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D Murph
climber
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Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 15, 2012 - 11:48am PT
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Heading up to NH and VT later this week and am looking to climb some wide.
Any favorites people can recommend?
More specifically: I'm an experienced trad climber who wants to improve fist and offwidth skills. I'm interested in leads 5.9 and below as well as topropes up to 5.10 .
Thanks in advance!
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Seamstress
Trad climber
Yacolt, WA
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Oct 15, 2012 - 12:26pm PT
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The Barber Wall is calling your name. Nutcracker - tape up, it has a bite.
Can't tell you much about the off widths.
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Brian
climber
California
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Oct 15, 2012 - 12:34pm PT
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Hardest thing I did back there was something called "Crowd Pleaser" or somesuch. I can't recall exactly. You rap in off the tourist overlook at Cathedral. Relatively short crux, but it certainly put me through the wringer.
Brian
EDIT: Quick seach online and I can't find the route. The old guidebook had some slanderous story about folks trying to peel the thing off with a car jack. There is a harder bolted route there as well if I recall correctly.
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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Oct 15, 2012 - 01:15pm PT
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Brian, Tourist Treat? Not wide or moderate.
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Babushka
Trad climber
CT
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Oct 15, 2012 - 01:28pm PT
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TR Peanut Gallery on Cathedral . It is around 5.11,not 5.10, but one of the best lines in NH. The wide part is not 5.11 i guess.
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adrian korosec
climber
Tucson
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Oct 15, 2012 - 01:28pm PT
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Turner's Flake at Cathedral Ledge. Great pizza and beer in North Conway after.
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Alan Rubin
climber
Amherst,MA.
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Oct 15, 2012 - 02:15pm PT
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On Cannon, Reppy's Crack has a long stretch of relatively easy wide fist/off-width---at least for my size hands, but the classic (still-existing) off-width on the crag is the Half-moon Crack on Vertigo. Whaleback Crack was another--though usually climbed as a layback/undercling, but it now lies in pieces at the bottom. There are other sections of off-width elsewhere on the crag but those two are the best. Over at Cathedral, the Black Crack on the right side of the upper tier is a good off-widtgh struggle, though likely to be wet and dirty. I've got a "mind-blank" on the name of the off-width flake below the tourist lookout (the "car jack flake")but it is a good, very easily top-roped workout. (Edit--saw the name on another response---Peanut Gallery).There are a few easier wide cracks on Cathedral (and a couple of harder ones as well)though they usually tend to be climbed more as stemming/layback cracks rather than as off-widths (Turnrer's Flake is an obvious example). Jerry Handren's new North Conway Rock Climbs guidebook also includes a scattering of other wide challenges in the region, but none that I have any personal experience with. New England surely doesn't offer a concentrated collection of wide cracks for an "off-width school", but by searching around you can at least get some experience of the "wyde".
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Brian
climber
California
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Oct 15, 2012 - 02:20pm PT
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Brandon and Babushka,
Peanut Gallery, that's it!
You need some TCU's for the belay if you are going to pull the rope and lead (which isn't too bad), but it is top-ropeable.
Yes, the wide part is not 5.11 at all; it feels pretty good once you get in it.
Brian
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mongrel
Trad climber
Truckee, CA
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Oct 15, 2012 - 02:31pm PT
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Taking the liberty of a little geographic thread drift, there are some truly awesome wide cracks in nearby states: Creation of the World on Moss Cliff in the Adirondacks (I have never done this - although a couple of us who lurk here participated in the first non-attempt on the route*) with miles of 10+ fist/OW and some harder stuff elsewhere on the climb. Then there is a ridiculously hard one, just one short pitch, on Farley Ledge in N-central Mass. I don't know what the current access situation is, but there is a facet near the top with two or three great cracks. If I recall correctly, the wide (and it is WIDE but not quite enough so to fit inside) finally went at 13 something. Not only do I have no clue how anyone got up this but even more so, no remote clue as to how you would pass your pro if you got any in.
Those are two that I know of that require actual wide crack climbing (vs. layback/undercling).
*Edit: plus there's Morgan who was on the FA! and, unlike some of us, is not a sandbagger so you can get the straight story on what it's like from him.
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JubJubBird
Trad climber
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Oct 15, 2012 - 03:35pm PT
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Farley Ledge, MA has an overhanging 13a offwidth, complete with mandatory full inversion. Well protected and easy to get to. Bring an old-school 4.5 camalot. The new #4 is a bit small, #5 is too big.
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steve shea
climber
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Oct 15, 2012 - 03:40pm PT
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Just to the left of Reppy's and the Conn Buttress, there is a 5.9, one pitch off size/flaring. There are others along the base of Cannon but I don't know the names. Lightning Crack 5.7 kind of wide in places.. There are some good one pitch routes on Cannon, cracks but all sizes. Wear your hardhat.
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Alan Rubin
climber
Amherst,MA.
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Oct 15, 2012 - 04:21pm PT
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The 13 (or maybe 12c according to some) off-width at Farley is named Bulletproof----definitely classic but not exactly a "training" off-width.The next crack lreft on that 'facet" is also classic--Barndoor--10b--but fingers/hands not wide. The next crack left is a very short, and rarely done, fist crack. There are a couple of other wide cracks at Farley but also in the 12 and above range. There is a 5.8ish off-width nearby at Rose Ledge but it is not a particularly recommendable climb. As far as the Adirondacks is concerned, yes, Creation of the World is an amazing line of wide cracks, (Mongrel--were we togther up there BITD?), but there are also a number of other excellent wide cracks in that region---mostly also the work of the notorious Mr. Nichols. The best collection of wide cracks in the 'Dacks--and probably in the northeast--are on the Upper Tiers at Pokomoonshine, so that may be a good destination for your up-coming quest.
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Seamstress
Trad climber
Yacolt, WA
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Oct 15, 2012 - 04:41pm PT
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The gentleman is looking for 9s to lead and 10s to toprope. 12 & 13 out of that league. Everything I can think of is very short or fingers to hands with the exception of Nutcracker and parts of Bird's Nest. If you have large paws, those wouldn't begin to qualify. I hadn't done Turner's....
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franknfrank
Trad climber
US-east haven-ct
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Oct 15, 2012 - 05:06pm PT
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o.k . here goes-I spend a lot of time looking for the same heres what I found in nh--peanut gallery #1 tr problem exc chimney and ow action -3 bolts at top of the climb make it easy to tr.Black crack can be led or trd -full on ow grovel-on the top of cathedral are the work out cracks-short but full value ow and wide excersises.crack in the woods for just pure jam crack but 10d -if you can find it bring extra 1s and 2s.-on the upper tier of woodchuck ledge is an area that is short but has a good selection of ow and wide stuff and there is an easier crack on the approach to the top -8ish maybe that is a lot of fist-if you have a couple of big bros or feel good running 5.8 squeeze weisner route at humphreys is a good choice if it has been dry for a while-and if you happen to have a valley giant 9 or big bros of that size repentance has a great 2nd pitch ow then very enjoyable but a little run out chimneying up above -ive only done p 1+2 and 1 looks really manky from below but the climbing is much better than it looks-and the barber wall is excellent for just working on jamming--have fun---embrace the wide
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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Oct 15, 2012 - 05:11pm PT
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Turners is Not off width. Turners is laybacking a flake that takes some wide gear and then no gear. The longest pure crack from hands to wide back to hands that I have done in the east is reppys. very short section of Wide though. Realy just a few moves but it does have that desert feel only not steep enough. . The chimny pitch of Recompense is good wide but much more featured inside than typical desert wide. Half moon pretty short but authentic. My guess is that Repentance and Remission both offer up some genuine wide but have never talked to anyone who has actually climbed either of them in the summer?
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franknfrank
Trad climber
US-east haven-ct
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Oct 15, 2012 - 05:12pm PT
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oh yea forgot about vertigo on cannon-I think they give it a 5.9 but it feels much easier if your ow technique is at all dialed and can be protected with a smaller 7-8 inch or so big bro
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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Oct 15, 2012 - 05:17pm PT
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My partner from Colorado who spends a lot of time in the desert though the Half moon was really short. We had the big green friend but it was too small. It would have been a scary lead for me but Alex thought it was tame.... All about perspective. I usually finish that one by the Cresant moon ;)
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Alan Rubin
climber
Amherst,MA.
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Oct 15, 2012 - 05:34pm PT
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Though I haven't done either in decades, my memory is that both Repetence and Remission are more chimney than off-width climbing. The crux of Repentence is off-width but some helpful horizontal jugs on the bulge allow one to mostly avoid a pure off-width grunt. I'd forgotten about Crack in the Woods, but isn't that more hands and fists than off-width? Bandit on Band-M (possibly currently off limits) is another one on the fist/off-width borderline depending on body part dimensions.
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meclimber
Trad climber
Newmarket, NH
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Oct 16, 2012 - 11:22am PT
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Bandit is great, but Band M is closed for the time being.
Humphreys ledge has weissners on it. 2 great pitches of moderate chimney climbing .8
Catherdral for stuff in your grade; black crack .10a, the nostril .9+, repetence .10a/b (rap after 2), leafspring (shameless self promotional plug, .11cish),
Woodchuck has a great .9+ in the playground, short.
Pawtuckaway has a bunch, too many to name, all fairly hard.
Haystack; fear of ejection (haven't done this one, .11)
As tradman says, we don't have a ton of pure offwidth climbing. We get a lot of sections of offwidth/chimney. Good luck and have fun.
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D Murph
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 16, 2012 - 11:40am PT
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Thank you everyone for the beta!
dmurph
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