrux 50L - $200 from Steep and Cheap
The Acrux series is all about simplicity; three compartments, two zippers, and a roll top are the meat and potatoes of this operation. The two zippers are located on either side of the pack’s “lid” allowing for some easy access storage, while the roll-top combined with the heavy duty impregnated foam material makes the main compartment completely water tight. There’s a small plug in the main compartment which facilitates the use of a hydration system, and a few bungees on the outside to allow for external storage if needed.
Anyway, enough with descriptions, now onto some real life testing. The first test for the 40L was a two week trip to Greece. While packing I noticed that the Acrux packs out well beyond 40 liters due to the roll top design, and even when packed beyond capacity, the comfort level remains high. The pack has a narrow design which makes retrieving objects from the bottom nearly impossible without removing everything else, so be sure you have a plan while packing or you’ll spend a lot of time packing and unpacking for the sake of access. Also, some packing materials don’t jive well with the impregnated foam causing significant friction when squeezing in a large object. Using this pack throughout my travels around Greece made me realize two things, the first being that the pack isn’t for everyone, and the second being that I needed to snatch up a second one of these puppies before they became completely unavailable.
When I got home from Greece I picked up the 50L figuring it would be nice to have something a little bigger for longer trips. I shelved the 50L for the better part of the season and continued using the 40L to haul climbing gear on weekends. The usual setup is climbing gear and layers in the main compartment, while using the lid section for food and beverages. Other then the occasional struggle to free a rope bag (this becomes a more prevalent issue when using a hydration system) from the bottom of the pack I can’t drum up any other complaints.
The first action the 50L saw, other then a few trips out climbing, was a two day 14 mile backpacking trip in Oregon. The 40L is about the right size for a very lite weekend backpacking trip, so the 50L was more then adequate for a not-so-lite two day trip. The 50L maintained the Acrux reputation and proved to be a very lite, tough, and comfortable transporter of goods. One advantage the 50L has over the 40L in terms of backpacking is additional strap adjustments which can increase comfort, but overall its difficult to tell the difference when carrying the two bags.
The Acrux is the embodiment of everything the backpacking industry has lost site of in recent years. Too often I’ve encounter packs that try to do too much and end up not doing anything particularly well. Arc’teryx focused on perfecting a few key functions and created a simple, reliable, and comfortable waterproof pack that you can count on to get your necessities from point A to point B. Everything else is up to you.
Click Here for Additional Photos: 40L
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