Platte Clove High Cliff
The Catskills have amazing ice climbing. Places like Stony Clove, Buttermilk Falls, and the Devil’s Kitchen (aka the Hellhole) are reliable, relatively easy to access, and popular. These areas see many visitors every season. Other areas are visited less often and take longer to form well. One of these areas is Platte Clove High Cliff. If you’ve ever driven or hiked Platte Clove Rd. in the winter you’ve seen this north-facing cliff high above the clove on the southwest side.
Platte Clove High Cliff isn’t in any guidebooks (like a few other very amazing Catskill climbing areas). It’s a hard place to access, with a challenging approach and it’s slow to form. Platte Clove High Cliff is located along the same cliffband that creates the Black Chasm. It has a similar aspect to the Black Chasm but is located high above the trees at the southwest end of Platte Clove. To get there you have to cross a creek similar to one below Buttermilk and then ascend a steep hillside for a long ways. A nice pitch of grade 3+ ice leads to ledge where the routes begin.
This area has five main routes all in the grade 4 range. Each one is unique and challenging for the grade. The starts are typically thin and unprotected and the top-outs are generally dry, brittle and challenging. The climbs follow corners, chimneys and skirt the edges of large overhangs. These routes aren’t your standard Grade 4 ice routes; each one follows a feature that makes it memorable. Having 5 routes like this within 100 feet of each other makes this place really stand out. To top things off, the High Cliff is the most scenic climbing area in the Catskills. To the north are views towards the Devil’s Kitchen and the Catskill Plateau. To the south are views of Woodstock and Saugerties.
What to Bring
The high cliff has a long uphill approach and a very steep slope below the cliffs. Don’t bring too much! Here’s what I bring and it has always seemed sufficient:
- Poles for the approach and creek crossing
- 1 60m or 70m rope – all the routes can be rapped with a 60m rope
- 10 screws from 10-16 cm
- Light rock rack (yellow C3 and gray C4 are nice to have for the left route) including a few pins (and therefore a tool with a hammer)
- A camera for the views and to take shots of the amazing climbs
Getting There
1. Get to the lower end of Platte Clove Road and park at the end of the road in front of the snow piles. To do this take exit 20 and turn left off the exit (coming from the south). Follow rt 212 east to County Rt 36 (you will bear right off of 212 onto rt 36). Rt 36 goes right after a few miles, you should bear left and continue on that road – it may be called West Saugerties Rd. This road progressively gets narrower and becomes Platte Clove Rd. It all seems to make sense as you’re driving.
2. Do not park anywhere but at the end of the road. There are so many posted signs near the creek due to the amazing summer swimming holes. We don’t want to jeopardize future access to this area.
3. Walk up the road until you encounter the yellow blazes on the left side indicating that you are now on state land.
4. Drop down the excessively steep hillside and find a way across the creek.
5. Head straight up an excessively steep hillside to an old logging road (seems more like a creekbed but it goes up and to the right very gently).
6. When you see the old quarry on the left head uphill just beyond the quarry. This will deposit you on another logging road going the other direction along the hillside.
7. Head straight uphill to a final logging road going to the right again. You will also see that this road is supported by a very old yet impressive stone wall.
8. Follow this final road to the right until you hit a mess of trees in the road and you can see ice and a cliff above.
9. Head up the heinously steep (I guarantee you’ve never climbed a vegetated slope this steep before) slope to the initial Grade 3 pitch. Climb this to access the very beautiful routes above. You may want to rap this slope on the way down. A tumble here could be a game-ender.
If you’ve never been to Platte Clove High Cliff and feel unsure how to get there despite the directions above send me an email (info at bigfootmountainguides.com) for additional specifics. On the approach you need to be very careful to stay off private land.
To see more images of Platte Clove High Cliff and climbing in the catskills check out the gallery.
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