I'm putting together this on-line aid climbing to the Gunks because I like to aid climb sometimes. A lot of the climbs in the Gunks lend themselves well to the practice of aid climbing. If you've ever had the penchant to go to Yosemite and climb a big wall, unless you're in the top 0.01% of free climbers on the planet, you're not going to get up anything.
I welcome any suggestions, additions or updates to this page.
Please drop me a line
[UPDATE 09/20/07: Send updates to
scottghiz (at) yahoo (dot) com
because my SPAM filter is killing most additions to this online guide.
SPAMMERS suck and sorry for the lack of communication.] and let me know what you think of a certain climb; how hard was it, how long were the pitches, what kind of gear did you use, how scary was it, or if you have any questions.
The Routes will be described with the free climbing route name, area, and the aid climbing and free climbing rating, some key gear info and a star rating. The star rating is based on how good the climb is as an aid route (in my opinion or your opinion). I might be writing my own trip reports for these climbs. These will be hyper-linked to the story. Also, some images are linked to some of the climbs.
| Route |
Area |
Description |
|
Ant's Line (C1) (*)
|
Trapps |
Kevin Curtis and
Adrian Hill aided this climb on November 26, 1997. Follow the free line to the belay. Some awkward placements where the crack flares.
Gear: Wires and small to mid-size cams. One large cam (#4 Camalot) useful for the first move. |
| Asteroids
(5.5 C2+) (**) |
Trapps |
Steven Cherry rope soloed this March 27, 1999. Not in the guidebooks, this is a name for a top-rope route between Groovy and Space Invaders (see the Swain guidebook). Go up Groovy to the roof and instead of cutting left to the anchors pull the roof at the right edge (crux). Finish by free climbing (5.5) to the Ursula belay. Gear: Large free rack, hexes very handy |
| Doug's Roof (C1) (***) |
Trapps |
Kevin Curtis and
Adrian Hill aided this climb on December 16, 1997. Climb the obvious crack with a pin at the edge of the roof. A black alien can be placed about two feet out on the roof for an easy reach to the pin. Good placements lead to a ledge where you can walk to the tree on the left and rappel, or climb to the top.
Gear: A black Alien. |
|
Eastertime, Too (5.4 C1) (**) |
Near Trapps |
Steve Shaud
rope-soloed this climb in the rain, November 1989. Follow your nose up the
obvious crack to a rap station. 70'. Gear: Wired stoppers and small to
mid-size cams. |
| Ent's Line, direct variation
(5.6 C2-) (**) |
Trapps |
Kevin Curtis and
Adrian Hill aided this climb on November 26, 1997. Free climb for 25' to the first good protection break (the purist can hook immediately from the ground). Aid mostly on small wires
(HBs helpful, and hook move on a large flake) to the overhang (good wires and aliens under the overhang). Hook moves up over the overhang, then left, lead to another break (mid-size cams in the break). Tricky placements trending slightly left to the arete lead to easy free moves (5.3) up to the belay.
Gear: Hooks, Aliens, mid-size cams, wires. |
| Filipina Crack (C1) (*) |
Trapps |
Steven Cherry rope soloed this route August 8, 1998. This line starts at Filipina and continues up the crack instead of breaking left. Single 70ft pitch, adequate rap station. Gear: Large free rack, small TCUs and extra nuts helpful. |
| Harvest Moon (5.3 C1) (**) |
Near
Trapps |
Zach Allen rope soloed this climb on 3/24/99. Start in chimney and follow Harvest Moon to top of block. Last easy free moves were dirty, wet and loose. Fixed rap station at the top. Gear: Small nuts to medium cams, #4 Camalot would be nice but optional and one wobbly slung chock stone |
| Hook Line, No Sinkers (C2+) (**) |
Trapps |
First Recorded Ascent:
Adrian Hill and Kevin Curtis aided this climb on January 22, 1998. Starting behind the right end of the block under Ken's Crack (on the side next to Phoebe) hook straight up to the rail. Move 5 feet left and then straight up to join Ken's Crack at a large ledge 5 feet from the top. FA all moves on good hook placements, gear only placed for protection. Gear: 2 BD Talons, grappling hook, and one skyhook. Protection is small aliens and wires - two placements in the first ~35 feet. Can easily be top-roped. |
| Kansas City
(5.8 C1) (*) |
Near
Trapps |
Scott Ghiz rope-soloed this climb 11/29/97. This is the first huge roof you run into while walking into the Near
Trapps. Free climb up to the optional belay under the roof (5.4). Aid out the roof (C1) to a free move past the lip (5.8). P1: 130' to anchor tree. Gear: Medium nuts, medium cams and a #3 Camalot.
|
| Ken's Crack (C1) (*) |
Trapps |
Kevin Curtis and
Adrian Hill aided this climb on November 21, 1997. Easy, straightforward short pitch that follows the crack up the face. Good introductory pitch with lots of bombproof stoppers. Gear: Stoppers! |
| Laurel (C1 5.4) (*) |
Trapps |
Zach Allen and Steve Yadzinski Aided this climb on December 27, 1997. Good fun practice aid route at the
Uberfall. P1: 60'. Gear: Medium nuts and small to large cams (#4 Camalot helpful). |
| Low Exposure (C1 5.5) (*) |
Trapps |
Zach Allen and Steve Yadzinski Aided this climb on December 27, 1997. Good
strenuous aid route at the Uberfall. Free climb to the start of the big roof. P1: 30'. Gear: Mostly cams, everything from blue Alien to #4 Camalot |
| M&M
Roof (5.3 C1) (**) |
Peterskill |
Mike Wohner and Michelle Valiante aided this climb 9/98. Unsure of history or name of climb, if any. Climb starts approximately 20 ft right of 'diving board' boulder problem in the 'rock garden' area of Peterskill (refer to Gunks bouldering guide). P1 climbs straight up slab to a small roof , traverses right 25-30 feet to start of 30-foot roof. P2, continue out roof and over , exiting on a left-hand crack system and topping out by a small pine tree. Feedback on successive repeats appreciated. Update by Dave
Indino 03/27/00: 1st pitch is more like 5.6 and the aid crux is moving over
the 1st roof (awkward).
Gear: Placements abound; Large free rack adequate; duplicates of large sizes helpful. |
| Man
Who Fell to Earth (C3/C4?) (***)
|
Trapps |
Comments from:
|
|
Mincer (5.4 C2/C2+) (***) |
Near
Trapps |
Tom Fralich and
Felix Danila
aided this climb on August 24, 2003. Comments from Tom: The route
starts in a very obvious thin crack a few feet left of Harvest Moon and the
chimney of White Pillar (Near Trapps). I used small wires and Aliens for the
first 20 ft, plus one micronut, to reach a big horizontal which took a #3 BD
Camalot. After this, a few more small to medium wires and small cams until the
crack became really narrow and placements become sparse. The route is very close
to Harvest Moon at this point, so it would be easy to move over. I advanced one
move on the mini Leeper cam hook and then tried several hook placements with no
success. Finally, I was able to move left on a marginal stopper in a shallow and
flaring horizontal. Next a few free move out left towards the nose, then back
right to a 0.5 BD Camalot where the crack opens up again. About five more
placements, all medium cams and large nuts (0.5-1 inch), got me to the anchors.
Gear: See above description. |
| Nosedive (5.3 C1+) (*) |
Trapps |
Kevin Curtis and
Adrian Hill aided this climb on December 16, 1997. Scramble up the blocks to the right and then walk along the ledge back into the crack. Gear: Lots of wires, and red aliens in flared pin scars make for a fun pitch.
|
| Outer Space Super
Direct (5.5 C2+ R) (**) |
Near Trapps |
Rob Mecus
did this climb around March 2002. Start on the greasy slab right
of the Outer Space Direct start, and climb straight up to the big
block. Surmount this, and aid the thin, overhanging seam up [C2+ R] and
slightly right into a right facing corner. Thin aiding up this leads to
easier climbing and the exit for Outer Space Direct.
Gear:
Small + hooks.
|
| P-38
(5.3 C1) (*) |
Trapps |
Kevin Curtis and
Adrian Hill aided this climb on January 22, 1998. Climb the obvious crack until it is possible to traverse right after about 40 feet where the crack ends. Straightforward aid.
Gear: Bring lots of small wires, #2 and #3 cam as well as a BD talon hook. |
| Pink Laurel (5.5 C1)
(*) |
Trapps |
Recently aid soled by Kyle Story [May 2008]. Seems to be a
pretty good clean aid pitch. Gear: stoppers, small to
medium cams. Could probably use a cam hook. |
| PR
(5.5 C2+) (*) |
Trapps |
Lawrence Clayton solo aided
the first pitch of PR on 7/21/01. It went at about 5.5 C2+.
Gear: At least 2 hook moves in a row, Leeper cam hook useful. |
| Rhododendron
(C1) (*) |
Trapps |
Rope soloed by Andrew Gram
February 18, 2000. Fun easy pitch in the Uberfall. Easy 5.3 or a hook near
the top. 60'
Gear: Stoppers, small to medium cams. |
| Single
File (C1) (**) |
Skytop |
Rope-soloed
by Wayne McMahon circa 1994. Nice
nuts and cams to medium plus one #3-1/2 Friend for the top. Best part about
soloing this route was the woodsy solitude and one scary exit move!
Gear:
A 'standard' Gunks rack will suffice, with 20 extra biners plus 12 draws. |
| Something
Interesting (C1+) (*) |
Trapps |
Rope-soloed
by Wayne McMahon circa 1993. Nothing
terrifying, but a sustained exercise in the mechanics and mental game of
soloing. I don't remember anything unusual, except that I used upwards of 40
free biners.
Gear:
Regular
large Gunks free rack + lots of extra biners. |
| Space Invaders
(5.5 C1) (*) |
Trapps |
Steven Cherry rope soloed this route September 12, 1998. Final moves are easy free climbing (5.5ish) to the Ursula belay/rap station.
Gear: Large free rack; small TCUs helpful, small wires (#1 or 2 stopper size) essential. 50m rope suffices. |
| Spinal Traction
(5.6 C2+) (**) |
Near
Trapps |
Comments from Ivan Rezucha, who did the first ascent. Scott Ghiz climbed the route with Mark Carroll April 1992. Climb up to the crack
which diagonals across the HUGE roof (5.6). Aid out the roof to the lip (C2+). Traverse right at the lip (C1) and up to the tree. P1: 140'.
Comments from Wayne
McMahon (1995 ascent): Towards the end the quality of the
rock deteriorated to a sandy consistency. A couple small nuts pulled while aggressively
jump-testing, but no falls. After the sandy section, there were was a fixed
wire, then a substantial improvement in rock quality before turning the lip.
Gear: Ball nuts to medium large nuts, tiny to medium cams.
|
| Stupid Crack (C1) (**) |
Trapps |
Zach Allen and Steve Yadzinski Aided this climb on January 9, 1998... starting at 8:00 PM!! Follow the thin slightly overhanging crack on the back of the Mental Block boulder with a weird
(optional) hook move near the top. P1: 50'. Gear: Small to medium stoppers and cams. Bring a hook (optional). |
| Supercrack (C1) (**) |
Skytop |
Kevin Curtis and
Adrian Hill aided this climb on December 9, 1997. Easy C1 except for the need for back-cleaning the pieces. First part of the crack to the roof is consistent 1.5 friends then red aliens for 30 feet with a few large wires. Green aliens and small wires (maybe one hook move- BD grappling hook) gets you to the 5.3 scramble to the top. Gear: 1.5 Friends (+ extras), red Aliens, large wires, hook optional. |
| Trashcan Overhang (C1 or C2-) (**) |
Trapps |
Kevin Curtis and
Adrian Hill aided this climb on November 21, 1997. Aid the overhang (nice hook on the edge) and then scramble straight up or traverse right (1.5 friend) onto the face for 3-4 more hook moves to the top ledge (C2-). Gear: Hook, 1.5 Friend. |
|
Twilight Zone (C2 5.7) (***) |
Trapps |
Scott Ghiz climbed this with Mark Carroll December 31, 1991.
Scott Ghiz also rope-soloed this climb 7/97.
Click the Twilight Zone for a trip
report. Climb up the Andrew corner to the GT ledge (5.4). Climb up to the chimney at the start of the aid traverse (5.3). Follow the fixed gear left to the notch. Follow the crack over the roof, up a shallow corner to a move left to the hanging belay (C2). Step up and left to a free traverse to a small right facing corner (C1 5.3). Up the corner (C1+ 5.7) to a small overhang. Step right and free climb to the top. P1: 150', P2: 110', P3: 70'. Gear: Small-to-medium nuts, small cams up to a #3 Camalot (optional), flat Leeper hook (optional), a long reach.
|
| Uphill All the Way
(C2+) (**) |
Trapps |
Kyle Story reported aiding this route on May 31 2008.
Follow crack/arch to where the free climbing route breaks out left. Use
multiple hook moves over the overlap to the anchors.
Gear: Lots of hooks, nuts, small to medium cams. |
| Wasp Stop (C2) (*) |
Trapps |
Kyle Story reported aiding this route on May 31 2008.
Follow obvious crack to bulge. Traverse to The Sting anchors.
Gear: Double TCUs, grey Metulious, lots of small nuts,
hooks. |
The single restraint that we live under is what the Mohonk Preserve stipulates: No hammering, no cleaning, no dropping of rocks, and no trashing the place. Everything you do here has to be clean. If you want to learn the art of placing pins and heads, go to any scruffy, no-name crag and bash away.
NO HAMMERING IN THE GUNKS.
Be careful of using hooks.
These can easily pry off thin flakes and small edges. These
edges and flakes may be key for the free climb. Maintenance of
the free climb is paramount. Aid climbing is retrograde to free
climbing. If you have any question about the integrity of a key
hold, don't use it for aid. Climb around it or bail... Don't
take a chance.