Cloudsplitter Mountain Guides

Dom closes in on the final houdini traverse- high exposure above Chapel Pond Pass.

Fancy footwork keeps it easy for Matt on the Pete's Traverse.

How many times (in Talkeetna, Seattle, Chamonix, Estes Park...) have I heard it?:

Climber/Skier/Alpinist: 'So where are you from?'

me: 'The Adirondacks.'

CSA: (puzzled look)

me: 'Lake Placid, New York. You know- 'Miracle on Ice' from the 1980 Winter Olympics? (And 1932 actually.) It's in far upstate New York, 2 hours south of Montreal, Quebec.'

CSA: 'Oh. So do you climb in the Gunks?'

me: (adamantly) 'No! I climb in the Adirondacks!'

Which admittedly is not completely true- they are only 3 hours away and we do like to visit the Gunks occasionally, especially in the spring and fall when our seasons in the High Peaks lag behind, and the concentration and quality of good rock routes there is perhaps unrivaled. But you get my point- the Gunks is great rock climbing, but the Adirondacks are actual mountains, offering everything in all seasons from cragging to multi-pitch adventures to alpine style backcountry mountaineering and skiing in a uniquely preserved and vast wilderness area. I'm a tireless advocate that the climbing and climbers here can hold their own anywhere, and that climbers from anywhere can come here to find fun and adventure in these mountains.

But maybe it's a good thing. If climbers are queing up for the uber-classics like High Exposure in the Gunks...then that leaves the high exposure here in the Adirondacks all to ourselves.

Prelude's first pitch can be a little wet...

Cruisin' the huge ramp pitch between Prelude and Overture.

Dom at the Overture belay.

Dom livin' the dream.

Last week I had some good exposed multi-pitch climbs with Dom from Montreal and Matt from San Francisco. Dom and I have climbed a bunch over the years, and a rain delay paid off w/ a stellar sunny & crisp day up on 'Keene Valleys most exposed route' Prelude to Overture, high on the Upper Washbowl Cliff. Later in the week I met Matt and we did the full multi-pitch tour (~1000' climbing) with high Exposure on Pitchoff Chimney Cliff's Disputed and Pete's Farewell cracks in the morning and then up through the Cave Route on Chapel Pond Slab in the afternoon. 

Matt getting right into it on the Disputed crack.

Matt livin' the dream.

High exposure above Cascade Pass.

Matt working the legs on the slabs en route to the Cave.

Slabs and cracks. What more could a climber visiting from California want?

Matt settles into the chimney rest above the Cave. What you can't see is the 500' of slab below him.

Thanks for the great days out guys- the best climbing of the summer here so far!