Contours

Taken in the Gunks, New York, May 2006. For the story behind this photo, read my post in Musings, Gunks Climbing – Update.

Taken in the Gunks, New York, May 2006.

Monday, May 15^th, noon. Shawangunks Mountain Range, New York

Shockley’s Ceiling, belay ledge at the end of the first pitch:

Naoko rubbed her hands together, wringing the water from them and trying to stave off some of the numbness. Overhead the dark gray sky spilt water down upon us, catching onto a slight rocky overhang to form a natural rain gutter whose overflow was bathing us in cold splatter. I could see that Naoko was regretting leaving her jacket at the base of the cliff. Craig busily juggled a series of cams and nuts, searching through the slick, wet fissures in the ledge to find good anchor points for our rappel. It was a three pitch climb and we had just finished the first before the rain spilled upon us. There were no rappel rings on this pitch; to bail here, Craig would have to build us a rappel point, and, unfortunately, abandon some of his gear in the process. A hazy, gray mist obfuscated the valley span below; it was a remarkable view of bushy tree lines from our perch 60 ft up. I wondered about the other two climbers who had passed us earlier on a parallel route. Their ropes had been pulled up out of sight about 30 minutes ago, and we didn’t hear anymore belay calls from them. Had they outclimbed the storm and found a spot to hike down from, or were they also sitting quietly drenched on a higher ledge, mirroring us, looking out over the rainy valley? Craig coiled the rappel line, peered over the ledge, and tossed the green rope wide over the cliff.

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If weather permits, I’m planning on heading up with a few friends to the Gunks in New York for some outdoor rock climbing. This will be my third trip there. Hopefully I’ll get some new black and white photos out of the trip.

Taken in Peterskill, New York

This picture is available for sale: 8″ x 10″ B&W Print, $50.00

September 6, 2005, 11 am: Peterskill, New York Cool morning breeze in the shade of leafy trees, wind rustling branches. A patchwork of sunlight has turned everything into camoflouge. Sitting atop a large rock, I munch merrily on a granola bar, then look over and scratch the ears of Roxy. She wags her tail happily. 35 feet above, Craig and Theresa are hovering on a rocky perch. Outdoor rock climbing, in this case toproping, involves setting up anchors to attach your rope to. Unlike the movies, you don’t hammer spikes into the rock – instead you wedge metal shapes and cams into rocky cracks, and clip your rope into their attached carribeaners. If everything is working as designed, and you should happen to fall while climbing, you’ll feel the abrupt jerk of the rope taking your weight, you’ll dangle aimlessly for a moment, dust yourself off, and get back on course. If not, you and the ground will become acquainted with each other quickly and intimately. Since uncontrolled, rapid descents to the ground are not desirable, it’s a good thing to take extra time when setting up your (literal) lifeline; hence toproping is 45 minutes of preparation for a 5 minute climb. Also, getting to the top before a rope is anchored involves taking the scenic, non-vertical route (hiking the long way around). This did give me plenty of time to point my camera, though, and, from my somewhat mossy rock seat I zoomed in and snapped Theresa as she was trying to free a stuck anchor.

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