Over the past few weeks I’ve had the pleasure of climbing with great friends at some of the best granite climbing areas in the northeast (and the U.S.). It’s not everyday that Gunks climbers get to climb granite. The closest “granite” to New Paltz is in the Adirondacks, and it isn’t really granite. Beyond that one needs to travel to NH to get good granite. Damn, New Hampshire granite is fine though.

I did a big day at Cannon which I wrote about previously, and which made me so tired for 4 days afterward that I was concerned while guiding moderate routes in the Gunks. Fortunately, my legs have recovered from that effort. Last week I met my old friend and long time climbing partner Erik Eisele at Cathedral Ledge. Erik’s been a climber as long as I’ve known him, but this past year he’s really figured things out and is climbing exceptionally well. Now it’s time to figure out where to go on a trip with him so I can have a ropegun.  We met for a morning of climbing and did a link up that a few North Conway locals have been calling “All the Crazy Bitches”. The four-pitch link up starts with Wild, climbs the middle of Women In Love, and finishes up Webster’s Abridged.

I’m embarrassed to say that these were the first 5.11 pitches I’ve ever climbed at Cathedral Ledge. All of these pitches were well-protected, sustained but never desperate, and eminently climbable. The experience was quite different than climbing several 5.11 pitches in the Gunks. I have always felt, and I think there are many local Gunks climbers who would agree, that climbing 5.11 in the Gunks requires a serious gameface and frequent small protection. You need to pull hard moves on tiny crimps above small gear.  Not an everyday thing for most of us in the Gunks. So, to go to Cathedral and climb several 5.11 pitches in a row, in a straight line up the cliff, and have all the pitches be safe, well-protected and fun was enlightening. It definitely left me with a big fat ear-to-ear grin.

Just yesterday I visited Cannon again. This time with fewer talus-jogging aspirations. Erik and I wanted to do a bunch of pitches including the very famous and stunning VMC Direct Direct. After warming up on Union Jack we headed over to the Big Wall and found everything to be a bit wet. We climbed through the wetness on the first two pitches before deciding to go down. Several more pitches of cragging, which is quite enjoyable – some of Cannon’s finest rock is at the base, and we were all set for the day. Not quite a grade IX day but good climbing and good company.

I’ve realized that It would be good to climb some more granite, and to do it a little more frequently. Climbing granite requires precise footwork and a lot of body tension – two things that help with all types of climbing and make reaching further and pulling harder feel less difficult. If you get a chance, by all means check out the pitches I have mentioned in this post; they’re all exquisite, top-notch pitches on beautiful stone.