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tradrenn
Jul 14, 2006, 12:02 AM
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8^)
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microbarn
Jul 14, 2006, 1:05 AM
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I have climbed there a bit. I figure I will answer what I have heard as much as what I know. Should eliminate a few more extraneous responses.
In reply to: How are grades comparable to Gunks ?
In reply to: Any routes you can recommend ( gear 5.0 to 5.9)
In reply to: What is a daily fee to climb there ?
In reply to: How is camping situation at Seneca ?
In reply to: What is the best guidebook for Seneca ?
In reply to: Anything I should know that I haven't ask about ?
BRING YOUR WATER. The town water is safe, but tastes ridiculously horrible.
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stanfield
Jul 14, 2006, 1:12 AM
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Hey..we go there over long holiday weekends. The guidebook just was published it is called Seneca second edition by Tony Barnes. It is available through Earthbound Sports books or from The Gendarme Climbing Store which is right across from Seneca. We usually camp at a place called Princess Snowbird. It is also directly across from the rocks. It costs 5.00 a nite at the campground per person, it is usually a quite campground with showers.
Most climbs are rated easier then the climbs.Some good climbs are Prune, Conn's East, Dirty Old Man,Critter Crack, Ecstasy. I have a friend who has been there a bunch more times then me...I could find out some more climbs if you would like.
There is no fee to climb. Most routes to the top are 3 or 4 pitches. Let me know if I can help You with more info...Oh yeah next to the climbing store, is a general store there is a beer and pizza place on the second floor.
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tradrenn
Jul 14, 2006, 1:50 AM
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8^)
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charley
Jul 14, 2006, 2:04 AM
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Unless you do one of the lower climbs it has a 45 min horrendous uphill approach. A great place to climb. The eats leave a bit to be desired. It has trad of all grades. Did I say it was a great place to climb and I do not like the approach. I'm going again tomorrow.
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peeonjr
Jul 14, 2006, 2:20 AM
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microbarn covered the questions well. i'll just suggest a few more climbs: candy corner to skyline traverse, pleasant overhangs (via thais direct pitch 1 and 2), west pole, soler (do conn's east pitch 1 instead of soler pitch 1), triple s, the burn, discrepancy. hope this helps. oh, and get greasy breakfast at the 4 U diner a mile or two past the visitor's center, heading away from the three-way town center intersection.
--jon
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nrg_sr_climber
Jul 14, 2006, 2:33 AM
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The approach up stair master or the east face should not take 45 minutes. My girlfriend and I hike it in less that 30 minutes and she stops a couple times for short breaks. If the hike in was super easy everybody would go there. There are not a great deal of options of places to eat at at Seneca. The Front Porch is a good place.
Try Conn's East, Critter Crack, Front C, Thais(3rd pitch be sure not to get suckered into the escape, try the variation on this pitch a exciting 5.8)
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nedsurf
Jul 14, 2006, 4:12 AM
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I agree with microbarns replies. Check out the restaurant above the general store for some good pizza. They don't sell adult beverages but let you BYOB. I liked Ecstasy 5.7 and breakneck 5.6 as trad leads. I don't think it is that bad of an approach. I mean, it is no carriage road, but c'mon this is climbing. At least it is not an Olympic peninsula type approach.
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doubledare
Jul 14, 2006, 12:55 PM
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#1 Reason I like Seneca better than the Gunks: The camping. I stayed at Seneca Shadows campground. $10 per night for a site (we had 5 people, 2 adults, 3 children). the place was beautiful, you could watch climbers with binoculars, and it was qieut and peaceful with decent showers. I was asleep by 9-10PM every night over the 4th July weekend and that's difficult in some campgrounds. When we went to the gunks the best place we could reserve in advance was Jellystone....Holy shit I'm never doing that again. No sleep all the time--40 minute drive to the gunks. Next time I do the Gunks I'll take my chances in the multi-use area or get a motel.
#2 Reason I like Seneca better than the Gunks: It's free.
#3 Reason I like Seneca better than the Gunks: It's not as crowded.
#4 Reason I like Seneca better than the Gunks: It's not near NYC or NJ.
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nthusiastj
Jul 14, 2006, 1:34 PM
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In reply to: Unless you do one of the lower climbs it has a 45 min horrendous uphill approach. A great place to climb. The eats leave a bit to be desired. It has trad of all grades. Did I say it was a great place to climb and I do not like the approach. I'm going again tomorrow.
LOL, I learned to climb at Seneca. I remember the Stairmaster being harsh. However, I learned soon after getting to Colorado that the Stairmaster is pretty chill. Still a fun place to climb though.
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nthusiastj
Jul 14, 2006, 1:44 PM
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Off Topic:
Check here next time you go to the Gunks. It's quiet, friendly, has bathrooms and is almost as close as camp slime.
http://www.tuthilltown.com/index.php#welcome
We stayed there for 2 weeks last trip and Ralph made us feel like family.
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rick_marsh
Jul 14, 2006, 1:58 PM
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I'd pickup the new guidebook at the Gendarme. Chase the shade on recommended routes. I feel the ratings are similar with what I experienced in Yosemite.
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doubledare
Jul 14, 2006, 2:13 PM
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nthusiastj,
Thanks for the info--that place looks like the bomb--jellystone was my worst nightmare. I had Joey Butofuco from jersey camped on one side of me--he built a fire using about 20-30 wooden shipping pallettes. On the other side was Snoop Dogg with all his bling bling and a Lincoln navigator whit the hatch open playing God Know what all night. The poor old camp security gaurd was too scared to even talk to Snoop Dogg and his posse, let alone get him to turn off the stereo.
PS, Boulder is cool--I used to live in Fort Collins
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tradmanclimbs
Jul 14, 2006, 3:14 PM
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Stairmaster is a piece of cake! if you can't handle that you better not try to climb at canon or a bunch of other placeds i can think of :roll: Seneca rules!!! Don't forget west Pole w/ direct finish, pleasant O's, Crack of dawn, Marshals etc, Solar, tomato Etc, etc. etc. rateings simeler as gunks or daks. the really easy climbs are messed up rateings. The 5.4s are nice 5.6/7 warm ups . the Gunsite direct is the best 5.4 (really 5.7) anywhere and worth climbing just for the exposuer even if you are super hard. We did it in a snowstorm once and that was stellar 8^) Showers are better at seneca shadows, camping is cheaper at Princiss Snowbird 8^)
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boulder_junky
Jul 14, 2006, 3:49 PM
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Thanks for starting this thread and giving so much great information. I'm planning on going for a week sometime this summer ( I live near Richmond and it's a bit of a drive). Is there anything else I should know about? What's the temperature like, are there lots of bugs, etc?
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charley
Jul 14, 2006, 10:36 PM
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Get a guidebook at the gendarme. The difference in the campgrounds are that they don't bother you at snowbird. That can also mean your neighbors on a weekend could be noisy. If you get loud late you get told about it at shadows. Shadows also has individual sites that are shaded and quieter. Back off a grade or two and see how it feels. For me there are sixes that have an interesting move or two and there are sixes that are hard from start to finish.
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erclimb
Jul 14, 2006, 11:19 PM
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i've only been to the gunks once, but i thought the ratings were friendlier than seneca...there are three things you need to know about seneca climbing: it's steep, exposed, and sustained...the approach is not that bad though you'll hate it your first time (you can climb around it--see below); the peak is only about 200 feet high, but you're 900 feet from the valley floor--so, 40 feet off the ground feels like 1000; finally, if the book says a pitch is 5.9, it's 5.9 THE WHOLE WAY...adjustable slings instead of quickdraws...definitely wear a helmet, especially if you're there on a weekend...check out the gendarme gear shop and climbing museum
many seneca newbies think it's sandbagged, but 5.7 is definitely a sweetspot; my recs: candy corner, 5.5, is a great intro to seneca and you can tr an 8 and a 10; gunsight notch to south summit is the scariest and most spectacular 5.4 in the country; ecstacy, west pole, green wall--all 5.7s; a good route to the summit: le gourmet, 5.4, to front c, 5.6, to critter crack, 5.6 (detour to traffic jam, 5.7, before walking/scrambling to the true summit)...i suggest rapping off the west face at the top of conn's west--you can do one rap with two 60 m ropes with a short scramble at the bottom
to get around the approach, do ecstacy junior, 5.4-5.5, about 1/3 of the way up the hill...skyline traverse is also popular for getting around the approach, but there's a LOT of loose rock...no water once you start up the hill--tank up before you leave camp; the front porch has great pizza...valley view has good homecooking, especially breakfast--don't let the locals scare ya...seneca shadows costs more than princess snowbird, but the facilities are way better, especially the views
one other thing, the wind is crazy and makes it difficult to hear...work out a system to communicate just in case
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bjcanady
Jul 18, 2006, 12:14 AM
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i've done the richmond to seneca drive too many times to count. you can make it in three and a half if you push.
there's a good sport crag in franklin along the river too, and if you climb at the manchester wall or peak experiences someone will help you out.
if you haven't climbed at seneca before be ready for some stiff ratings and great exposure. i can remember climbing 5.5s like candy corner and conn's east that felt much harder. even the gunsight notch at 5.4 would get anyone's attention.
my two favorites are ecstasy and soler, and the tony barnes guidebook will get you to anything you want to climb.
weather is cooler than richmond by 10 degrees, and it's easy to find shade because there are four faces to climb and lots of corners.
have fun. if you can lead at seneca you can lead anywhere.
ben
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tradrenn
Jul 18, 2006, 2:50 AM
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8^)
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cragmasterp
Jul 18, 2006, 3:31 AM
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Favorite Routes 5.9 and below:
Triple S
Soler
Climb-N-Punishment
Ecstasy
Marshall's Madness
Tomatoe
Alcoa Presents (Start on Conn's East Direct)
Bring on the Nubiles (last pitch only, start on):
West Pole
Dufty's Pop-Off
The Burn
Ye Gods (Do pitch 1 & 2 Combined, finish on):
Easy Skankin
Green Wall
High Test
Lichen or Leave It
That will get ya started. Grades seem similar to or softer than the gunks.
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trenchdigger
Jul 18, 2006, 4:16 AM
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In reply to: Favorite Routes 5.9 and below: Triple S Soler Climb-N-Punishment Ecstasy Marshall's Madness Tomatoe Alcoa Presents (Start on Conn's East Direct) Bring on the Nubiles (last pitch only, start on): West Pole Dufty's Pop-Off The Burn Ye Gods (Do pitch 1 & 2 Combined, finish on): Easy Skankin Green Wall High Test Lichen or Leave It That will get ya started. Grades seem similar to or softer than the gunks.
I spent a weekend there a few weeks ago, so I'm by no means a local or especially knowledgable, but I can throw out some of my favorites.
Green Wall was fun, but easy for a 5.7 and not very sustained.
Lichen or Leave It was a great finger crack. TR Helter Skelter next to it when you're done.
Pollux was fun and easy for a 5.10a if you know how to hand jam. Lead up the first pitch of Conn's East Direct and TR it if you don't want to lead it.
My favorite of the trip though, was Dufty's Popoff. Steep, sustained, intimidating, but still 5.7.
The first pitch of Neck Press is way fun too, and 5.7.
I found routes here to be somewhat hard to find (partly because of the guide book) and sometimes inobvious lines. It definitely helps if you can hook up with a local and have them show you around. That's what I did, and it was a fantastic way to get a feel for the place.
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