Rumney, New Hampshire, June 17-20, 2004

Roanne and I had a friend who was getting married in Hartford, Connecticut on June 20, so the first thing I did was check which major climbing areas were within reasonable driving distance from Hartford.  Rumney came up as the prime candidate, I have wanted to go there for a while after seeing photos in magazines and hearing about modern day testpieces like The Fly, put up by David Graham.  We left Seattle on a redeye at 1:00 am Thursday morning, and arrived in Hartford around 11:00 am, where we met up with a fellow climber and wedding attendee, Sath Dosanjh.  We picked up our rental car and made the 3 hour drive north to Rumney without incident.  It was really humid and totally overcast, so we were a bit worried about rain, especially since the forecast included possible thundershowers.  We got to the parking area for the climbing around 5:30 pm, and headed to one of the closer areas called the Meadows to sample some of the famed Rumney schist before we turned in for the night.  We started on a 5.9 called Lies and Propaganda, shown below on the left with me leading and Roanne belaying.  If we look tired, it is because we are, after not sleeping much on the plane from Seattle.  Next I got on a recommended 5.12a/b called Flesh for Lulu, of which the photo on the right shows me on the lower section.  The real climbing started above the small roof shown in the photo, with a crux sequence on some small sidepulls.  It was an awesome climb, I had two tries on it but was unable to send, and decided to come back to it when I had more energy.  Sath and Roanne didn't feel up to leading anything, so they each had a run up the lower section of Flesh for Lulu, and then we called it a night.

We camped directly across the road from the climbing area, on the property of a farm (the owners charge $7 per person to let climbers camp there).  It was very convenient, the only downside was that the bugs were crazy, especially in the evening, and we had neglected to bring bug spray.  We didn't sleep too well that night due to the humidity and bugs, but the next day dawned bright and clear, and we got up excited for a full day of climbing.  We first headed to an area called Orange Crush, I had heard of a climb there that I wanted to climb, and there was also some stuff that Roanne and Sath were interested in.

We first headed up to a climb called Orangahang, a 5.12a/b that I wanted to get on.  I warmed up by climbing it bolt to bolt, and then managed to send it in two more tries.  It was an awesome route, very steep, with a crux most of the way out a roof.  The route is shown in the photos above, in the first one I am just heading out into the roof, and in the second one I am getting close to the crux.  In the background of the second photo is a prominent steep arete with a 5.13b up it called Predator.  I thought it was the most impressive looking line at Rumney, and would love to be able to climb it someday.

Next we headed over to a less steep wall where Roanne and Sath climbed a recommended 5.8 called Air and Pleasant Danger, Roanne is shown leading it in the photo below.  We then moved on to a steep and pumpy 5.9 called Couch Potato, Sath is shown toproping it on the lower right.

Roanne was somewhat hesitant about leading it since steep climbs are not her forte, but she decided to give it a try, and did an awesome job, getting the send despite being somewhat pumped at the final difficult moves over the top.  The photos below show her climbing it:

Next we headed back to the Meadows, there was some more stuff Roanne and Sath wanted to do, and I wanted another try on Flesh for Lulu.  I sent Flesh for Lulu on my second try after hanging the draws on my first, feeling way more solid on it after discovering a better foot sequence for the crux.  Roanne did an impressive lead up a classic runout 5.8 slab called Bolt Line, which Sath toproped, and then we all finished on a 5.9 called Mr. Popular.

The next day we got up to a bit of rain, but luckily it didn't last long and the wind dried everything up quickly.  We headed up to the Waimea area, eager to see the 5.14 testpieces, and climb the moderate classics.  We warmed up on a 5.9 called Yoda at the Darth Vader area, and then moved on to Waimea.  We started on an AWESOME 5.10d called Waimea, for sure the best 5.10 I have ever climbed.  It is shown in the photos below.  It climbs a slightly overhanging black face on postive crimps, with some pinches and jugs thrown in for good measure.  This was probably my favourite climb of the whole trip.

I then got on a 5.11b called Flyin' Hawaiian.  It is a really good climb, but a bit scary in a section that ascends a sweeping dihedral, I wish I had some photos of it.  It felt really hard, but definitely a cool route.  Next we headed up to the Jimmy Cliff, where Sath did his first lead ever, a 5.3 slab route called Clip a dee do dah.  He did an awesome job, motoring through the long runouts without hesitation, shown in the photos below.

Next I got on a short and bouldery 5.12a called Things as they are Now.  It was a fun route, and the guy who put it up happened to be climbing some routes to the next of it, so I got the full beta.  That guy was a member of "Team Tough", a hardworking group of individuals who have put up many of the routes at Rumney and do a lot of trail building and other work.  He was a really nice guy, and it was fun to talk to him.  Despite all the advice, I didn't manage to send, but it was fun to try (the route is shown below).

We then moved on and did a super classic 5.8+ called Junco (Roanne is shown leading it above on the right), and an awesome 5.10a called Lonesome Dove, which may well be my second favourite route of the trip.  Next we headed back to Waimea, and checked out The Fly, 5.14d.  Sath is shown touching the holds in the photo below.  If it looks blank, that is because it is, it is hard to believe how anyone could even pull onto the startm let alone climb it.  We then were lucky enough to see a local nab the fourth (I think) ascent of China Beach, an awesome looking 5.14b to the left of Livin' Astro (5.14c).  It was very impressive, he had worked the route for over 30 days over the course of a year, and we were lucky enough to see him send.  Needless to say, he was pretty happy to never have to climb the route again, after so much work on it.  The photo on the lower right shows him during the send.

We then went for a swim in the Baker River to cool off, and ended another great day of climbing.  The next day (Sunday) the weather was probably the best it had been all trip, but unfortunately we were tired from 3 days of climbing, and had a wedding to go to.  We packed up the tents, went for a run followed by a swim in the river, and then drove back to Hartford to attend the wedding.  The wedding was fun, but not as fun as climbing.