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November Chills
(Photo: Working up the corner on BB Route (5.8+).)We've had a colder than average November this year. We are told this is the result of what the meteorologists call the Polar Vortex. But I like to...
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The Blind Leading The Blind
(Photo: Will setting off on pitch two of Arrow (5.8).)With this year's climbing season in its last days, I wanted to achieve something. I'd been out twice in November and while I'd redpointed one of my...
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The Anguish (5.8?) of a Long Winter
(Photo: Adam on Directissima (5.9), doing the pumpy crux traverse.)Hello, my climbing friends.It has been a while. When last we spoke, it was early December. The climbing season of 2014 was winding...
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A Ridiculiss-ly Nice Day in the Gunks
(Photo: Olivier on Birdie Party (5.8+)Last Sunday was a beautiful day-- finally!-- in the Gunks.I was climbing with Olivier, a friend of Gail's from Philly. I'd met him several times around the cliffs,...
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Mountain Momma! A Few Days in Seneca Rocks
(Photo: That's me leading Crack of Dawn (5.10a). Photo by Gail.)The plan was for Adrian and I to take a trip to Seneca Rocks, West Virginia.I would drive down from NYC. Adrian would fly from Montreal...
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No Need for Nurse's Aid (5.10c) on Insuhlation (5.9), Plus More...
(Photo: Olivier coming up Insuhlation (5.9).)It has been an eventful few weeks for me, climbing wise. I'm not sure where to begin.I tried a few Gunks routes that were new to me.I returned to an old...
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Gunks Routes: Lost and Found (5.6), Unholy Wick (5.8), Diana (5.8) and More!
(Photo: Doing the fun traverse above a roof on Lost and Found (5.6).)Another sunny Sunday in May, sure to be a crowded disaster in the Trapps. But I had a plan.I've been repeating myself a lot lately....
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Gunks Routes: The Winter (5.10d), Stubai to You (5.9), Coprophagia (5.10a) &...
(Photo: Adam on The Spring (5.9).)When last we spoke, I was telling you about how great I was feeling. Seemed like I was breaking through to a whole new level, and so on.Blah, blah, blah.Right after I...
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Rediscovering the Joys of Multi-Pitch Climbing
(Photo: Climbers on the seldom-climbed upper pitch of Beatle Brow Bulge (5.10a).)This past week I was reminded of how much fun it can be to romp up easier multi-pitch classics in the Gunks. I got out...
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Guest Post: Rediscovering the Joys of Any Kind of Climbing
(Photo: Elizabeth leading Horseman (5.5) in 2010.)Editor's Note:Â What follows is a first for Climb and Punishment: a guest post! Written by Elizabeth, and published below without interference from me....
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Coexisting With Coexistence (5.10d), Lito and the Swan (5.9+) & More!
(Photo: A climber named Nina leading Easy V (5.3), in between rain storms.)I take it all back.Remember when I said I had Coexistence (5.10d) all worked out-- and would maybe send it on my next try?I...
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A New Route in the Trapps?!? Erogenous Zone (5.10 or 5.11 or something), plus...
(Photo: The view out from the ravens' haven at the belay stance in the cave, on Erogenous Zone.)I was excited to climb this past Saturday with Kathy, a new partner for me.She isn't really a "new...
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June Rain + July Heat = Summer Sendage!
(Photo: That's me leading Le Teton (5.9?) on a hot July afternoon. Photo by Adam.)June was the cruelest month.Maybe not for everyone else. I'm sure there were many beautiful days. But I seemed to have...
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Get Up, Stand (5.11a) Up!
(Photo: Inspecting the crux corner on The Stand (5.11a). Photo by Gail.)I have been remiss. I have let a more than a week go by without reporting my big news:I led a 5.11 in the Gunks.Let me try that...
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Chapel Pond Blahs
(Photo: Climber on Drop, Fly or Die (5.11a).)I knew it would be wet.It had been a rainy week, with heavy thunderstorms on Friday, continuing into the evening. I almost called the whole thing off. But...
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Climbing at Millbrook: Realm of the Fifth Class Climber (5.9) and Old Route...
(Photo: Gail on the last pitch of Realm of the Fifth Class Climber (5.9).)I got up on Monday morning, looked in the mirror, and found bits of lichen in my ears. This could mean only one thing: I'd been...
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On-Sighting is Hard: Frustration Syndrome (5.10c), Precarious Perch (5.9+) &...
(Photo: Starting up the crux corner on Frustration Syndrome (5.10c).)Last Thursday the kids finished school for the year. To celebrate, we rented a house in the New Paltz area for the weekend. I...
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A New Route in the Trapps?!? Erogenous Zone (5.10 or 5.11 or something), plus...
(Photo: The view out from the ravens' haven at the belay stance in the cave, on Erogenous Zone.)I was excited to climb this past Saturday with Kathy, a new partner for me.She isn't really a "new...
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Better Redpoint than Deadpoint? P-38 (5.10b), Precarious Perch (5.9+) and Fun...
(Photo: Nani on Classic (5.7).)We are about to embark on the great sleepaway camp trek of 2014. My wife Robin and I are taking the kids to New Hampshire, dropping them off, and then we will take a...
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The Secret Gunks Tricam Society: A Major Motion Picture (Soundtrack by...
(Photo: Looking up at the big dihedral ascended by Horseman (5.5). Adrian is barely visible at the outside corner after the traverse.)The summer always seems to slip on by, doesn't it?For the last few...
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