rock climbing spots in the catskills?

[Jay H]

Barring getting down to the 'gunks, do any of you catskill hikers know of any good locations to practice basic rock-climbing in the catskills. Nothing fancy, simply top-roping would be sufficient. Giant Ledge has been suggested as a spot. There will be a group of us trying to prepare ourselves a bit more for Rainier so getting some ropework would be nice. There is word that AMC is doing something climbing related in the 'gunks and we'll be closer to the catskills anyway.

Jay

 

[Bob Smith]

Hi Jay

Not that I have been to this location but I have noticed during the winter on Rt 23A (before you reach the hairpin turn and water falls on the mountain road) a lot of people ice climbing. It's a very short distance from the road if you want to check it out.

 

[hermit]

How about some of the ledges by Notch lake off Rt.214

 

[Halite]

The Catskills don't seem to get much attention for rock climbing, since the Gunks provide such incredible climbing nearby. There are a number of places where people ice climb in the winter. But these would likely be really poor for rock climbing, since they would likely be wet and mossy in the warm months.

As a relatively inexperienced climber, I'd be a bit worried about climbing someplace that hasn't been climbed much recently. The potential objective hazards, like loose rock, stinging insects, etc. would make it too risky.

Isn't your Rainier trip going to be a lot different from a technical rock climb? More mountaineering than rock climbing? I'm wondering what type of ropework you are hoping to practice?

 

[paul ron]

Ask on this site....

I'll bet if you posted on this site, you'll get plenty answers...

http://neice.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?Cat=0

Good luck

 

[woodstrider]

Rock Climbing

is not a big sport in the Catskills because for the most part the rock sucks- very friable. I don't even think that it is allowed. But in the winter people do ice climb- everything is frozen in place- kinda. Even Giant's Ledge had been known to release large slabs of rock.

 

[Jay H]

Bob, I've seen the ice climbers off Rt 23A before near Palenville... Kind of distracting when you're driving a bit!

No, the rock climbing isn't particularly for Rainier, but it's more of just getting folks and me familiar with the seat harness, practice with the knots, and rope work and perhaps ascending ropes with ascenders and runners.

Shouldn't be any rock climbing on the standard DC route on Rainier as far as I know but the knots and roped travel would be useful for climbing or mountaineering and for rescue situations.

Jay

 

[Mark Schaefer]

I have seen a few people practicing at Notch Lake, but not very often. As Halite mentioned the ice climbing routes in the Devil's Kitchen are just too wet and slick for your purposes. All that dripping water makes them great ice climbing routes, but I have never seen anybody rock climbing in there.

I was at the Palenville Overlook and Indian Head rock (aka Profile Rock) in the Kaaterskill Clove today. They are the impressive cliffs above Palenville and visible from Route 32A and 23A. They are about 40-60' high, but I have never seen anyone rock climbing there. The rock at the top is also very porous and flaky. There are no paths at the cliff base, only on top. They are a 30-40 minute 1000' walk up from Palenville on the old Forge Quarry Road. I am not a rock climber myself, but I suspect you would be better served in the Gunks.

This isn't on rock, but there is the Sundance Academy of Survival in Phoenicia. They give rappelling
instructions on the 60 foot tower on Route 214. Maybe that also says something about the lack of good rock walls in the Catskills.

 

[snowshoe]

Jay
There are some great places in NJ to learn. You can head over to Allamuchy State Park. There is a popular spot off of Waterloo rd in Sussex County. Then over in the water gap you can hit Ricks Rocks. Over on Millbrook blairstown Rd. This is great area to learn. I do some High Angle training with the Search and Rescue team there. It is where I learned and found it to be a great spot for learning. There is also a great ledge in High Point SP on the AT just behind the park headquarters. It is not used much but makes a great spot for top ropping.

 

[Jay H]

Hey Shawn, we're going to be in the catskills next weekend to do my Escarpment charity hike so the day after, a bunch of us are going to be in the catskills so I can't really come down to NJ for that.

Mark, I've seen the wall on 214 just north of palenville.. with their big sign "learn to rappel" on it... I assume it's not free!

jay

 

[MattC]

Jay, these guys have made some good points which you would be wise to heed. Rock climbing in the Catskills would probably be about as good as kayaking in Biscuit Brook. No question that you'd be infinitely better off in the Shawangunks.

If you guys do get down to the Gunks on Sunday, though, I can attest it's likely to be crowded. I was up there yesterday (5/14) and the lot was already packed at 8 AM. Climbing season is back full-force. Tons of bumper-sticker laden cars w/ plates from NJ, CT, Mass and beyond. You guys will want to get there early before the lots close and all the climbing routes become crowded. If you wanted to leave a car or two in New Paltz and car pool up there, you could either at my place or at the Wallkill River parking area right down the road.

Matt

 

[moose_mckenzie]

Jay,

There is some good, red sandstone if you know where to look for it. Much of the rock above 2500 feet is better than the shaley junk way down. Giant Ledge has a route up on the north end of it -- it's about a 5.3; there is also some nice bouldering by that monolith below Sunset Rock.

However, if I were you, I would go to the Gunks. Or the Dacks. The southern Dacks aren't heavily used and, if you don't mind hiking or bushwhacking, there are plenty of routes. Pick up a copy of Don Mellor's book "Climbing in the Adirondacks." At the very least, you could find some nice climbing on the slides.

Moose

 

[Warren]

When the AMC was running a rock climbing program in the Catskills there was a site they used on the west side of Slide mountain. It was OK, but short in length. Sugarloaf and Twin have nice tall ledge walls as do many others, but I always seem to remember the rock was rather crappy.

If you want to do a toprope/backpack sort of thing some time, let me know, sounds like fun.