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donwanadi
Feb 8, 2012, 11:29 AM
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Title says it all. What do you think are the best routes to start leading in the northeast US? Sport or Trad.
"First Lead Wall" in the Chapel Pond Pass looks pretty good with 3 or 4 single pitch G rated route under 5.7.
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smallclimber
Feb 8, 2012, 12:40 PM
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Lots of classics in the 5.3 - 5.4 range in the Gunks. Also gives you the chance to "practise" multi pitch (interim anchors, belaying the second from above, appropriate communication, rapelling etc) on relatively easy climbs.
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markc
Feb 8, 2012, 1:38 PM
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In addition to the Gunks, I'd add Seneca as a traditional multipitch destination that has a high number of quality easy and moderate routes.
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johnwesely
Feb 8, 2012, 2:44 PM
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At the Gunks:
Easy Overhang if you are really new or High Exposure if you have a little bit of experience.
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gblauer
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Feb 8, 2012, 3:01 PM
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Ping me if you are headed to the gunks. Regrettably, I know every easy climb all too well.
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johnwesely
Feb 8, 2012, 3:02 PM
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Come on, you know the easy climbs are super fun.
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rocknice2
Feb 8, 2012, 5:02 PM
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johnwesely wrote: At the Gunks: Easy Overhang if you are really new or High Exposure if you have a little bit of experience.
Great route.
As a 1st lead .... very bad idea
Stick to easy single pitch where you can hang out all day if needed so you can take your time to place bomber gear.
Once your proficient at placing bomber gear then go do some thing harder or pumpier.
Don't push two edges of the envelope. Your first edge is place gear.
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sp115
Feb 8, 2012, 5:39 PM
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rocknice2 wrote: johnwesely wrote: At the Gunks: Easy Overhang if you are really new or High Exposure if you have a little bit of experience. Great route. As a 1st lead .... very bad idea Stick to easy single pitch where you can hang out all day if needed so you can take your time to place bomber gear. Once your proficient at placing bomber gear then go do some thing harder or pumpier. Don't push two edges of the envelope. Your first edge is place gear.
Upper Refuse and Thin Air on Cathedral ledge. The first 5 pitches of the Standard Route on Whitehorse. A couple of nice short routes on Echo Crag in Franconia Notch. Also a few 5.4's on Ragged Cliff in CT. All good stuff to learn the gear without the stress of pumping out.
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shockabuku
Feb 8, 2012, 7:13 PM
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donwanadi wrote: Title says it all. What do you think are the best routes to start leading in the northeast US? Sport or Trad. "First Lead Wall" in the Chapel Pond Pass looks pretty good with 3 or 4 single pitch G rated route under 5.7.
Almost anywhere there is climbing 5.7 and below. I don't think for your first leads you need stellar quality climbs - you need relatively safe climbs within your ability range.
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veilneb
Feb 8, 2012, 10:45 PM
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High Exposure was my first trad lead. My climbing partner told me it was easy....
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sbaclimber
Feb 9, 2012, 1:32 AM
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donwanadi wrote: Title says it all. What do you think are the best routes to start leading in the northeast US? Sport or Trad. "First Lead Wall" in the Chapel Pond Pass looks pretty good with 3 or 4 single pitch G rated route under 5.7.
CP Slab - Regular Route (the runout sections aren't even 5th Class)
Creature Wall - pretty much any of the cracks are G
Beer Walls - Seven Ounces and5.4, Labatt-Ami
Bit further away.... Roger's Rock - Little Finger
EDIT: seeing as you are looking for "first leads", I should mention that CPS and RR are multi-pitch. You should only tackle these if you know how to build your own belay anchors!
(This post was edited by sbaclimber on Feb 12, 2012, 12:19 PM)
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bearbreeder
Feb 9, 2012, 1:45 AM
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i have no idea about routes in the NE ...
but what i will say is that if yr doing yr first lead ... you do it with someone whos done it before
they should have an idea of what are good easy beginner leads, and what are runnout X rated routes ...
also youll need someone to follow you and check yr placements ....
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sp115
Feb 9, 2012, 4:45 AM
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veilneb wrote: High Exposure was my first trad lead. My climbing partner told me it was easy....
Heh, heh, your partner was a dick...
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johnwesely
Feb 9, 2012, 4:56 AM
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sp115 wrote: veilneb wrote: High Exposure was my first trad lead. My climbing partner told me it was easy.... Heh, heh, your partner was a dick...
The gear is insanely good, and if you are someone who has been seconding a while and has done a little bit of ground school, I don't see any reason why your first lead shouldn't be a really cool experience at a mellow grade. I am not recommending this for someone who is at their limit seconding 5.8 but for someone who maybe started in the gym or has been climbing for a while and will find High E technically easy.
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bill413
Feb 9, 2012, 7:51 AM
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One nice thing about the Gunks (and some other areas) is that if you really screw up, help and some advice is not that far away.
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olderic
Feb 9, 2012, 7:55 AM
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bill413 wrote: One nice thing about the Gunks (and some other areas) is that if you really screw up, help and some advice is not that far away.
Regardless if it is needed, wsnted, useful or accurate.
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shockabuku
Feb 9, 2012, 9:46 AM
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veilneb wrote: High Exposure was my first trad lead. My climbing partner told me it was easy....
I agree with your partner. But "easy" is a relative term.
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Gmburns2000
Feb 9, 2012, 12:23 PM
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sp115 wrote: rocknice2 wrote: johnwesely wrote: At the Gunks: Easy Overhang if you are really new or High Exposure if you have a little bit of experience. Great route. As a 1st lead .... very bad idea Stick to easy single pitch where you can hang out all day if needed so you can take your time to place bomber gear. Once your proficient at placing bomber gear then go do some thing harder or pumpier. Don't push two edges of the envelope. Your first edge is place gear. +1 to all this, especially that High E is not a good beginning leader route. Upper Refuse and Thin Air on Cathedral ledge. The first 5 pitches of the Standard Route on Whitehorse. A couple of nice short routes on Echo Crag in Franconia Notch. Also a few 5.4's on Ragged Cliff in CT. All good stuff to learn the gear without the stress of pumping out.
Actually, considering that both Upper Refuse and Thin Air are really runout at the start, I'd stay away from both of them as first routes, too. Yes, they're easy, but Upper Refuse doesn't have much reasonable gear before the first anchor, and Thin Air has virtually none before the traverse.
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edge
Feb 9, 2012, 12:45 PM
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Gmburns2000 wrote: sp115 wrote: rocknice2 wrote: johnwesely wrote: At the Gunks: Easy Overhang if you are really new or High Exposure if you have a little bit of experience. Great route. As a 1st lead .... very bad idea Stick to easy single pitch where you can hang out all day if needed so you can take your time to place bomber gear. Once your proficient at placing bomber gear then go do some thing harder or pumpier. Don't push two edges of the envelope. Your first edge is place gear. +1 to all this, especially that High E is not a good beginning leader route. Upper Refuse and Thin Air on Cathedral ledge. The first 5 pitches of the Standard Route on Whitehorse. A couple of nice short routes on Echo Crag in Franconia Notch. Also a few 5.4's on Ragged Cliff in CT. All good stuff to learn the gear without the stress of pumping out. Actually, considering that both Upper Refuse and Thin Air are really runout at the start, I'd stay away from both of them as first routes, too. Yes, they're easy, but Upper Refuse doesn't have much reasonable gear before the first anchor, and Thin Air has virtually none before the traverse.
Both of those routes do have gear early on, but it's a bit fiddly and probably not obvious for a beginning leader. In the North Conway area, I would recommend Childs Play on Cathedral and the first pitch of Beelzebub on Whitehorse as better alternatives.
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sp115
Feb 9, 2012, 1:58 PM
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edge wrote: Gmburns2000 wrote: sp115 wrote: rocknice2 wrote: johnwesely wrote: At the Gunks: Easy Overhang if you are really new or High Exposure if you have a little bit of experience. Great route. As a 1st lead .... very bad idea Stick to easy single pitch where you can hang out all day if needed so you can take your time to place bomber gear. Once your proficient at placing bomber gear then go do some thing harder or pumpier. Don't push two edges of the envelope. Your first edge is place gear. +1 to all this, especially that High E is not a good beginning leader route. Upper Refuse and Thin Air on Cathedral ledge. The first 5 pitches of the Standard Route on Whitehorse. A couple of nice short routes on Echo Crag in Franconia Notch. Also a few 5.4's on Ragged Cliff in CT. All good stuff to learn the gear without the stress of pumping out. Actually, considering that both Upper Refuse and Thin Air are really runout at the start, I'd stay away from both of them as first routes, too. Yes, they're easy, but Upper Refuse doesn't have much reasonable gear before the first anchor, and Thin Air has virtually none before the traverse. Both of those routes do have gear early on, but it's a bit fiddly and probably not obvious for a beginning leader. In the North Conway area, I would recommend Childs Play on Cathedral and the first pitch of Beelzebub on Whitehorse as better alternatives.
Actually there is gear on the left side of the start of Upper Refuse. Nobody ever places it because it the start is basically 5.1. Thin Air is more run out, but again, the climbing is what, 5.2?
So I'm guessing we probably all agree that you shouldn't push the grade and the gear at the same time, but if a new leader isn't comfortable on 5.2, maybe leading isn't the best decision.
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johnwesely
Feb 9, 2012, 3:10 PM
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sp115 wrote: edge wrote: Gmburns2000 wrote: sp115 wrote: rocknice2 wrote: johnwesely wrote: At the Gunks: Easy Overhang if you are really new or High Exposure if you have a little bit of experience. Great route. As a 1st lead .... very bad idea Stick to easy single pitch where you can hang out all day if needed so you can take your time to place bomber gear. Once your proficient at placing bomber gear then go do some thing harder or pumpier. Don't push two edges of the envelope. Your first edge is place gear. +1 to all this, especially that High E is not a good beginning leader route. Upper Refuse and Thin Air on Cathedral ledge. The first 5 pitches of the Standard Route on Whitehorse. A couple of nice short routes on Echo Crag in Franconia Notch. Also a few 5.4's on Ragged Cliff in CT. All good stuff to learn the gear without the stress of pumping out. Actually, considering that both Upper Refuse and Thin Air are really runout at the start, I'd stay away from both of them as first routes, too. Yes, they're easy, but Upper Refuse doesn't have much reasonable gear before the first anchor, and Thin Air has virtually none before the traverse. Both of those routes do have gear early on, but it's a bit fiddly and probably not obvious for a beginning leader. In the North Conway area, I would recommend Childs Play on Cathedral and the first pitch of Beelzebub on Whitehorse as better alternatives. Actually there is gear on the left side of the start of Upper Refuse. Nobody ever places it because it the start is basically 5.1. Thin Air is more run out, but again, the climbing is what, 5.2? So I'm guessing we probably all agree that you shouldn't push the grade and the gear at the same time, but if a new leader isn't comfortable on 5.2, maybe leading isn't the best decision.
IMO, part of a first lead is that is should have lots of gear to place for practice and to be critiqued.
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sp115
Feb 9, 2012, 3:48 PM
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johnwesely wrote: sp115 wrote: edge wrote: Gmburns2000 wrote: sp115 wrote: rocknice2 wrote: johnwesely wrote: At the Gunks: Easy Overhang if you are really new or High Exposure if you have a little bit of experience. Great route. As a 1st lead .... very bad idea Stick to easy single pitch where you can hang out all day if needed so you can take your time to place bomber gear. Once your proficient at placing bomber gear then go do some thing harder or pumpier. Don't push two edges of the envelope. Your first edge is place gear. +1 to all this, especially that High E is not a good beginning leader route. Upper Refuse and Thin Air on Cathedral ledge. The first 5 pitches of the Standard Route on Whitehorse. A couple of nice short routes on Echo Crag in Franconia Notch. Also a few 5.4's on Ragged Cliff in CT. All good stuff to learn the gear without the stress of pumping out. Actually, considering that both Upper Refuse and Thin Air are really runout at the start, I'd stay away from both of them as first routes, too. Yes, they're easy, but Upper Refuse doesn't have much reasonable gear before the first anchor, and Thin Air has virtually none before the traverse. Both of those routes do have gear early on, but it's a bit fiddly and probably not obvious for a beginning leader. In the North Conway area, I would recommend Childs Play on Cathedral and the first pitch of Beelzebub on Whitehorse as better alternatives. Actually there is gear on the left side of the start of Upper Refuse. Nobody ever places it because it the start is basically 5.1. Thin Air is more run out, but again, the climbing is what, 5.2? So I'm guessing we probably all agree that you shouldn't push the grade and the gear at the same time, but if a new leader isn't comfortable on 5.2, maybe leading isn't the best decision. IMO, part of a first lead is that is should have lots of gear to place for practice and to be critiqued.
I don't disagree with this at all, so in the spirit of compromise I'll ammend my recommendations to exclude the first pitch of Thin Air (my first lead, btw...).
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blueeyedclimber
Feb 13, 2012, 7:12 AM
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donwanadi wrote: Title says it all. What do you think are the best routes to start leading in the northeast US? Sport or Trad. "First Lead Wall" in the Chapel Pond Pass looks pretty good with 3 or 4 single pitch G rated route under 5.7.
Do you have any experience leading or will this be your first? If so how much?
Sport in the NE: Get yourself to Rumney. Hundreds of climbs from 5.2 to 5.14d. That'll keep you busy for a while.
Trad single pitch: The Gunks or Echo crag in Franconia Notch in NH. If you're closer to the GUnks then go there. Echo is a nice beginning Trad area though as it has a plethora of easy single pitch routes.
Trad Multi-pitch: Once you have experience placing gear, setting anchors, rope management, etc., you should be ready to attempt your first multipitch. The Gunks are a good area because it is no more than 3 or 4 pitches and has really easy climbing that is still good. Another recommendation is something that was already mentioned, Standard Route on Whitehorse ledge. You can do up to 5 pitches and rappel or go to the top at about 8 or 9 pitches.
Josh
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donwanadi
Feb 13, 2012, 7:36 AM
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This would be my first time. I've been doing ground school for the past month or so when out TRing and aided up a few short pitches while protected by TR (solo).
l feel ready to lead but it seems prudent to spend a day with a guide for the first time for both trad and aid.
I'm looking for inspiration to get in a lot of very easy stuff afterward before I start working up the grades.
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cracklover
Feb 13, 2012, 8:48 AM
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donwanadi wrote: This would be my first time. I've been doing ground school for the past month or so when out TRing and aided up a few short pitches while protected by TR (solo). l feel ready to lead but it seems prudent to spend a day with a guide for the first time for both trad and aid. I'm looking for inspiration to get in a lot of very easy stuff afterward before I start working up the grades.
If you're looking to spend a day with a guide, you couldn't do better than go hang with Marc Chauvin in North Conway.
Cheers,
GO
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