The Gunks

Over the weekend, I took a trip to NY. The objective was climbing at the Gunks. I awoke at 3am on Friday morning to catch a 6am flight to NY. I felt like crap. I was able to sleep on the plane, and in the hotel when I arrived. We arrived at the crag around 3pm, and were able to get two long routs in. These were pretty casual, but, I did have to back off of one, and let my dad take the sharp end. We finished climbing, and ended the day with some quality Dog Fish head IPA. Our second day of climbing included some of my dads friends. The weather was perfect, and the climbing was just as good. These routs were of the more moderate nature. The last route of the day was the shortest and the hardest. A 50 foot thin finger crack that ran the whole way. The hands and feet were there the whole way, but it was sustained. I red pointed this rout, which boosted my confidence. I was in much need of this, as I have not been climbing a lot lately. The mental game is a huge part of climbing. If your head is not with you, especially on these exposed routes, you will wither up and die on the rock. It is amazing to me how quickly the mind will crumble in the face of a challenge. That is the struggle with leading bold climbs. The strength might be there, but you also have to have a sack, and be able to march into uncertainty. Sunday was our last day on the rock. Our first route required a bold lead right off of the bat. My dad walked up to this, and fired it. It was a great pitch with several consecutive thin foot moves at the top, with run out gear. I followed up, and when I got to the ledge, I grabbed the rack, and got ready to move. This looked to be another bold pitch. We were about 150 feet off the deck. The first 45 feet of climbing were traversing to the right, on thin hands and thinner feet. I had to go out an around a roof before it let off. My head seemed to be with me, so I move over to a climb named WRIST, one that we had done before. I started off on the first pitch, and quickly realized I had done this climb before. Halfway up the pitch was a left facing corner that had a crack in it, about 4 inches wide. Last time, 5 years ago, this section took me 15 min to get the balls to move through it. This day, I fired it, just moved right thorough it. My dad moved through the final pitch, which moved up to and around a roof. This was pretty exposed, which means that there is nothing below you for several hundred feet. Our final climb of the trip was an extremely technical, sustained route that was about 85 feet long. This was truly pumpy.



This will probably be the last trip that my dad and I will take for a while. He will be moving over seas for a few years, which will make our road trips harder to do. My dad and I have been climbing together for about ten years now. Over the years, we have both grown together in our skill and rock craft. We have spent a lot of time together, going on climbing trips all over the US and the world. He has taught me a lot over the years. Lessons like, the value of a dollar, and what you have to do to earn it, and more importantly how to live the good life; pulling down hard on good rock, and drinking good beer. These are the best experiences that I have had in my 24 years on earth, and we got to share these times together. I will never forget these moments in time. They have shaped my life, and who I am.

No pictures from the weekend, I still don’t have a camera.