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shrug7
Aug 22, 2010, 11:42 AM
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What's the best guide book for the North Shore of Minnesota?
thanks!
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cornstateclimber
Aug 22, 2010, 10:53 PM
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there are a couple books out there. the falcon guide not too bad, but one of the great ones i dont think is in publication anymore, but i found it at tetogouche state park visitor center, they had it behind the counter. head up to palisade head just south of there, its a great chunk of rock to climb, but nothing lower than an 8, so make sure your ready for some good leading. the basalt has good pro tho!
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shrug7
Aug 22, 2010, 11:10 PM
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Thx dude,
we talking Devils Lake 8s or normal 8s?
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cornstateclimber
Aug 23, 2010, 4:14 AM
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did 3 climbs when i was there, two 8's and 9. they were devils lake difficulty 8's. the stone is very similar too. well except its basalt, but it reminded me of the red quartzite, not as slick. but man the climbing on a 200' cliff with the gitchy gumme to your back, the wind and the minnesota air, its a great place to climb. you should check out carlton peak and shovel head too. when are you going up there? i think we might be going in october.
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shrug7
Aug 23, 2010, 5:46 PM
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Wednesday.    
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chadnsc
Aug 23, 2010, 6:51 PM
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Well as other have said the current Minnesota and Wisconsin climbing guidebook is really all you need. The other book that people are referring to is an old out of print guidebook dealing only with the climbing on the North Shore titled "Superior Climbs". Information for many of the crags in the MN & WI climbers guide where obtained from the Superior Climbs guidebook. While the current MN & WI climbing guidebook is more than sufficient for cragin’ around the North Shore if you do happen to run across a copy of Superior Climbs gobble it up as the route descriptions and hand drawn topos are fantastic! (I have a reproduced copy of the Superior Climbs guide and it’s great!)
As for the grades being 'normal' or 'DL' grades they are normal grades. Sure a few climbs in 'DL' are sandbagged but that's due to them being established in the early 60's when the YDS only went up to a 5.10 and at that time only a handful of routes obtained that rating in Yosemite. Not wanting to offend the rock gods of Yosemite some climbs in the Midwest got the ominous 5.9+ plus rating.
The routes on the North Shore and DL are rated by the hardest move and are generally (90%) on grade. To say that routes in DL and the North Shore are all sandbagged by a grade or two is just an inexperienced climber doing routes outside of what they're familiar with. Sure you will find plenty of sustained climbs with 85' of .10 climbing but that doesn’t make it a .10d.
Shrug7, have fun climbing on the North Shore. If you want recommendations or some beta on certain areas just let me know!
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shrug7
Aug 23, 2010, 7:04 PM
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Thanks Chad,
Couldn't find the Minnesota / Wisconsin book anywhere around here so today had it overnighted from amazon.
as of now we're planning on hitting up.
Wolf Ridge ELC Area
Tettegouche SP
any other areas or climbs you recommend? (and what's the best to avoid on a Saturday)?
probably sticking to stuff 5.8 and under maybe a 9 here an there.
I couldn't believe how hard camping was to find around there either! yikes.
Thanks!
~Mike
(This post was edited by shrug7 on Aug 23, 2010, 7:04 PM)
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chadnsc
Aug 23, 2010, 10:53 PM
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Personally I find that leading 5.8's Wolf Ridge, Carlton Peak, and Sawmill Dome are great areas. Not only will these three crags have little to no other climbers there (due to approaches nearing 1.5 miles! Oh god no!) but the quality of the protection is better than other crags on the North Shore.
Speaking of Palisade Head that and Shovel Point are the two crags you want to avoid on a weekend, unless you are on the rock by 8am.
Camping is very hard to find here at the state parks in the summer. In the future you'll want to reserve sites at least a month in advance (preferably three months) or try getting sites in the Superior State Forest around the town of Finland MN.
I hope you have a fun time climbing this weekend. I myself just got back from Devils Lake and will be spending this weekend backpacking up on the North Shore.
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shrug7
Aug 24, 2010, 2:12 AM
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Thanks again, are those areas in that guidebook or should I print stuff off from MP?
And happy hiking! if you see a climber with a white Grivel helmet, say hey.
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cornstateclimber
Aug 24, 2010, 2:30 AM
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carlton peak is a nice place to climb too. even some multi pitch i beleive, and topping out around sunset gives a great view looking over the superior national forest. have a good time. and there is always nat. forest camping for free, just make sure that it is nat. forest. we camped atop carlton, and found out later it was state park land and not nat. forest. but was nice none the less. have a good trip mike
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shrug7
Aug 24, 2010, 1:23 PM
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noted, thanks!
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chadnsc
Aug 24, 2010, 3:16 PM
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shrug7 wrote: Thanks again, are those areas in that guidebook or should I print stuff off from MP? And happy hiking! if you see a climber with a white Grivel helmet, say hey.
All the areas I've described to you are well detailed in the MN & WI guidebook. In fact the majority of the North Shore climbs up on MP are nothing more than word for word copies of the descriptions in the MN & WI climbing guidebook.
If I see a climber in a Grivel helmet I'll be sure to shout obscenities at you from afar! 
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potreroed
Aug 24, 2010, 9:39 PM
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Go to climbingcentral.com.
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shrug7
Aug 25, 2010, 4:25 PM
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I wondered about that. Eh... i'll bring my picks and drytool everything...
Oh a side note, i'm thinking for the long weekend:
hop between shovel point/ palisade head / Mystical on thursday / friday and hike in to Carlton peak on saturday. Sunday is in the air still.
The guide book is pretty good. it says something about a permit? what's the skinny on that.
And talks about loose rock at palisades which is not good for leading?
(This post was edited by shrug7 on Aug 25, 2010, 4:27 PM)
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chadnsc
Aug 25, 2010, 7:23 PM
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Pick, pick, scrape, scrape! 
The majority of climbing on the North Shore is done on land within Tettegouche State Park. The park asks nicely that you obtain a climbing permit (it's free) so that they can keep track of very important yet under represented user group in the state parks, us climbers.
The parks use this information to obtain funds that are used to help keep the climbing areas open to the public. To get a climbing permit just head to the visitors center at Tettegouche State Park.
As for your plans to 'hop' between Shovel Point, Palisade Head / and Mystical Mountain in one day, good luck. I wouldn't plan on getting more than three or four climbs in doing that and that is with only a group of two. It will take about 40 minutes round trip of hiking to Shovel Point, an hour of hiking to and from Mystical Mountain, and about an hour of drive time between each of the three crags. You shoul also know that there is no sport climbing on the North Shore so you'll be top roping. (Yeah, yeah, there are those five bolts on that .12b on Shovel, and those bolts illegally installed in the chossy rock above the Gitchi Gami bike trail but you going to climb that?)
Rock at Palisade can be loose on some climbs, the guid book will point out which climbs this applies to. As far as leading at Palisade you'll need wide gear (multiple 4 Camolots and a few big bro's) for anything at or below a 5.8. Leading at Palisade is quite good but it is a basically a seaside cliff so rock will shift and some may be loose. Climbers have to use common sense and take note of and rock quality
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shrug7
Aug 25, 2010, 7:54 PM
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Ah cool, ya said it was free, I was just kinda wondering about it.
no worries on that, I can't remember that last time I did a sport route. I figured most of the climbs there are just - lower off - climb up. and some climbs rap in, lead up. if you can't make it, swim out of there or kayakjack someone. 
Thanks again!
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chadnsc
Aug 25, 2010, 8:01 PM
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Kayakjack - I like that! Hey you could use your ice axes for that!
Gimmy the boat bitch or I'll pick ya!
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cornstateclimber
Aug 26, 2010, 12:15 AM
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palisade access is the easiest of all of them. total drive up, hop out and rap down climb up. probably why its crowded on weekends. i was there in may and it wasnt crowded. cool, but not crowded.
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chadnsc
Aug 26, 2010, 2:02 AM
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Well Corn I never said that the access to Palisade was hard, just that climbing at Shovel, Palisade, and Mystical Mountain all in one day will require a couple hours of approach time and about an hours worth of driving between all three crags. I never mentioned the short drive up approach to Palisade as it's in the guidebook Shug bought not to mention it’s rather well know for anyone living in this state.
As for your climbing in May no being crowded well . . . that is moderately early in the season for typical weekend warriors but as you discovered not so cold you can't have a great time climbing. Personally I prefer to climb in late May, September and early October at Shovel and Palisade as the crowds are low, the temps are cool, the bugs are gone, and the colors along the shoreline are great!
Then again Shug is climbing on a weekend during peak season so he's going to run into crowds at Palisade and Shovel. Not big crowds mind you but enough people that the popular three and four star routes will be taken if you’re not on the climbs by 9am. Yup 9am; dear god the Minnesota alpine start! Where is the caffeine?!
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shrug7
Aug 29, 2010, 1:57 PM
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Mad props to you Minnesota folks... that's some stout climbing up there.
and the pro is pretty... "different".
p.s. check out this months Climbing mag.
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chadnsc
Aug 29, 2010, 9:14 PM
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Pfft! All the pro is solid and abundant! Well if you have wide gear and tricams. Tee Hee, what 'different' pro did you run into?
I already heard about the current issue of climbing . . . the great debate is now was the author simply leaving out a bunch of crags or did he truly go to school up here and never climb on the North Shore.
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shrug7
Aug 29, 2010, 9:35 PM
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Shovel point and Palisade head (sidenote: I rather enjoyed the applause from 20+ people I got when I got to the top of Blue Bells) the rock seemed good, kinda like devil's lake rock... with friction .
But, I went up to the Mystical Mountain Area (really cool of those folks to let climbers in there by the way) the rock was very... quartz like, didn't seem that anything would stick. That making any sense?
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chadnsc
Aug 29, 2010, 10:17 PM
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Ah yes, Bluebells (and Phantom Crack) two climbs where you'll have a cheering section! Nice job leading Bluebells!
Mystical Mountain is a very cool place to climb and the folks at Wolf Ridge are very nice to let us climb there. You know that is a very good description of the rock at Mystical Mountain. Trust me though, the gear sticks there just fine!
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shrug7
Aug 29, 2010, 10:29 PM
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Nah, no lead. Wasn't crazy enough to try it. (IMHO harder then a Lake 9) :) Next time I head up there. That's a tough but fun one though. Humbled me that's for sure.
I liked how the Climbing article said something like "sane people TR first". :)
And noted for next time I get to MMZ. I was amused that the book rated one of the climbs a 5.8 and then up it to a 10something.
Thanks for the info, if you're ever looking for a Lake partner let me know. I'm there a couple times a month.
(This post was edited by shrug7 on Aug 30, 2010, 1:02 AM)
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