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enzo
Apr 14, 2006, 3:11 AM
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Registered: Jun 13, 2003
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Hey,
So I'll be heading up to Ithaca, New York for college next year and I was wondering if there was any good climbing up there. I'm pretty much looking for some good outdoor climbing. I've heard of several places but I can't think of them off the top of my head. Thanks, john.
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alex234
Apr 14, 2006, 4:08 AM
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Registered: May 19, 2004
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f.... yeah........go to the gunks.....endless trad climbs
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jackflash
Apr 14, 2006, 11:12 AM
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Ithaca is a really nice little town, but its not close to climbable rock. The Gunks are over 3 hours away. Little Falls is over 2 hours away. Keene Valley area in the Dacks is 5 hours away. There may be smaller areas nearby that I don't know about. Local rock is plentiful, but it is dangerously loose. Good ice is generated in winter, but some of the best formations are in the state parks, where climbing isn't allowed anyway. Luckily, Ithaca does have a decent climbing community with some very experienced folks around, if you can find them.
Cornell has a gym.
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climbingbetty22
Apr 14, 2006, 1:04 PM
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^^^^ What he said. :D
I live 35 miles north of Ithaca at the other end of the lake. If you're into water sports, you're in luck. Climbing, however, is a different story. Cornell, however, has a kick-ass outing club and there is a crew of folks from there who are fairly regularly making the trek to the Gunks, so you can may be able to find a ride.
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enzo
Apr 14, 2006, 2:06 PM
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Registered: Jun 13, 2003
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well, right now in Cincinnati, i train pretty hard. I'm just worried I'll go to college and have absolutely no advanced climbing to do. I'll be attending cornell, so i'll definately join the outing club. Hopefully I'll have enough climbing to keep improving.
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midwestishell
Apr 14, 2006, 2:48 PM
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One more thing - if you are comfortable in the woods look into Cornell Outdoor Education located in the basement of the field house. There is a great group of full time staff and an army of student instructors that offer classes for PE credit. It is also one of the best communities I have ever been a part of! There are always folks from this group heading out on trips.
Hope this helps. Cornell is a ton of fun. I was a biologist there a few years back so let me know if you have any other questions.
Th
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tim
Apr 14, 2006, 4:31 PM
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In reply to: One more thing - if you are comfortable in the woods look into Cornell Outdoor Education located in the basement of the field house. There is a great group of full time staff and an army of student instructors that offer classes for PE credit. It is also one of the best communities I have ever been a part of! There are always folks from this group heading out on trips.
What he said. When I was at Cornell, some of the climbing instructors (aka regular students, working on engineering degrees, biology degrees, just like everyone else) were heading to Little Falls, the Gunks, the Dacks, sometimes New Hampshire on the weekends, and then doing things like the Nose (Duncan) and Astroman (Mike and Charlotte) on their summer trips. The faster you get to know the people doing those trips, the more likely you are to stay sane between outings. Think of it as a support group. 2 hours is not that far (re: Little Falls) -- it's 2 hours from where I live to get to Josh, and I'm lazy enough these days that it seems like a haul. When I was in college I thought nothing of driving through the night with a car full of like-minded lunatics to go climbing in New Hampshire for the weekend. (This applies equally if you're going to Ithaca College, by the way -- there were plenty of Ithaca students on most of these trips, and Ithaca has an extremely strong PT program, which attracts some very athletic types.)
As far as "not having any climbing to do" -- that's a matter of your motivation, not your location. Chris Brown (the_alpine) lives in Tampa, FL, for fuck's sake, and look at the level he climbs at. I used to boulder on the library wall every day after I got out of the lab I worked in, and learned how to paste heads in a cracked foundation for the chemistry parking lot. I live in Southern California now, and I still can't climb technical face routes as hard as some that I got up while I was at Cornell. If you have the willpower and the determination, you will do just fine in Ithaca.
There is incredible mountain biking (or motocross if that's your thing), kayaking, and ice climbing around Ithaca, if you need something to pass the time. I have no idea whether the Cornell climbing wall ever got remodeled to be more overhanging, but the traverses were useful for building endurance and (with eliminates) working on edging.
Keep your head on straight and you will be fine. Think of upstate NY as a respite from the distractions of urban life, and focus on the things you may never have the chance to do again.
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