rumney warming up? Dry?

[alsboston]

actually after re-reading the question I think you must mean why cliffs in general are getting more crowded, why's the sport more popular than before?  

I think it must be all the advertisements.  For instance, EMS mainly sells backpacks for university campuses and fleece vests people wear to their office jobs.  But every shopping bag is covered with a picture of a climbing rope?  For some reason patagonia sends me thier catalouge.  Each page is covered with basically city clothes but then all the pictures are of climbers on routes all around the world.   There's definitely a push to connect buying a pair of shorts with the percieved freedom of climbing awesome routes, shirtless, with buldging muscles (which describes me pretty well actually).  I'd think that only a tiny fraction of the backpack/short buying public (whom we all used to be) needs to decide that they'd like to be the guy in the picture to lead to crowded cliffs.

The guides mainly just fill an existing demand.  I don't think guides advertise enough to really pull in crowds of people.  

I think another reason is the improvement in gear quality these last 10-20 years or so.   From what I can tell, ropes are better, cams are way better, and harnesses are improved.  Ice axes are way better.  Even boots are better.   Perhaps its safer, or atleast easier, to climb today than in decades past, all things being equal.

[mferioli]

Rumney was great today, plently of dry stuff and ATC sniffing dogs!  By the way, I really enjoy climbing at rumney, yes it gets crowded, but the climbing is still super fun.  Like I said before, just joshing around! 

I just had a great image of someone belaying while being pelted by rocks thrown by kids!!  Too f-ing awesome!

Mike

[F_Bomb]

what can I say, I'm a born instigator... I think Rumney is so popular a) because of Ken Nichols, b) because it is very close to 93, and c) climbers tend to have a herd mentality.

There are in fact a handful of other sport crags that easily stack up against any single crag at Rumney: Shagg, Wild River, Sundown, the Laughing Lion.  Most of them are even in a guidebook. None of these places have the moderates, however, and they are each a slightly longer drive from Boston. 

This may sound funny coming from me, but I think New England (especially southern NE) desperately needs more sport crags. For years Ken made that impossible, and the development was focused almost exclusively north of Massachusetts. I'm not saying we need to retro-bolt anything, but I'll bet there are still undeveloped crags lingering in the surburbs that would yield enough good sport climbing that people would have more options other than driving two hours every weekend to go to Rumney.

Since I'm in a magnanimous mood, I'll even offer up one such locale: There's a great little cliff in Durham, CT, where I grew up. Bear Rock, it's locally known. I used to top rope and boulder there as a kid, I believe only one line has been bolted, but I bet it would yield 8 - 12 routes, similar to Bonzai, and a few properly hard lines as well. Some one with a bristle gun get out there and make the masses happy!

[bag11s]

Waimea is the single best crag for hard climbing around. Every route on it has exceptional cruxy climbing on the coolest features. These individual great lines are stacked up side by side in a density like nowhere else in the Northeast. It,s super popular and crowded for a reason, and not just because it,s near the highway. Then there,s all the satellite crags on the hillside with many additional good routes, some them New Hampshire classics also.

Re: sport in Southern New England- I agree, let,s see some more. Farley has seen a steady developmental effort and has some super cool lines, with new ones being put in regularly. Other crags I went to a number of times last year include a set of good mini-crags in Guilford, NH, and a pretty white wall with hard thin vertical climbing in Goffstown, NH. This is stuff that,s been developed over a longish period (not by me- I,m just along for the free ride).   

[meclimber]

baaaahhh

[oldmansmith]

This may sound funny coming from me, but I think New England (especially southern NE) desperately needs more sport crags.

I agree, but don't send them to Farley!  A week ago the new parking lot at Farley had 22 cars in a lot designed for 15.  The neighbourhood parking (8 spaces) was full as well, and there were plenty of cars in the overflow lot across the river. 

 

[tradmanclimbz]

Last summer with the high gas prices we climbed mostly localy. It takes work, money and the good luck to have available local rock.

[frik]

It's gotten popular, because of the general acceptance of the ghey lifestyle.

[frik]

Jeeze freddy, you got me thinkin'. I used to climb alot at crow hill when i was a kid, i'll bet that place could be packed with sport routes.

[ethatch]

It's gotten popular, because of the general acceptance of the ghey lifestyle.

example of fun joking taken too far. Way to kill it

[JBro]

Hey yeah frik, you loser...! You're supposed to write "not that there's anything wrong with that" after mentioning the ghey lifestyle. Then it's ok.

[frik]

Who's joking?