New Jersey Boulders?

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Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Nov 21, 2006 - 01:32pm PT
there are a lot of dangers climbing, urban climbing has all of it's own "objective" and "subjective" dangers... not the same as tusseling with Ma Nature up high, but a whole set of challenges with which to launch an adventure.

I'm not endorsing any climbing areas... maybe I should put the disclaimer:

If you go out and climb at any of these areas, it's your ass on the line, I'm not responsible for your bad judgement

but I still lov ya'll and don't want you to get hurt... so be careful out there!
onepitch

Social climber
berkeley CA
Nov 21, 2006 - 01:45pm PT
I can't believe Sparta has gotten mentioned on supertopo. Having grown up there for near all my life I can safely say I would bother trying to climb around there. Though I did learn on the road cut near rt. 15. And climbed on some real chossy 20ft cliff in the woods near my old house.



ragingtuna

climber
JRZ
Nov 21, 2006 - 02:20pm PT
Just drive to the gunks to boulder Jersey has no real potential since princeton was pretty much shut down

2hrs from CNJ and your there tons of fun stuff dress warm and follow the sun put some handwarmers in your chalk bag
dufas

Trad climber
san francisco
Nov 21, 2006 - 02:21pm PT
hardman must be MIGHTY impressive!
hardman

Trad climber
love the eastern sierras
Nov 21, 2006 - 03:36pm PT
hey onepitch what's your first name Ian???

dufus you remind of an old climbing partner that always wanted to go climb out at millbrook which is cool but never had the balls to lead anything out there.

leb this is what i would do with your cat. put the cat inside a sleeping bag, zip up the sleeping bag. then drag the cat while inside the sleeping bag up and down the stairs.

also leb i work in washington. maybe in the spring you'll come out and boulder with me
dufas

Trad climber
san francisco
Nov 21, 2006 - 03:48pm PT
ooohhhh ouch, stop it nohardonman, uncle! uncle! i give!

Tomcat

Trad climber
Chatham N.H.
Nov 21, 2006 - 04:15pm PT
Dunno about boulders,but there is a patch of sweet rock along the Delaware River,just about across the river from the Narrows ice climbing area.It's near Frenchtown as I recall,on the small road that parallels the river.It's good rock,like the Gunks,which is odd as it's all shale on the other side of the river.
dirtineye

Trad climber
the south
Nov 21, 2006 - 05:19pm PT
What sort of name is T. H. Undress for a woman anyway?

Lois, I have to find a way to tell you, you are not a cat at all.

I would think that after all these years you would have figured this out for yourself, but, maybe not.

Instead of whining about Hardman, just kick him in the balls when you see him. I suspect he will enjoy that.
thundress

Social climber
Truckee, CA
Topic Author's Reply - Nov 21, 2006 - 05:34pm PT
just an obscure nickname
Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber
Out Of Bed
Oct 12, 2018 - 12:14pm PT
NO CLIMBING ALLOWED

"Opened" for an assessment period, in 09? I think it was'Closed' because 'they' found a rattle snake!! you can't make this stuff up.

So now decades after the terrible Falcon Press treatment,
this very well meaning, 64yr old, world traveling climber,shnook
has designs on putting out beta for the out of bounds.
He starts to make phone calls all around to parks & land managers.
Leading to being told about the snakes.and so the climbing moratorium.


then, the other guy - another sort all together- called me.
I was told that climbing requires permits
to climb/guide(?)...


He seem to have plans to be the one and only - with plans to be a required chaperone company, needed to climb in the state, brilliant !

😣😫
🤑🤬

🤔😒😭
JUST FOUND MY EMOJI - sheesh, theres tons - like the amount of 'posted' but climbable rock in New Jersey
DanaB

climber
CO
Oct 12, 2018 - 04:26pm PT
I gather they have little or no reputation for climbing.

Some of the 'Gunks locals I knew - Russ Raffa, Jeff G, and others - climbed at areas in/near Watchung on occasion. Whether this was from desperation, convenience, or because there was some worthwhile climbing - worthwhile in the sense that it was close and there no gyms at the time, quien sabe.
Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber
Out Of Bed
Oct 12, 2018 - 04:58pm PT
Exactly what "Another Nickname" said,
but when you grew up a bike ride from, or spent weeks during the summers at Green Pond. . . .

There is killer rock in NJ; from bullet hard to vegetated loose choss
thats un-fit to climb.
I have to wonder, is there still climbing the Great Falls zone in Patterson? Now a National Historic site, with up-graded facilities. . . Ice-climbing?
(to climb, I'm told there is a yearly waiver system.)
then The Seeleys Pond rock at Watchung. it was a group top rope area. A very old(50?) Vic Benes & I, led it in'77, &, 0
A red headed NOLs instructor, Randy Wall, was the 1st to 3rd class it.
Followed by Vic.(Back then all the gear was crap anyway.)
A lead in'75 remains in doubt, but thats like pissing in the spring at the Uberfall - watcha,
gonna do?
Watchung,
polished since the '40s when Bill Shockley worked 1/2 a mile up the hill at Bell Labs.
Less of a mud hole than Ralph Stove SP, (but not by much)
Gunkie

Trad climber
Valles Marineris
Oct 13, 2018 - 05:18am PT

Green Pond? I have a hand written guide to that place. Used to sneak through backyards to get in there. Did some fantastic climbs including some first ascents. Got my first taste of real aid climbing here and the rock is way better than it looks.
Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber
Out Of Bed
Oct 13, 2018 - 06:08am PT
I've been keeping it off the radar for decades- The Steve O'Keefe Pages ?

Gunkie please e-mail Me

The whole -Gnome Ofthe Diabase- name, - No Capital Letters Or Spaces
@ gmail




What & Where ?
Sorry, laptop crashed, won't open? 😐 I'm on a phone



Gunkie

Trad climber
Valles Marineris
Oct 13, 2018 - 01:54pm PT
I used to climb there (and in the Gunks) with Steve. He taught me a lot. I really liked climbing with him. Great guy. And yes, Steve's hand written guide we're talking about.
Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber
Out Of Bed
Oct 13, 2018 - 04:27pm PT
Obviously Me Too! (we are about the same size, he's a couple years older, talks way more & faster than I ... snicker... that voice)...

Did you get a call?
Do you have an email addy that I can contact you or Steve at?
would you like to be (at least) recognized, as having been active in NJ?
Gunkie

Trad climber
Valles Marineris
Oct 14, 2018 - 05:55am PT
Did you get a call? Nope

Do you have an email addy that I can contact you or Steve at? I don't know Steve's email

would you like to be (at least) recognized, as having been active in NJ? Nope

Steve was living in Kerhonkson and commuting to his job at the NJ reservoir. That was at least a decade ago that I had any confirmation. I know he was getting a bit back into surfing and I know he was getting more active in kayaking with his girlfriend. However, I'm sure you'll bump into him in the Gunks on a Tuesday morning on a nice day.

Steve O @ Millbrook

Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber
Out Of Bed
Oct 14, 2018 - 06:32am PT
Hah , yeah I'm getting a lot of that sort of response
Ok, gotcha, I'll fill you in here
The best was that he retired from the Water Co, Bought a house in Ker-Hose -town, climbed full time.
As you know; Deb & Boating, they got into '"spurt boat", surfing sitting down.
Got absolutely 'STEVE' at popping "tail`ies"? or what not & always in / next to near death sinker holes*.
-So efn hard core: catching sluice-way type runs; riding in spill-ways, coordinating to time'd releases*.

They took me a few times,
still trying to kill off the competition, he joked.
She clipped a rope to me, &/or made me climb around,
more than once.
(*some of the time chasing artificial runs, in spill-ways, down stream from dams.)
(Shallow, high volume runs due to artificial releases. ironically, 15 minutes from where I live now)

We were all married, going our separate ways & stopped seeing anything of them
We heard they went whole (fun?)hog into boating. The marriage, ugh, like the rapids they played in.
Short, wicked fun,(?) the ride up and briefly down, were hart-breaking.
Steve is such a good guy. One of the hardest things; he was really inspirationaly changing to her life.

She blossomed as a person;
his motivating non stop personality helped her change her own attitude.
She got into amazingly buff shape.
In their adventures he gave her the confidence to embrace her courage.
She was a tiger, they & she tic'd some accomplishments,
at which point she moved on.
Steve took it as more water under the bridge, outwardly.

We climbed the odd TR, were on a pretty regular passing basis before , Deb. - as I said it was hard to watch, when it went down, he had to sell & move.
Edit
My wife wants to add that Deb???(*)was thrilled at her new found ability "bad-azz'd" she went for it gaining international recognition in white water, ( as I contend, thanks in a big way, to Steve, at his expense, to his own demise)

Can you post the pages, is the V notched roof in there? The right exit, with a SMc angle at the lip in the V, maybe called "Rodeo"? & The left exit, longer, offset foops-like but at a spot 15 feet up, in a bit of a deep crner , under the 18 foot long roof - out there.at the lip. 3ways depending on size & strength. the actual crux, not over till you were looking for a springy bush.
These are not in that picture, they are where the lower height wall.
The shortest & highest quality of the ridges, the far off other cliff, we never called it, "Hawks" did we?

You Have That Stoney Ridge Guide Too ? !! ha!
Gunkie

Trad climber
Valles Marineris
Oct 14, 2018 - 03:01pm PT
Gosh darn it. Very sorry to hear that about Steve and Deb. I have no interest in true white water kayaking. Strainers scare the crap out of me.
Saw a guy die in one in North Carolina when at my undergrad roommates graduation from law school for the weekend at UNC Chapel Hill. It had a devastating effect on me. Just flat out terrifying. I've gotten my ass kicked eating it on large waves while surfing; but those things eventually let you up. No such luck with strainers.

I'll look around for the guide. Yes, Rodeo (5.10 or a thrashing A1 for me at the time). Big bucket right at the lip of the roof. If that climb were in the Trapps or at any real established climbing area, it would be a 5-star climb. We did it in two short pitches. Nice pedestal belay right below the big roof. I did a ton of fun 5.4-5.7 climbs at that place. A shocking large number of pins that dated way back before we were ever there. And even more shocking, its location so close to a major metropolitan area.

Back to the OP question: Yes, great bouldering near Princeton NJ. However, I'm not sure if it's still accessible. Cradle Rock has (had?) so much high quality bouldering that a dedicated boulderer might be entertained for years at that place. Last time I was there I got a bright yellow 'ticket' on my car windshield saying I was trespassing. In retrospect, it might have been a local home owner who put it there and not the cops. I never followed up. That was 15 years ago? I think the boulders at Sourland Mountain park are still good to go. Just keep a low profile and leave the pad at home. It's not very tall anyway.
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