New England Bouldering News-1999

Updated 9/4/00

Bouldering News-1999

12/31/99 Pawtuckaway, NH
After an unbelievable year which included sending many hard 5.14s out west, bringing New Hampshire sport climbing to an unprecedented level, and sending hard boulder problems across New England, Dave Graham has ended the year with yet another bouldering testpiece. At Pawtuckaway, on a boulder below the Lower Slabs near the North Marsh, Dave has sent an overhanging triple arete which he calls Chunk of Blitz. Dave says that this problem is harder than the many V10s he has sent of late, and has tentatively rated it V11. Dave and Joe Kinder also added a couple of other problems, High Tech Issues, V7, and Dope Man, V8. Dave describes Chunk of Blitz as follows:

"You start off with a shitty, left hand sloper on a blunt arete, and a good crimp for the right. Just pulling of the ground is a crux. You bear down on the left hand sloper (only a three finger spot on a blank wall that provides enough friction to let you hang on it) and grind your right foot into a large flat foothold. You then slap around the corner to another shitty sloper. Then you bear down even harder, and pull your right hand up the middle arete to a small crimp. You then toe-hook the far arete around the corner and pull your left hand off the shitty sloper you started with to an equally poor four finger sloper. Once you have that as good as you can get it, you do a really hard move to the far arete. You slap your right hand from the crimp way out to a sloper, then slide it up to a better hold on the arete. Your left hand is now on the left arete, and your right on the right arete, leaving you chin grinding into the middle arete. From here, you slide your left up again to a crappy, glassy sloper with a big thumb catch, highstep a shitty smear, and pop up high to a good hold on the very top of the far right arete (I fell here four times my second day on the problem). From here is a difficult move bringing your left hand off the shitty slope-thumb thing to the lip, which is kind of a barndoor. In all, 7 moves of pure power (not including the v3 top out)."

12/31/99 Hammond Pond, MA
Micah Jessup reports that someone has glued a hold on to the Temple Overhang wall at Hammond Pond in Boston, MA. Micah Rsays that the hold is unnecessary as there are other holds in the near vicinity, and that there is yellow glue oozing out from behind the atrocity. The locals are appalled by this vandalism, and want to get the message out that these types of activities will not be tolerated.

12/28/99 Pawtucket, RI
Rhode Island Rock Gym was the host for an Eastern Bouldering Series competition on December 27, 1999. Over 40 competitors packed the gym to test their mettle against the great problems set by Lee Soares, Dave Jusseaume, and the rest of the RIRG staff. In the women's division, Sandy Medeiros dominated the field sending many hard problems in impressive fashion. In a strong men's advanced field, Luke Parady gave himself an early birthday present, winning with an easy style that got him up all the hardest problems. Most impressive was Luke's display of sportsmanship by giving Sandy the pair of climbing shoes he won, since most in attendance believed she got short-changed in the prize department. Luke's big prize was first choice of controller in his and Dave Graham's next showdown on the James Bond video game for Nintendo 64. See below for full results.

Men's Advanced

Luke Parady	2,304
Dave Graham	2,184
Adam Osterhoff	1,972
Chris Ryan	1,888
Ghislain Losier	1,016
Matt Wilder	976

Women's (combined due to number of entrants)

Sandy Medieros	323
Felicia Greene	131
Diane Hitchcock	125.5
Sue Prouty	114
Taegan McMahon	105
Hillary Sherman	89

Men's Over 40

Mark Van Noppen	514
Doug Brownlow	498
Ray Hardy	149
Len Raymond	93.5

Boy's under 14

Shawn Hayes	244
Allen Tetreualt	238
Matt Schwab	209
Mike McNally	183
William O'Hearn	40
Danny Lewicki	27

Men's Intermediate

Chris Polanec	712
Tony Veltri	660
Michael Amore	626
Dana Seaton	556
Joe McLoughlin	536
Joe Lewicki	508
Jesse Marsolais	502
Keith Foley	500
Michael Tarasanko	432
Eamon O'Brien	404
James Collins	370

Men's Beginner

David Parslow	262
Peter Saccocia	250
Eric Egan	220
Chris Konicki	215
Greg Comacho	196
Ben Dunn	195
Jason Beaudoin	166
Kelton McMahon	154
Stephan Morrison	148
Mike Harrington	145
Greg Larson	111

12/24/99 Lincoln Woods, RI
Team Maine (Dave Graham, Luke Parady, Joe Kinder, and Erik Mushial) just can't seem to get enough of Lincoln Woods lately. They donned the full winter gear yesterday and pushed the standards again. Dave grabbed the first ascent of Neil's Nuts, the sit start to Neil's Nose. This problem involves a difficult first move, into a powerful double undercling, to the deceptively tricky topout of Neil's Nose (click here for photos). Luke grabbed the second ascent after much effort, while Joe came pretty close to sending it. After much consideration, the early consensus on Neil's Nuts, Corner the Market, SUAPM, and Hueco Nightmares, all recent additions (see various news items below), is that they should be rated V10. These four problems, along with Chemical, V9, Shoot to Kill, V10, Conquest of the Irrational, V9/10, Super Pete's, V9 (which Dave and Luke recently repeated), and Prelude to Fear, V9+, make up a strong tick list for any visiting boulderer. Combine these with the many classic V7s, V8s, and V9s, and one could stay busy for quite a while.

12/21/99 Lincoln Woods, RI
Dave Graham was busy again at Lincoln Woods on Sunday, adding a new V10 to the growing list of testpieces. This new problem is located in the Pond Cave, and shares the same start as Who Needs Hueco (aka Hueco Dreams), Ward Smith's cool roof problem. Just before the lip of the roof, Hueco Nightmares, veers right to follow a quartz dike to the lip. From there the problem traverses right to a cool topout. Dave and a crew of New England's strongest also started working on several new hard projects on the Tombstone Boulder, including a sick dyno to a hideous sloper. Brett Myers came closest on this problem, sticking the dyno but unable to make the necessary match. Also, on this boulder, Jason Danforth, visiting from New York City, added Shoshin, V4, to the right of the dyno project, and a cool variation to the Tombstone Roof, which avoids the buckets on the prow. On the Egg Boulder, Dave started working on the sit start to Neil's Nose. Dave came close to sending this sick hard problem, which he thinks may be the hardest in the park.

12/21/99 Pawtuckaway, NH
Dave Graham added a new V10, Blauo, to Pawtuckaway on Saturday. This problem, which Dave worked on for five days and says may be harder because it really fit his style, involves a long dyno off of two small crimps. Joe Roop did the first ascents of the Innovator, V8, and a cool V7 traverse. Dave says he has at least five projects going all of which will be V10 or harder, so stay tuned.

12/20/99 Farley Ledge, MA
Rick Howes recently sent an awesome new problem at Farley called Terrordactyl, V7/8 in the Grotto area. This problem ascends a slightly overhanging wall above a questionable landing, to an exhilarating topout. Pete Ward also added a sit start to Micah Jessup's V6 near Tweaky Bird, naming it Wet Banana, also V7/8. As always, the locals request that the Rose Ledge hike-in be used, that visitors keep noise to a minimum, and please respect all area residents.

12/18/99 Northampton, MA
On December 11, 1999, over forty climbers from Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut competed in a toprope and bouldering competition at the Northampton Athletic Club. Results were based on the number of tries it took for competitors to complete each of seven routes in their division. Although the no isolation format created a mellow atmosphere, the competition was fierce with 4 of 6 divisions going to a superfinal to decide the outcome. In the women's expert division, Alyssa Bennett edged out Maribeth Long in a superfinal for the win. Sam Messmer and Jeff Squire squared off in the men's expert with many a vulgar display of power. Sam sent a vicious V8 boulder problem on his second try, a feat no one else could match. Jeff came inspiringly close to onsighting a .12c, but in the end Sam was too much, walking away with first place. Prizes were donated by the Mountain Goat of Northampton.

Women's Expert: 1. Alyssa Bennett (Northampton MA) 2. Maribeth Long(Middlebury, VT) 3. Kimberly Lommler (Middlebury, VT)
Men's Expert: 1. Sam Messmer (Northampton, MA) 2. Jeff Squire (Holyoke,MA) 3. Peter Wall (Middlebury, VT)
Women's Intermediate: 1. Eve Preuss (Amherst, MA) 2. Tricia Squire(Holyoke, MA)
Men's Intermediate: 1. Kenny Kwong (Amherst, MA) 2. Matt Roncone(Greenfield, MA)
Women's Beginner: 1. Jenna Zampiello (Amherst, MA)
Men's Beginner: 1. Tane Crossley (Westfield, MA)

12/17/99 Joe's Valley, Utah
As discussed on theDeadPoint.com's discussion page, Steven Jeffrey's Joe's Valley testpiece Resident Evil has been chipped. The starting hold, formerly a vulcan crimper, has been hammered out into a three finger bucket crimp. Jefferey says the new rating of this former V11 is only about V7. This incident is really unfortunate as Jefferey has been proving himself lately as one of America's strongest boulderers with his quick repeat of Chris Sharma's Buttermilker, V12/13. Now, noone will get to test their mettle against this once proud problem.

12/17/99 Climbing Magazine
The latest issue of Climbing contains a great article on Dave Graham's new route Livin Astro. The article gives a rundown of Dave's summer climbing trip out west, and gives the low down on Livin Astro.

12/16/99 Humphrey's Ledge, NH
Brett Myers, Tim Kemple, and Shawn Porter have been busy developing the boulder field at the base of Humphrey's Ledge in North Conway. Tim did a cool problem out a roof and up a slightly overhanging wall about 15 feet up to a big move at the top. Brett did a sit start on some slopers to a big 5 foot dyno which he named Dedicated Crew, V8, and also did a big 6 foot dyno off of two small crimps which he named Medusa's Madness. In all, they added about a dozen new problems to this area, and started work on some seriously hard projects. Stay tuned for more details on these and other problems.

12/13/99 Lincoln Woods, RI
Dave Graham and Luke Parady have spent the last two weekends raising the standards at Lincoln Woods. Last weekend, Dave grabbed the second ascent of Prelude to Fear, V8, in an impressive two tries. He could have had the onsight if he could have withstood the pain of grabbing so many sharp holds in succession. Dave also did the second ascent of Generation Next, V8, on the Coke Bottle boulder, the second ascent of Lee Soares Silent Rage, V8 on the Heart Boulder, and also sent The Scoop, V8, Diesel, V8, and Heart of Glass, V8. Joe Kinder got the second ascent of Big Snatch, V8, on the Yosemite Boulder.

After their first trip, they came back more motivated than ever. On Saturday, Dave and Luke sent a longstanding project on the Swamp Thing boulder. This problem involves four moves up a 40 degree overhanging wall on small, slightly incut crimps. Luke, closing in on the second ascent, broke the crucial gaston hold shortly after Dave's send. Luke then sent the problem in its harder state, and Dave quickly followed suit. They named the problem Sewing Up Avenues with Power Moves (SUAPM), and rated it V9.

Dave then went over to the Yosemite Boulder and sent the sitdown start to Whitey's Hard One to produce Corner the Market. Dave thought that this problem was slightly harder than SUAPM. Earlier in the day, a climber from Boston broke one of the crimps on Whitey's Hard One, increasing the difficulty slightly. Dave ended the day by grabbing the second ascent of Chemical on the Egg Boulder. Dave called this problem solid V9. Dave and Luke also added two hard problems to The Diamond boulder, with Bear Witness, V9, an awesome highball and PoppaLarge, a hard dyno off a sloper and a hideous pocket.

12/13/99 Cradle Rock, NJ
Chris Redmond recently sent a hard new problem at Cradle Rock he calls Funk Fuzz and has rated V10. Chris Sharma recently grabbed the second ascent of this problem, while Alex Heron also repeated the problem. Marc Russo, on a trip back east from Utah, added a new V8 called Laser II which quickly saw two repeats, one by Alex who confirmed the grade.

12/4/99 Rumney, NH
The sport climbing season at Rumney has ended for most; however, several projects were completed recently. Dave Graham capped off an impressive season by linking the bottom crux of Ward Smith's Parallel Universe to the crux of Eric Mushial's Boogie Man to produce Steady Slobbin', 14a. Dave also linked Barracuda to the finish of Cold War to produce an additional 14a. Mushial sent a new route on the Main Cliff that he calls Beat Junkie, 13b. Finally, Joe Kinder redpointed Feeding Frenzy, 13d, his hardest route to date.

12/4/99 Rattlesnake Mountain, CT
Dave Theriault sent his longstanding project, Drunken Master, V8, at Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington. Dave calls this 18 move problem one of the best problems he has ever done. At the Gunks recently, Dan Yagmin and Dave Watson both sent Jahboo, V9, in impressive back to back fashion.

12/1/99 Gunks, NY
Chris Sharma, in town for the Rampage release party, sent a new V9 in the Project Land area at Peter's Kill. Dave Graham and Luke Parady both quickly repeated the problem. Dave also sent a crimpy V10 that Ivan Greene recently did above the Buddha, which Dave described as awesome. Dave also repeated the Cohiba link-up in about 30 minutes and downgraded it to V10 (it had originally been graded as V12).

11/23/99 Farley, MA
Locals would like to remind visitors that access to the bouldering at Farley is a bit sensitive. The accepted approach is to park at Rose Ledge and hike in (click here for more info). When bouldering here, please keep a low profile, pack out your litter and any other that you find, and be courteous to area residents.

11/21/99 Lincoln Woods, RI
Tim Kemple was at it again this weekend, impressively onsighting Free Refills and No Deposit Required (see below). Tim thought the ratings were a bit high and suggested V5 for Free Refills and V4 for No Deposit Required. Tim then went on to add Generation Next, V7, which shares the same start as Free Refills but continues straight up the arete. Tim also added three new problems to the Little Tomato: Indian Summer, V5, Power Harvest, V7, and Gun Powda, V8. Power Harvest appears to be the best of the three with a hard start to a sloping pocket. Despite his injured finger, Brett Myers was able to send The Wedgie, V3, on the Yosemite Boulder. This problem climbs the large wedged block which forms the left side of the Yosemite Crack only using the wedge.

11/15/99 Lincoln Woods, RI
Tim Kemple recently added several new hard problems to the growing list of testpieces at Lincoln Woods. Tim sent the sitdown start to an old Rhody Loadies problem on the back side of The Egg to produce Chemical, V9. This problem is destined to become a classic, as Tim calls it one of his favorite problems at the woods. Previously unreported, Tim also did the sitdown start to the arete to the right of Chemical this past winter, naming it Snuff the Rooster, V7. On the Yosemite Boulder, during a visit over the summer, Tim added Glacier Polish, V5/6, a sitdown start to a slab topout around the arete on the left side of the main face, and Merced, V7, a sitdown start to a direct topout on the arete. Finally, this past weekend on the Tuolomne Boulder, Tim sent Barbed Wire, V9, which starts under the small roof on the right, traverses the lip of the roof to the left, around the arete, and finishes up the classic Due Diligence.

11/7/99 Lincoln Woods, RI
Just a couple of weeks after nabbing the third ascent of Conquest of the Irrational, V10 (see below), Brett Myers added a couple of new highball problems on the Coke Bottle boulder at Lincoln Woods. The first, Free Refills, V7, has several cool moves to work out from under a roof then finishes up a dicey slab. The second, No Deposit Required, V6, ascends an equally dicey slab to the right above an ankle-busting landing.

10/31/99 Rumney, NH
Dave Graham has pushed the envelope again at Rumney, with the first ascent of his new route Livin' Astro. The route ascends the 65 foot overhanging arete just to the right of China Beach. Dave worked the route for six days and, although he has declined to rate it, says that it is the hardest route he has ever done. Friends say the route is at least 14b.

10/24/99 Lincoln Woods, RI
Brett Myers made the third ascent of Luke Parady's Conquest of the Irrational, V10, after eight days of work. Myers' ascent is the first non-teenage ascent of this thin power problem. With lots of encouragement from the visiting Niagara Glen crew, Joe McLoughlin added two new problems in the Grotto area near Goat Rock. Shufflin off to Buffalo, V4, involves a tricky sit start and finishes with a traverse of a sloping rail, while Buffalo Wings, V3, involves a crimpy direct start to the finish of Shufflin.

10/20/99 Farley, MA
Peter Ward, Rick Howes, Joe McLoughlin, and Micah Jessup added several new problem at Farley Ledge recently, including Boulderproblem.com, V2, in The Corridor; Happy to See You, V0, on The Bulge, a newly developed boulder; Three Buttocks, V3, in the Warmup Area; and Micah's unnamed V6ish direct start to the topout of Flipping the Bird. Besides the new problems, the group also found and cleaned several cool looking projects.

10/19/99 Manchester, NH
John Sherman has been in New England for the last few weeks putting on some slideshows and sampling some of the bouldering. Reportedly, he visited Smuggler's Notch and Bolton, both in Vermont. He was scheduled to visit Farley Ledge and Lincoln Woods, but could not make it after severely spraining his ankle in a bouldering fall in the Adirondacks. However, he was able to present the slideshows as scheduled. The slideshow consisted of images and stories from the Verm's quest to be the first to climb natural rock in all 50 states, and contained inspiring images of the Buttermilk, Hueco, and Yosemite. In addition, the show included many images of bouldering in New England including Lincoln Woods, Rumney, Hammond Pond, and Portland Head.

10/16/99 Manchester, NH
Vertical Dreams recently held the first New England-area competition of the Eastern Bouldering Series. All who entered had a great time. The winners for each category were:

Boys 1. Corey Nimz 2. Tom Congoran	Girls 1. Samantha Drapeau
Men's Beginner 1. Jason Burns 2. Coy Turnner 3. Paul Brecknock	Women's Intermediate 1. Lisa Pierce 2. Janet Bergman 3. Anne Skids
Men's Intermediate 1. Jon Dickey 2. Topher Mallory 3. David Gilbert	Men's Advanced 1. Aaron Cooper 2. Justin Burque

10/16/99 Rifle, CO
Just outside of Rifle, Colorado, Tommy Caldwell redpointed a new route at a new cliff called The Fortress of Solitude. Tommy named the route Kryptonite and has graded it 5.14d, the first route on U.S. soil with that grade. For more information on this awesome accomplishment, check out Rock and Ice's web page.

10/14/99 New Paltz, NY
Maine local Dave Graham had an impressive weekend bouldering at Peter's Kill. He sent Khadejah, V10, grabbed the second ascent of a new Ivan Greene problem on the Drug Boulder called Vortex, V9, and did the first ascent of a slab problem in Project Land called Nine Six and Seven, V9.

10/10/99 Rumney, NH
This year's Schist and Shout climbing festival at Rumney could have been renamed Slop and Swear since that's what everyone was doing for the first few hours of the comp due to the deluge of rain that fell during the early morning! Luckily, the Climbing Gods were looking down on us because by 11:00 a.m. the sun came out and a nice breeze began to blow dry the more exposed routes and trails leading to them. An estimated 60+ climbers braved the cruddy conditions to go on to enjoy a nice afternoon of climbing and a really good BBQ afterwards. The winners, men's (905 points) and women's (670 points), each walked away with new Sterling ropes and almost all who returned to The Rock Barn afterwards won something at the raffle/auction. I'm looking forward to next year's festivities once again, hoping only for not as much rain, but for just as much fun. (Thanks to Jim Gosselin for this report.)

10/5/99 Grampians, Australia
On a one week tour of the Grampians, Middlebury, Vermont student Matt Wilder proved that a semester abroad in Australia could be more useful than just dodging those GPA ruining subjects from home. He made very short work of Krusti, V10, in the Hollow Mountain Cave, firing it first shot on his second day of climbing. After dazzling the locals with his slack-lining skills and firing numerous V5's and V6's, he then went on to send Rave Heart, V9, and The cop that could not make it, V9, on his final day in paradise. For complete details of recent goings on from the land down under, go to Tim O'Neill's Australian Bouldering page.

10/3/99 Rumney, NH
While preparing for the upcoming bouldering season, Dave Graham added another 5.14 route to the Waimea wall at Rumney. The route, The Style That's Free, 14a, ascends an old open project to the left of Cot'd Azure, 13b. "Gomez" aka Luke Parady, nabbed the second ascent.

9/27/99 Taunton, MA
Adam Walker recently added a new line on the The Wall at Rocky Woods in Taunton, MA. Adam's line, First Term, V3, sends a line of dishes and slopers to the left of the classic The Crack, V3. Adam also reported speaking with an area resident who requested that visitors do not park in the area designated on Chris Trautz' topo. Adam has been parking on North Walker Street and walking in without any problems.

9/26/99 Quincy Quarries, MA
We incorrectly reported that the climbing areas at Quincy Quarries were being filled to build a golf course. According to Mr. Richard Doucette, Chair of the AMC Boston Chapter Mountaineering Committee and the Regional Coordinator for the Access Fund, the golf course has been under construction for a couple of years, at the end of the road that accesses the climbing areas, and does not affect climbing. One quarry - Swingles - along that road is now being filled under another project. Mr. Doucette further states, "The climbing areas are generally still open. The actual climbing areas are located in Granite Railway Quarry - which is owned by the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC). They are the regional parks agency. Two of the climbing areas in that quarry are now behind a fence. The fence was a "temporary" measure to secure the quarry during a police investigation and draining. The investigation is complete and the MDC is silent on future access. Most of the climbs are in what is referred to as Little Granite Railway Quarry and are not fenced off. Climbing is still as it was. You just have to walk up the street past the fence to get in. The AMC Boston Chapter Mountaineering Committee and the Access Fund are trying to get the MDC to discuss future management of the fenced off areas. So far the MDC has been unresponsive." The AMC is looking for volunteers to work on this issue, if you are interested you can call Mr. Doucette at 617-924-4828.

9/16/99 Joe English, NH
Keith Dwire reports that he has tried several times this summer to get permission from the U.S. Air Force to climb at Joe English, but has been denied every time. E-mail Shawn Porter for more info.

9/6/99 Farley Ledge, MA
Greg Shyloski reports that he added a few new problems at Farley, including Ecosystem, V6,which climbs out a tunnel-like cave, and Shagg Smell, V3/4. He also reported that despite much effort by the locals the "Arete project" has still not seen an ascent. More importantly, Greg has cleaned at least a dozen new projects which he has opened to all comers. It should be an interesting fall/winter at this up and coming area.

8/8/99 Las Vegas, NV
Early, unconfirmed reports are that Maine local, Dave Graham has redpointed Hasta la Vista, 14b/c, Closing Down, 14a, and Facile, 14b, on the limestone cliffs of Mt. Charleston in very few attempts. Stay tuned for the full story.

8/5/99 Pawtuckaway, NH
German superstar Stefan Glowacz, in town on business with the U.S. distributor for his new Red Chili climbing shoes, sampled some of the bouldering at Pawtuckaway. Although the weather was less than perfect (it poured), Stefan was able to send Ride the Lightning, V6, Polish Terrorist, V8, and, statically, a huge dyno move. Afterwards, Stefan held a shoe demo and gave a slide show at Vertical Dreams in Manchester, NH. Below, Stafan shows the locals how it is done. Both photographs by Fred Birchenough.

7/29/99 Climbing Magazine
The latest issue of Climbing contains an excellent Erik Mushial article (including photos) about the three 5.14s that Dave Graham and Ward Smith have put up at Rumney: Jaws, 14b, and China Beach, 14a, both by Dave at Waimea, and Parallel Universe, 14a, by Ward at the Monsters of the Id (see below).

7/11/99 Lincoln Woods, RI
In his ever expanding quest for new problems, Lee Soares recently discovered the Y Boulder and rediscovered The Diamond. On the Y Boulder, Lee sent the mega-classic Persona Non Grovel, V2, which ascends the left side of a big roof and finishes with a classic mantle. Also, Chris Ryan, preparing for his month long tour of the west, added Hangoverhang, V8, which ascends the right side of the same roof as Persona Non Grovel, and One for the Road, V8. Lee has been hard at work on a difficult , highball project on The Diamond which uses a half-moon hueco 15 feet up the 25 foot west face of this boulder. Stay tuned for more info and photos.

6/28/99 San Francisco, CA
Chris Sharma, as expected, won the men's bouldering competition at this year's ESPN Xgames. Francois Petit finished second, while Stephane Julien finished third. Stephanie Bodet won the women's bouldering competition, Liv Sansoz finished second, and Elena Choumilova finished third. Katie Brown finished a disappointing fifth. Click here to check out videos of the men's bouldering competition.

6/23/99 Lincoln Woods, RI
On an extended road trip/slide show tour, Kurt Smith spent two days sampling the bouldering at Lincoln Woods. Kurt made impressive second try ascents of Loadies Dream, V8, and Rump to Jump, V7. He also did the first ascent of a lip traverse of the Horse Cave. Stay tuned for photos and an interview with Kurt. Also, check out Kurt's web site for Potrero Chico in Mexico.

6/19/99 Farley Ledge, MA
Farley Ledge has seen a lot of development lately, by locals and visitors alike. Erik Mushial did the first ascents of Tweeky Bird, V7, and The Thrill of Victory, V8, both high quality, overhanging problems. Mushial onsighted the FA of The Thrill of Victory, as did second ascentionist Chris Ryan. Chris also added a low start to Tweeky Bird which he dubbed Flipping the Bird, V8. The potential for bouldering at Farley is immense, however, visitors should try and maintain a low profile as access is a bit sensitive. Additionally, Greg Shyloski has been developing bouldering at the nearby Rose Ledge, and says that the best problem there is Chumbo, V6.

6/19/99 Fall Mountain, NH
Matt Kmiec provided a group of Rhode Islanders with a tour of the bouldering at Fall Mountain. Matt has developed almost 200 problems and has much more work to do. Chris Ryan added Clusterf@#k, V5, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, V5/6, to the Godsmack boulder. The rock here can be a bit friable as demonstrated by the visitors ripping four holds off of Godsmack.

6/12/99 San Francisco, CA
ESPN's Xgames has posted the climbing schedule (click here) which this year includes speed climbing and bouldering. The bouldering preliminaries for both men and women will be held on June 27, while the finals are on June 28. Hopefully, ESPN will provide some quality television coverage between the street luge and the half-pipe competitions.

6/9/99 Lincoln Woods, RI
Lee Soares took advantage of the cool, dry weather this past week to send a new problem on the Yosemite boulder at Lincoln Woods. Lee's problem, Straight Razor, V7/8, starts sitting at the start of Midnight Lichen, and traverses left to finish up The Polypluker. Also, Tim Kemple recently completed a new problem to the left of Warhawk on the Peace Dove boulder. Tim has yet to name or rate this problem, but Ward Smith had worked the problem and thought it to be harder than Warhawk, which is V8.

6/2/99 Australia and Bishop, CA
Klem Loskot and Toni Lamprecht recently spent a month bouldering in Australia and sent two V14s, several V12s, and numerous other hard problems. Check out Andy Beckworth's Climb Australia Home Page for more info. The bouldering revolution has also been raging in Bishop, where Chris Sharma sent a V12 in the Buttermilks he calls The Buttermilker. Several other strong boulderers have been adding hard new problems in the Buttermilks and the Volcanic Tablelands. Check out The Bouldering Domain for all the details.

5/26/99 Taunton, MA
Chris Trautz and friends have discovered a new bouldering area in the Rocky Woods of Taunton, Massachusetts. They have found numerous puddingstone boulders, the best of which is called The Wall. The boulder is gently overhanging for most of its 20 feet, and has pockets and pebble pinches for holds. Chris sent the obvious three-star classic, The Crack, which checks in at around V3. Several harder projects exist including a right to left traverse of the face. Stay tuned for a map and photos.

5/22/99 Lincoln Woods, RI
Fresh from finishing his freshman year at University of Colorado at Boulder, Chris Ryan onsighted Midnight Lichen, V9, on the Yosemite Boulder. This is likely the hardest onsight in the history of Lincoln Woods. Chris then started working on a project 15 feet to the left which at least one local has deemed impossible (stay tuned). He also added an extension start to Die Hard, V7, on the Pedestal Boulder which he named Die Harder. This start bumps the grade up to V8.

5/18/99 Rumney, NH
The bouldering scene has been slow of late, mostly due to bugs and the good weather at Rumney. Several strong climbers have sent hard new routes there, most notable being Ward Smith with his new route Parallel Universe, 14a, and Eric Mushial with No Shit, 13c. Both routes are located at the Monsters of the Id crag.

5/3/99 Smith Rocks, Oregon
Dave Graham put his winter of hard New England bouldering to good use on a recent road trip to Smith. Dave made quick redpoints of To Bolt or Not To Be and Scarface, both 5.14a, and White Wedding, 5.13d. He also onsighted Times Up, 5.13a, Rude Boys, 5.13c, and Burl Master, 5.13c.

5/1/99 Lincoln Woods, RI
Sixteen-year old Adam Osterhoff, proving that being young is good, sent a hard project in the newly discovered Horse Cave. Adam's problem, Trojan Horse, V9, starts on the right side of the cave and traverses left to a big hueco. From the hueco, the problem continues up and left on three micro crimps to a decent topout. Adam was hesitant to rate the problem, but many strong locals have attempted this three star line and can vouch for its difficulty. Ward Smith discovered this area this past winter, and sent the classic Back in the Saddle, V6. This problem starts the same as Trojan Horse, but at the hueco veers slightly right to an easier topout. The Pony Cave is located just below the Horse Cave.

4/27/99 Lincoln Woods, RI
The locals added four new problems to two boulders below The Egg over the past few days. Lee Soares added a fun sit start problem called French Toast, V3; Ian Poirier added Java, V5; and Joe McLoughlin added Bottomless Cup, V6, and Tazo, V5. Work is being done on a hard project on the same boulder as Java, Bottomless Cup, and Tazo. Stay tuned for details.

4/26/99 Climbing Magazine
The latest issue of Climbing (#186) includes a John Sherman primer on bouldering. At the end of this article, they list "U.S. bouldering hot spots." For New England, they call Lincoln Woods "one of the country's best granite areas" and also mention Hammond Pond in Massachusetts, Rumney in New Hampshire, and Jockey's Cap in Maine.

4/25/99 The Gunks, NY
A motivated crew of New England's finest descended upon the Gunks this past weekend to test their mettle against the awesome boulder problems at Peter's Kill and The Trapps. Notable ascents include former Lincoln Woods local Ryan Durocher's second ascent of Boone Speed's new V9 on the Outbreak Boulder, Child's Play, and Brett Myer's ascent (or trascent?) of Silence, V9, also on the Outbreak boulder. Earlier in the week, Greg Shyloski flashed The Buddha, V7, and, impressively, sent The Boxcar Arete, V8, second go.

4/25/99 Pawtuckaway, NH
Tino once again demonstrated the vast potential for development at Pawtuckaway by adding six new problems ranging from V2 to V5/6. Stay tuned for a small topo and photographs of these new problems.

4/23/99 Pawtuckaway, NH
Tino Fiumara was at it again this week adding five new problems to the Devil's Den area. In the Booty Call boulders above the Walrus Boulder, Tino and friends added Gettin' a Piece, V5 and Rump Slapper, V4. Also, on a small tooth-like boulder (Latourelle) between the Walrus Boulder and the trail, Tino and friends added Little Tower's Toes, V1, Little Tower's Pinch, V0, and The Drawbridge, VB.

4/17/99 Pawtuckaway, NH
The redevelopment of Pawtuckaway appears to be in full swing (at least until the black flys come out) with several more new problems in the last week or so. While preparing for their trip to Smith Rocks, Dave Graham and Luke Parady added two new problems to the ever-growing list. Dave sent Indiana Jones, V8/9 to the right of Tim Kemple's Polish Terrorist, and Dave and Luke added a new V5 to the left of The Heart of Darkness.

Tino Fiumara, Johnny "Dynamic" Dickey, and Topher Mallory developed a new boulder in the Devil's Den. The Walrus Boulder is the most prominent boulder you come upon between the Boulder Natural Area and the left side of the Devil's Den cliff. They named this boulder for its Walrus-like appearance as one looks at the boulder from its right side. A hueco-like indentation forms the eye of the Walrus. Tino sent an arete left of the crack (and past the mossy slab with the tree) called Individual Medley, V6, which tops out at the high point of the boulder. Right of the crack, starting on a fat undercling and moving up some crimps is a project. The indentation/dish-like face right of that is Tino's Feeling for the Heavens, V3/4. Just right of this problem, Johnny sent The Walrus Tooth, V6. Back in the Boulder Natural Area on a small boulder behind the El Cap Boulder, Tino sent the highball arete, Kallbro,V4.

4/17/99 Lincoln Woods, RI
The locals just won't give up their quest for new problems at the woods. In the past week, Lee Soares sent the oft-attempted slab right of The Heart of Glass, to produce Silent Rage, V6/7. Lee calls this problem the hardest slab problem at the woods. Joe McLoughlin sent the long-discussed, but seldom attempted, full traverse of the Ship's Prow boulder to produce Barnacle, V6. This traverse could have many variations and may be the longest traverse at the woods. Barnacle starts at the left end of the horizontal crack, and traverses counter-clockwise around the boulder. With this start, the difficulties are saved for the end of the traverse. Not one to be left out of the action for long, John "Whitey" McLean added an unnamed and unrated sit start to the left side of the Egg Boulder and a sit start to an old problem on the Yosemite Boulder. The latter problem starts on the same holds as Midnight Lichen, but traverses left to a pocket just right of The Yosemite Crack. At the pocket, you climb up and top out. The crack and all holds left of it are off-route. Whitey named this problem Noon-time Moss, but did not give it a rating.

4/11/99 Lincoln Woods, RI
The new problems just keep coming at Lincoln Woods. Saturday, Lee Soares began the sit-start assault on the Egg Boulder, by sending The Hard Boiled Arete, V5. This boulder has potential for five or six new, very hard sit start problems. On Sunday, in a great display of detective work, Dave Antaya discovered the very obscure Pony Cave. Dave sent the classic, and only, line out the cave, The Pony Ride, V0-, which Dave said deserved at least one star. Joe McLoughlin repeated the problem and confirmed the grade.

4/4/99 Pawtuckaway, NH and Lincoln Woods, RI
This past weekend saw continued first ascent action at Pawtuckaway and Lincoln Woods. Lee Soares sent the likely last great problem on the Try Again face. Lee combined the left sit start to Try Again, with the highball finish of Loadies Zen. This problem, which Lee has named Diesel, likely checks in at hard V8 or perhaps V9. Tim Kemple added a highball in the Round Pond area of Pawtuckaway called Comrad. Dave Graham, Luke Parady, and Joe Kinder all repeated this, as of yet, unrated problem. Tim also added a couple of new problems and snagged the second ascent of an old Charlie Bentley problem near Vulcan Tip Rip. Luke added a problem on a 15 foot knife-edge arete which he called Ethnic Cleansing, V6. Dave added a sit start to Check your Head which he thought was V10. Luke repeated the standing start to this problem and downrated to V9.

4/1/99 Pawtuckaway, NH
Since sending a new 5.13c at Rumney with Joe Kinder, Tim Kemple has been active at Pawtuckaway, repeating new problems and adding some new problems of his own. Tim repeated Dave Graham's new problems The Headz Ain't Ready, V9 and Professor Booty, V9. Tim said that both problems are high quality. He also came close to repeating Dave's Check Your Head, V9, but broke a hold off before doing so. Tim added Revolution, V10, on the large boulder behind Boulder X.

4/1/99 Rock & Ice Article
Continuing the surge in popularity of New England bouldering, the latest issue of Rock & Ice (#91) contains a brief article about bouldering at Fall Mountain in Walpole, New Hampshire. The article states that there are over 100 established problems, with potential for over 200 more.

3/23/99 Lincoln Woods, RI
Despite saying that he was done bouldering at the woods for a while, Ward Smith avoided the sport climbing of Rumney for one more day of bouldering. His "last" visit of the season resulted in a new, unnamed V9 in the Summit Boulders area.

3/21/99 Pawtuckaway, NH
Dave Graham and Luke Parady were at it again this weekend at Pawtuckaway. Dave sent a new problem to the right of Ride the Lightning which he calls The Heart of Darkness and says may be V11, but is calling hard V10. The problem starts sitting, traverses to the arete, and then finishes up a 20 foot highball off-width. To the right of this problem, Dave and Luke added Coin Toss, a V8 with a highball finish. Dave sent the left arete on Boulder X and calls it The Headz Ain't Ready, V8/9. On two 45 degree walls near the North Marsh and Chuckies Torture, Dave added a traverse of the left wall called Professor Booty, V9 and a sit start called Bloody Bath Water, V7. On the right wall, Dave, Luke, and Joe Roop added Sloppy Joe, V5.

3/19/99 Lincoln Woods, RI
Ward Smith has been busy this winter sending a bunch of new problems at Lincoln Woods. Besides his new V9 at the Yosemite boulder (see below), which he named Midnight Lichen, Ward also added a new problem on the Tuolome boulder which he calls Bad Karma, V8. Ward and Mark Sprague added a new problem to the Peace Dove boulder which they call Warhawk, V8. Ward says this problem is similar to the Heart of Glass arete in quality and difficulty. Ward also did the direct topout to Lee Soares' Buddha's Revenge which Ward says is V6. Last but not least, Ward did a new problem in the Pond Cave which starts in the horizontal at the right end of the big roof, comes out to a good hold in the roof, then moves right to join the arete. Ward did not have a name for this problem but said it was likely V7.

3/15/99 Climbing Article
The March 1999 issue of Climbing magazine contains two articles about New England. The first is about Dave Graham's "New England's best day of climbing ever." Dave did the first ascent of Jaws, a 5.14b; an onsight second ascent of King Cobra, 5.13c; and an onsight first ascent of a new 5.13a, all at Rumney on October 24, 1998. This article contains an impressive Ward Smith photo of Dave on Predator, a 5.13b/c at Rumney. The second article is about Dave and coconspirator Luke Parady's bouldering exploits at Lincoln Woods and in New Hampshire (see below for more info on their awesome day at Lincoln Woods back in January). This article contains a Steve Johnson photo of Dave on Ward Smith's Lincoln Woods V9 testpiece roof Who Needs Hueco? Based on this article and the recent Rock & Ice article, it appears the climbing press is starting to take notice that New England is the place to be.

3/14/99 Lincoln Woods, RI
Brett Myers sent a new problem to the left of Ward Smith's new problem on the Yosemite Boulder. Brett calls it The Big Snatch and tentatively rated it V8. He also repeated Ward's new problem and confirmed the rating.

3/5/99 Lincoln Woods, RI
With the late winter season in full swing, Ward Smith recently sent a new V9 at the Yosemite Boulder which involves a long move off a hideously shallow two finger pocket. In quick succession, Lee Soares and Joe McLoughlin each added a new V7 to the Pedestal Boulder in the Druid's Circle area. Lee's problem, Die Hard named in honor of longtime woods local John McLean (see the movie), is a left to right traverse that finishes through the start of Hat's Off. Joe's problem, an eliminate, starts on small holds to the right of The Pedestal problem, and uses some fat slopers to topout.

2/21/99 Boulder, CO
Chris Ryan, part-time New Englander, finished fourth in an ASCF local bouldering competition at the Boulder Rock Club. Steve Hong won the comp. Congrats to Chris, nice to see a local boy hanging tough with the big guns.

2/21/99 Pawtuckaway, NH
Lee Soares added a new, awesome sloping traverse in the Boulder Natural area on the boulder between Boulder X and the Swamp Thing boulder. The early consensus on this problem, named Bodacious, seemed to be V7. Dave Graham added an impressive problem on the wall above Chuckie's Torture which has a topout on nothing holds. Dave calls this problem Check Your Head gave it a V10 rating. Dave and Luke Parady also did an impressive V7 highball in the Round Pond area.

2/1/99 Rock & Ice Article
The February 1999 Rock & Ice issue contains an article on some of the new problems at Lincoln Woods in the Cliff Notes section on Page 22. It is definitely nice to see New England bouldering getting some press coverage.

1/17/99 Lincoln Woods, Rhode Island
Dave Graham sent a longstanding project in the Cave below Mack's Traverse calling it Shoot to Kill and proposing a rating of V10. This problem low traverses the cave and tops out right of the warm up problem on razor crimps. Not to be outdone, Luke Parady added his own V10 at the Fred Boulder calling it Conquest of the Irrational. This problem ascends the obvious overhanging face, starting on a good hold, using some wickedly small crimpers, and finishing with a big throw for the top. Both problems appear to be really high quality.

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