Spring time in New England

After spending a successful couple of weeks in the Red River Gorge back in March, I've been enjoying an unusually dry spring here in New England. Routes that are usually soaked in April have been bone dry and I have to say it's been one of the best spring seasons I can remember.

Paradise Lost .13b Red River Gorge

Travis Peckham on his route Encryption .12d at the 82 Crag Bolton, VT.
Look for a guidebook for Vermont Rock climbing coming out soon. Preview here!

I've been spending a lot of time sport climbing in Rumney which is something I haven't done in a while. While the crowds can be a bit much, the climbing really is world class. I was psyched to wrap up some new projects for me there including the mega-classic resistance route Charlie Don't Surf 13b. I also got to do a couple routes that I still hadn't been on right in my own backyard of Bolton Vermont. Highlights include the mega-technical Encryption .12d and Who's Your Daddy .12c which might have one of the coolest 5.12 boulder problems I've ever been on. I'm hoping all the time clipping bolts will pay off in the fall when some of my projects in the sacks open up from their peregrine closures. 

Mike Korek on sustained upper arete of Charlie Don't Surf .13b Rumney

This past weekend Naomi and me climbed at Cathedral Ledge in North Conway. I got on a Tim Kemple route called Highway 61 which is a free variation combining 2 different aid routes. The first pitch is protected by a mixture of bolts, pins, and gear and goes at about.12d through some awesome granite boulder problems. I was psyched to send that first pitch on Saturday and then Sunday got a few goes in on the harder second pitch. I'm psyched to go back for this thing and do it all in one push to the top!

Bayard Russell working the first .12d pitch of Highway 61

In late July I'll be heading to the East Creek Basin of the Bugaboos with my friend JP Ouellet (Peewee). We're psyched to climb in the Howser Towers for a couple weeks but more on that later!

The North (1/3 of it), Central and South Howser Towers!

I hope everyone is having a great spring! Get after it!!!

New Video!!!

This is a short piece I shot and edited last fall with my friend Brian Bittner. Brian is one of Vermont's strongest boulderers and makes his living buying and selling antiques. This video shows him making the first ascent of "The Fat Kid" V12 in Bolton, VT.