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colatownkid
Jun 29, 2009, 2:14 AM
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My wife and I will be spending about a week at the Gunks sometime in mid-July. I'm looking for the classics up to 5.10 (my current fairly reliable lead limit on gear). I don't care if it's 5.3 or 5.10--if it's awesome, I want to know. I've heard about "High Exposure" and "Shockley's Ceiling," but I know there's a bunch of good stuff up there. So...what should be on our tick list?
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h-man
Jun 29, 2009, 2:26 AM
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3 Pines, Horseman, Frog's Head, Dennis, Maria, Easy O, CCK. Don't forget to eat at the Mountain Brauhaus.
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bill413
Jun 29, 2009, 2:27 AM
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colatownkid wrote: My wife and I will be spending about a week at the Gunks sometime in mid-July. I'm looking for the classics up to 5.10 (my current fairly reliable lead limit on gear). I don't care if it's 5.3 or 5.10--if it's awesome, I want to know. I've heard about "High Exposure" and "Shockley's Ceiling," but I know there's a bunch of good stuff up there. So...what should be on our tick list?
- Gelsa (5.4, with the wildest 5.3 pitch you will ever do)
- Cascading Crystal Kaleidoscope (CCK, 5.7)
are ones that immediately jump to mind.
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boymeetsrock
Jun 29, 2009, 4:04 AM
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Madame G's
Ant Line
Bonnie's Roof (direct or regular)
MF
Higher Stannard
Point to a route and go !
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granite_grrl
Jun 29, 2009, 11:45 AM
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Instead of doing High E do Directissma (5.9). Directissma finishes on the High E money pitch (climbing up to the ledge on High E proper is very plain jane). And instead of the High E plain Jane climbing at the start, Directissma has interesting climbing the entire way, with maybe one of the most beautiful 5.6 pitches up the arete to the ledge.
Plus you get get to skip the line ups by going up this way too. 
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clymber
Jun 29, 2009, 12:10 PM
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Disneyland in the Near Trapps 5.6
Wedgetables Sleepy Hollow Trapps 5.10
Welcome to the Gunks Trapps 5'10
Double Craack 5.8
P38 Trapps 5.10
Airy Aria 5.8
10000 Restless Virgins 5.10+
Horsemen 5.5
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hansundfritz
Jun 29, 2009, 1:08 PM
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Here are a few more ideas:
No Picnic (often overlooked -- good intro to Gunks horizontals)
Horseman
Dennis
Belly Roll
Jackie
City Lights
Hawk (still closed b/c of rockfall?)
Frog's Head
Beginner's Delight
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colatownkid
Jun 29, 2009, 1:33 PM
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thanks guys! looks like we've got a nice list going...
also, where can i find the mountain brauhaus?
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debaser655321
Jun 29, 2009, 1:35 PM
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The most exciting 5.4 anywhere is Gelsa, while at the nears, get on Bird land, bird cage, Roseland, if you're feeling strong get on Fat City.
at the trapps there is:
The Dangler (5.10) which is fairly easy for the grade, but definitely wild and a gunks Must Do.
Modern Times is also a wild time (5.8) through great roofs
Nurses Aid is a tough 5.10 but awesome.
Arrow, CCK, Keep Strutting, High E, Directissima, are all under 5.10 and good climbs
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sknowlton
Jun 29, 2009, 1:39 PM
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All good suggestions but you should check on rock fall closures and falcon nesting closures (which may be lifted by the time you go). You can contact the Preserve directly or check their website; or look at Gunks.com for updated info. You can also stop in at Rock and Snow (nice to do anyway) and ask there.
Closures aside: there are many great routes. Have a great trip!
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gblauer
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Jun 29, 2009, 1:39 PM
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Doubleissima 10c?
Grimace Face 9+?
CCK 7+
Inverted Layback 9?
Son of Easy O 8
Double Crack 8
Airy Aria 7+
Ants Line 9
Bonnies Roof (direct or otherwise) 9
Ursula 5 (nice warm up near Bonnies and Ants line)
Bloody Mary (P1, 5.7, P2 5.6 but very exciting)
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Gmburns2000
Jun 29, 2009, 1:55 PM
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Personally, I think Moonlight has a way better money pitch than High E, if you're looking for fun exposure.
Birdland has two very different pitches, each at 5.8.
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lemon_boy
Jun 29, 2009, 2:36 PM
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for well protected 5.10
doubleissima in one long pitch
p-38, good, close approach, get on it early or late.
nosedive, a lot of peoples first gunks 10
simple suff, fun stemming, not a ton of traffic
erect direction, bring prussiks for the second
birdcage, a really nice fun route
matinee, well protected, kind of intimidating but not that hard, stays dry in the rain
coexistence, a good testpiece.
etc
the list of great 10's is a mile long.
the list of great climbs at every grade is pretty much a mile long.
have fun!
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gothcopter
Jun 29, 2009, 2:41 PM
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If you end up doing The Dangler, I recommend you do the first pitch of Something Interesting to get there. It's a great crack climb that heads pretty much straight up there. The second pitch of Something Interesting sucks, so combining those two climbs works out perfectly.
Many of the routes at the Gunks criss-cross each other, so you'll find plenty of opportunities to stitch together the best pitches of different routes. For example, the first pitch of Shockley's Ceiling is pretty lame. So people often do the first pitch of Strictly from Nowhere instead. Someone already mentioned the Directissima/High Exposure thing.
As far as the Mountain Brauhaus goes, you can't miss it!
One last bit of advice: DEET. Black flies suck.
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rgold
Jun 29, 2009, 2:46 PM
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What happens in these recommendation threads is that after a while, practically everything gets recommended. Already there are some routes that I'd consider highly idiosyncratic pitches that you do only you've bagged most of the "real" classics.
I think a better idea is to buy the latest William's guidebooks and do the three-star routes.
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kmc
Jun 29, 2009, 5:14 PM
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Rgold is right. Pick up the Williams guidebook for the Trapps (could pick up the Near Trapps book too, but you will certainly be occupied for a week in the Trapps), and knock out as many three star routes as you can. I would definately recomend the Williams book over the Swain book of lies. The Williams book is much clearer in terms of route descriptions and such. Certainly steer clear of the new guidebook with the bright colored cover. It is really only a select to the Trapps (one of the major crags at the Gunks), and the grades are all over the place.
One person has mentioned Madame G's. I would second that this is a great route, that everyone should climb, but this is within the area of the closure due to nesting and rockfall.
The guidebook will give you a good idea of what climbs you should check out. AFter you tick off a few lines suggested in the book, you will probably be drawn to other climbs by the asthetics alone.
Have fun on your trip.
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qtm
Jun 29, 2009, 7:09 PM
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And since you're there during the week, knock off the uberfall routes, TRable climbs like Ants Line and the Spring, anything under 5.7, during the week since those climbs tend to have a lot of people on them on the weekends.
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h-man
Jun 29, 2009, 11:31 PM
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Mountain Brauhaus is on the corner of 44/55 and 299. You can't miss it on the way in from New Paltz.
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rgold
Jun 30, 2009, 1:17 PM
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Re: Madam G's and surrounding climbs (e.g. Snooky's Return), I think the ban will soon be lifted. The Peregrine chicks have fledged.
I'd also second rejecting The Gunks by Orenczak and Lynn, unless you want an album of great pictures by Denis O'Connor. In addition to poor and idiosyncratic coverage, it is arguably the worst guidebook to ever appear in print.
There is little question that Williams' guidebooks are the best (full disclosure: he's a friend of mine), and at this point are the only up-to-date ones. However, if you don't want to spend the dough, you might consider the postings on Mountain Project. However, since there is no organizing intelligence there, the net effect is a bit like asking for recommendations here or on other sites.
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lemon_boy
Jun 30, 2009, 2:03 PM
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at least with mountainproject you can sort by grade, quality (ie how many stars it gets from people who have done it) and area. this will help you get a good tick list together.
the swain guidebook kind of blows, but it isn't as bad as hack orenzac's pile. i'm not familiar with williams' books, hopefully i will run into some used copies here or there.
if you are only going for a short time, (a week or so), then maybe think about just climbing routes at one area, most likely the trapps. this will help you get familiar really quick, so that if there are people on a route you want to do, you can immediately have a backup plan.
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hansundfritz
Jun 30, 2009, 2:14 PM
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The new Williams guidebook for the Trapps is a sound investment -- even for a week, and especially if you think you'll ever be back. Great for assembling your tick list, finding the base of the first pitch, navigating the route pitch-by-pitch (and variations), etc. The aerial photos are especially useful.
If you want to try a few things in the Near Trapps, you might be able to get by with some interweb print-outs.
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welle
Jun 30, 2009, 2:57 PM
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Aside from useful beta, Dick Williams book is a great read for the history, traditions and etiquette of the Gunks climbing. Reading the intro of the book is a MUST, IMO. Helps you not to look stupid and avoid dirty looks and confrontations - like for example, not setting TRs on 3 star routes on weekends or belay off rappel anchors.
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qtm
Jun 30, 2009, 3:28 PM
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LoL... anything that can be toproped usually has a TR on it. On busy weekends there's a TR on every route in the uberfall. Bonnie's area gets taken over by TR parties who put ropes up on everything. Spring & Winter always have TRs on them.
Yes, if you're not using it, pull the rope. Or let a party climb through. Or let them climb on your ropes. But there's no rule saying you can't set up a TR on a three star route. Just don't hog it all day.
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colatownkid
Jun 30, 2009, 3:46 PM
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welle wrote: Aside from useful beta, Dick Williams book is a great read for the history, traditions and etiquette of the Gunks climbing. Reading the intro of the book is a MUST, IMO. Helps you not to look stupid and avoid dirty looks and confrontations - like for example, not setting TRs on 3 star routes on weekends or belay off rappel anchors.
hopefully we shouldn't really have a problem with this. unless something changes drastically between now and then (which it certainly could), it's just going to be me and my wife, so we probably won't be doing too much top-roping. we should be doing things in the lead and follow style for the most part. regardless, thanks for all the useful info. while i'm at it, we're thinking of camping at the multi-use area. what are the facilities there? i've heard there's no water. are there pit toilets or should i bring a trowel? speaking of water, what's the best place to get some?
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welle
Jun 30, 2009, 3:57 PM
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Yeah, those one pitch climbs in the uberfall are pretty much all TR-d even lower graded ones. But this Sunday I saw a big party set up a TR on the first pitch of Middle Earth - very inconsiderate, methink. Note, I didn't say rules - I said etiquette, just nice things you do for which you get reciprocated with the same courtesy so everyone has a good time.
And Colatownkid, you and your wife will probably be alright midweek anyway, all I wanted to say is that the foreword of the book is a pretty fascinating read especially around the camp. Oh yeah, the book tells you where to camp and where to get water ;)
(This post was edited by welle on Jun 30, 2009, 3:58 PM)
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