From the Gunks to the Dolomites and Back Again

(Photo: Adam approaching the first belay on The Time Eraser (5.10-).)

It has been a while, my climbing comrades.

Although you haven't seen any posts from me, I have been climbing. I got out to the Gunks on a few of those hot days we always have in August. It was nice to be climbing, despite the oppressive temperatures and the humidity. But I wasn't going to push it on days like these, and I didn't do anything much that was new or exciting.

(Photo: My partner Andy working on To Be or Not To Be (5.12a) on a brutal Sunday in August. This wasn't much fun in the slimy heat. What on Earth were we thinking??)

The highlight of the summer was a trip I took with my family to the Dolomites in Italy, at the end of August. We had a wonderful time in this gorgeous outdoor playground. Most of our time there was spent hiking, but while we were in the area I was able to steal away for one day of rock climbing with a guide.

My hired gun, Lucas, works with the well-established Catores guide service. I knew the guide's rules would prohibit him from letting me lead any pitches, and I suspected Lucas would not be too keen on taking an untested partner up a route that was truly challenging. So I just told him I wanted a long route that would get us high in the mountains. Lucas more than delivered with the Vinatzer Route on the third Sella Tower. It was exactly the kind of adventure I was hoping for, with more than a thousand feet of fun climbing up a dramatic, steep face, ending at an exposed summit with panoramic views.

(Photo: My guide, Lucas, in the foreground, leading us to the Sella Group. The Vinatzer Route ascends the tallest pillar-- the one with the flat top-- in the middle of the formation.)

This route is a classic multi-pitch outing (established in 1935!) with maybe three crux moments in the 5.7 to 5.9 range during the early pitches. The climbing is otherwise casual and mostly very pleasant, with the pebbly, featured limestone providing lots of obvious horns and pockets to grab on to. It is a popular trade route, crowded and at times polished.

(Photo: Here I'm enjoying myself somewhere on the Vinatzer Route.)

The Dolomites have a reputation for looseness and our route certainly had its share. In the upper half there was a lot of suspect rock and towards the summit it became hard to avoid loose chunks all over the place. At one point the party ahead of us knocked a few pieces down and before I could react I was hit in the shoulder with a rock the size of a tennis ball.

(Photo: View across the pass to the Sassolungo Group from the summit of our route.)

The belay anchors were another cause for concern. They were pretty junky. The standard anchor seemed to be two rusted pitons, sometimes with a sling tied through them in a "death triangle." Usually Lucas would add a piece or two, which made me feel a bit better.

The descent, too, was a little bit sketchy for my tastes. I knew that with Lucas leading the way we'd have no trouble, but if I'd been on my own I would have liked to have had a detailed topo for the improbable "fourth-class" scrambling we had to do on loose gravel slopes and the occasional rappels from single-point anchors.

Apart from the general sketch factor, I loved the route and would gladly return to the area for more rock climbing. I felt like the climb provided a great day in the mountains and I would have been fine to lead every pitch we did. I'm sure there are many, many moderate routes in the area of similar character and quality. Maybe some day I'll plan a trip back there with a partner and I can do a bunch of them.

Once we returned to New York I planned a weekend day in the Gunks with Adam. The weather was supposed to be outstanding. The favorable forecast made my thoughts turn to Millbrook, which you could call the Dolomites of the Gunks, due to its alpine feel and occasional looseness. I've been wanting to get back to Millbrook all year. I figured time was of the essence, since the days were only going to get shorter over the remainder of the season.

We got to the West Trapps trailhead nice and early but as Adam checked over his gear in the parking lot it suddenly dawned on me that I couldn't remember putting my harness in my bag! A quick search confirmed that I had indeed left it behind in Brooklyn. Thank goodness I realized it before we embarked on the hour-long hike out to Millbrook. I would have had to improvise a swami belt.

After a quick run to Rock and Snow for a new harness we got back to the lot and headed off to the cliff.

I had several ideas for us. I figured we would stay in the central part of the cliff near Westward Ha! (5.7), since Adam had never been there before. I had done Westward Ha! and Cruise Control (5.9) two years ago, but I was happy to do them again. I also had in mind some nearby routes that would be new to both of us, such as Rib Cracker (5.9), The High Traverse with the Recollection finish (5.8), The White Corner (Regular 5.9 or Direct 5.10), and most of all The Time Eraser (5.10-).

As you probably know, I've been trying to push my limits all year. While I believed that The Time Eraser's difficulty wasn't at the top end of my current abilities, it was a new level for me at Millbrook. Knowing how far away we'd be from help at Millbrook, I saw the cliff as no place to risk a bad fall. The prospect of a complicated rescue situation was always at the back of my mind when I considered routes at this cliff. I did not want to attempt any 5.10's there unless I felt very confident that I would climb them safely and in control.

And The Time Eraser in particular has a reputation as a serious lead, with thirty to forty feet of insecure, poorly protected 5.8 climbing at its start. So it merited special caution.

I thought I was ready. But who knew how I would feel once we reached Millbrook?

(Photo: Millbrook cliff, seen from our rappel point not far from Westward Ha! and The Time Eraser. You can actually see the crux section of The Time Eraser in the photo. It is the steep, clean vertical streak of rock towards the left edge of the visible portion of the cliff.)

Despite our delayed start Adam and I were the first to arrive at Millbrook and we used Westward Ha! as our warm-up. I started us off from the Death Ledge and led a short pitch past junky rock to the tree at the bottom of the big corner. From there Adam took it to the top in one lead containing all of the good climbing. My opinion of the route remains about the same: it is a fine climb, well worth the hike. But there are other options nearby which are even better.

(Photo: Adam coming up the first bit of Westward Ha! (5.7).)

It is a good thing we hit this climb right away, since we were soon joined at the cliff by three other parties, two of which did only Westward Ha! and then went home. It was strange to see so many people out at Millbrook and I thought it was a bit of a shame that most of them hiked out for just one route. Folks, there are other good moderate routes very close by. You should check them out.

There was one other pair of climbers there at the cliff who seemed interested in doing climbs other than Westward Ha!; I struck up a conversation with the leader after I heard him giving some advice to one of the other parties. He seemed to know his way around. He gave me his opinion of all of the climbs I was thinking about attempting. His advice was not encouraging.

The White Corner? "If you fall at the wrong spot you're going to get hurt."

Strike one.

The Time Eraser? "The hard part is well-protected but the first forty feet are scary."

Strike two.

Rib Cracker? "That's a good one. Fun route!"

Well, okay then. I guessed we had a winner.

With my ambitions rapidly fading I got ready for Rib Cracker. It did indeed look like a nice climb, with two clean 5.9 pitches to the top of the cliff, passing several overhangs along the way.

It didn't go well. I got stuck at the crux of the first pitch, a move up through an overhang and into a blank corner. I couldn't figure out how to move up into the corner and reach the obvious holds, which were high above. I tried over and over again, stepping up in different ways, never taking a fall but stepping down every time after I failed to find a way to reach the holds up above the overhang. It was very frustrating. I kept thinking I must be missing something.

Eventually I decided it wasn't going to happen. I hadn't really thrown my body up there to go for the holds, but feeling cautious, I didn't want to. I decided to bail. At Adam's suggestion I down-climbed until it was possible to move left to join The High Traverse (5.5), which I then followed to its first belay.

(Photo: Adam is doing the second pitch of The High Traverse (5.5), and when he moves around the corner he'll go straight up for the Recollection (5.8) finish. The part of the route that is in the picture is supposed to be just 5.5, but I thought it was a bit harder than that.)

Adam then took us to the top via the Recollection (5.8) variation to The High Traverse. This turned out to be a high quality route. The climbing is little bit dirty but it is very interesting, with thin moves up the face. Adam protected it well, finding a few creative placements along the way.

(Photo: Adam's shot of one of his neat placements on Recollection (5.8).)

I arrived at the top of the cliff in a foul mood. What were we going to do now? I'd given up on Rib Cracker, a 5.9. Was I really willing to try a scary 5.10 like The Time Eraser?

Adam gently pushed me to at least have a look at it.

And so we rapped down again. I decided to just take it one move at a time and to be careful not to get committed way out from my gear. If I found the initial climbing too run out I would just climb back down.

It ended up working out fine. I really enjoyed The Time Eraser.

(Photo: That's me reaching the end of the crux section of The Time Eraser (5.10-). Photo by Adam.)

To my relief, I thought the early climbing was no big deal. The rock was okay and I found gear here and there. It certainly is no horror show, so long as you start well to the right of the crux face above (as the guidebooks recommend). You trend up and left to the end of a low overlap, and then the business begins. A delicate traverse further left is followed by steep climbing up the orange face. The terrain is technical and the holds are small. It reminded me of Proctoscope (5.9+) in the Trapps. The climbing is of a similar style and difficulty, but it goes on for a longer time.

Once you reach the small roof above the steep orange face you are through with the hard climbing. I was pretty psyched to get there, especially after feeling so defeated by Rib Cracker. The Time Eraser felt just as I'd hoped it would: engaging and challenging, but in control.

(Photo: Adam inspecting the crack at the start of the 5.8 pitch two of The Time Eraser. You can see our fixed rappel line on the right side of the photo.)

Pitch two is also nice, though not as nice as pitch one. It ascends several corners to the top of the cliff, with an exciting, blind step out to the right beneath the final corner. Adam dispatched it with ease and we were again atop the cliff.

We'd now topped out three times and the sun was well on its way towards the horizon. We figured we had just enough time for another quick one and Cruise Control (5.9) seemed like the obvious choice.

(Photo: Adam rappelling down to the Death Ledge one more time as the sun sinks behind the cliff.)

Doing Cruise Control again for the second time only confirmed my initial impression: this is one of the best routes in the Gunks. Both pitches are outstanding. I love the technical bit up a shallow open book on the first pitch, which is followed by a good roof problem. Then the second pitch offers exposed position on beautiful white rock and fun climbing up a crack to the finish. It's as if you took the best parts of Limelight, Arrow and Silhouette and stacked them all on top of one another.

(Photo: Adam leading the 5.8 pitch two of Cruise Control.)

We hiked out as the sun set, reaching the bridge just before it got truly dark out.

The high season is upon us and I still have many landmark climbs to hit before the year is out. I was really pleased to knock The Time Eraser off my list. For me it was a big goal and now I have to consider whether I'm ready for some of the other more serious tens out at Millbrook. I don't know what went wrong on Rib Cracker but I'll have to go back some time and give it another shot.

As for the Dolomites, I only got a taste-- but my wife Robin loved the area as much as I did, so I'm sure we'll go again. For now, as the song says: it's very nice to go traveling... but it's so much nicer to come home!

Millbrook: Westward Ha! (5.7) & Cruise Control (5.9)

(Photo: Just above the final crux of Cruise Control (5.9). Photo by Christian Fracchia.)

Millbrook is a cliff with a fearsome reputation.

Unlike the other large cliffs at the Gunks, Millbrook has no easy access. A hike of at least three miles is required to approach the cliff. Once there, you have to rap in from above to get to the climbs. All of the climbs start from a narrow, sloping shelf popularly known as the "Death Ledge." Above this Death Ledge is a rotten band of rock; many of the climbing routes negotiate crumbly, loose territory for the first thirty to forty feet. And even if you survive the rotten band, you aren't out of the woods. The climbs at Millbrook are steep, difficult, and often poorly protected. 5.11 X is a common rating at Millbrook.

This is a serious cliff. You need to have a good idea of your limits before you go there. When you climb at Millbrook, you will likely be climbing alone. If something goes wrong, help is going to be hard to come by.

Does this sound like fun to you?

And yet the cliff has very attractive qualities as well. For starters, it is the highest, whitest, most impressive cliff at the Gunks. You might not notice it so much from New Paltz but if you spend any time in the area to the south, in Gardiner, for example, you can't help but feel its presence. We've rented a house on Bruynswick Road, which parallels the ridge, and every time I've driven down to this house from the north, following the road past all the major cliffs, I've been struck by how Millbrook looms over the area in the most appealing and inviting way. It is a beautiful, solemn place.

And there are great climbs at Millbrook. Not just hard man test-pieces (of which there are many), but also great moderates (or so I've been told). The introductory Millbrook route, right at the center of the cliff (next to the rappel tree), is Westward Ha!, a climb some consider to be the best 5.7 in the Gunks. Just to the right of Westward Ha! is a classic 5.9 called Cruise Control. Another reputed classic 5.9, Realm of the Fifth Class Climber, is down at the southern end of the cliff. And there are more, a handful of 5.7 to 5.9 climbs that I hear are well-protected and well worth doing, along with several world-class 5.10's and 5.11's that have reasonable pro.

Above all, Millbrook offers solitude, mystery, and the unknown, things which are in short supply at the other major cliffs at the Gunks. Millbrook provides a chance to get away from the same crowded routes you did yesterday and to step into what feels like a real alpine adventure.

Until this past weekend I'd never been climbing at Millbrook. I've been really wanting to go lately, intrigued by Christian Fracchia's website The White Cliff, which has wonderfully detailed topo photos of the whole cliff, along with updated route information that is more precise than what you'll find in any of the official guidebooks. I contacted Chris when I started thinking about climbing at Millbrook, and he gave me great advice about potential routes to climb and how best to reach them.

This past Sunday seemed like a good day to go. Clear skies and cool temperatures made for perfect conditions for hiking out to the cliff. Gail was willing to troop out there with me. I hoped we could knock off the two most obvious candidates, Westward Ha! (5.7) and Cruise Control (5.9), and still have time to maybe hit another moderate like The High Traverse (5.8 with the variation finish) or Realm of the Fifth Class Climber (5.9), mentioned above.

(Photo: On the trail to Millbrook, with Skytop visible in the distance.)

Dick Williams suggests in his guidebook that the hike out to Millbrook will take about an hour. For us the trip was uneventful but it took longer than that. We were slowed a bit by a lot of wetness on the trail, which I guess was a remnant of some heavy rain that fell a few nights before. The hike is perfectly pleasant, and I bet it is quite beautiful in late May/early June when the mountain laurel is in bloom.

(Photo: The rap tree is dead, Fred! What do we do now?)

Once we dead-ended into the Millbrook Mountain Trail and followed it to the cliff's edge, we had no trouble winding our way down to find the traditional rappel tree atop Westward Ha! Unfortunately, however, this tree is 100 percent deceased, as in dead, i.e. finished. This was a shock to us because everyone apparently still uses the dead tree! I don't know how long it has been this way but man, it is over and has been for a while. The tree is a black hulk. We briefly considered using it anyway, since it is such a huge tree, and it is unlikely to fail under body weight for quite a while. But it gave me the willies. I did not feel good about the idea of using it.

Looking around, we saw other rappel options, so it was easy for us not to use the dead tree. We found two trees that were decent-sized and very much alive, about 30 or 40 feet left (south) of the Westward Ha! rappel. These trees are also maybe 20 or 30 feet higher than the dead tree, but I was confident my 60 meter rope would still reach the Death Ledge, since I knew the rap from the dead tree was only 150-160 feet to the ledge.

(Photo: Rapping over the steepness that is Millbrook.)

I leaned out over the lip from our improvised rappel station to check the rap; it appeared to be a sheer drop to the ledge. It did not seem that there were any obstacles and I was more or less certain that the rope would reach. I also felt entirely sure that we would have no trouble climbing a 5.7 route to get off of the cliff. We would not be trapped down there. Still, I felt very nervous. It took a leap of faith to back my ass off the cliff and descend into the unknown. But this whole adventure was my idea, so I had to be the first one to go. I set up my rappel and off I went.

(Photo: The obvious corner of Westward Ha! (5.7).)

Once we both got down without incident, it was very easy to find the prominent corner ascended by Westward Ha! (5.7). And although the Death Ledge wasn't huge, the shelf was flat and wide enough at this part of the cliff for us to move around without fear that we were about to slip off of it and tumble to the talus some 70 or 80 feet below. (Nevertheless we stayed anchored while on the ledge.)

(Photo: Getting started on Westward Ha! (5.7).)

I had read that you could take any of several independent little lines up the first forty feet of the route to reach the prominent corner system. I could see that the path on the left looked the easiest, ascending blocky flakes all the way to the corner. But I guessed that this collection of flakes also contained a bunch of loose crap, giving this part of the route its reputation for bad rock. So I decided to go to the right, up a line that appeared to have obvious holds and solid rock, leading to a leftward traverse to the big corner.

(Photo: Gail coming up the right-hand start to Westward Ha!, which has nice climbing, good rock, and pretty good pro.)

I thought this part of the route had decent climbing, though the final moves left to the ledge seemed a bit thin to me for 5.7 and required the use of a fragile crimper hold. If this crimp breaks off, I think this start will be much harder than 5.7 in the future. Once I reached the tree at the base of the big corner I decided to stop and belay Gail from there. The short first pitch would cut down on drag and allow us to do the whole rest of the climb in one pitch.  Gail agreed that the right hand start was a little stiff for 5.7.

(Photo: In the final moves up the pretty white face at the top of Westward Ha! (5.7).)

We found the rest of Westward Ha! to be superb. The corner is sustained, with one fine move after another. A crack goes up the back of the corner for most of the way, so pro is frequently available, and you can jam if you wish, although there are plenty of edges so it isn't necessary.

From the top of the corner you emerge at the crux of the route, thin moves up an attractive white face. Again the pro is there and the moves are great, and then before you know it you're at the top.

Westward Ha! is a very very nice 5.7. I would not call it the best 5.7 in the Gunks, because to me it lacks the mind-blowing standout moments that you'll find on the very best climbs, like, say, Thin Slabs Direct or CCK. Westward Ha! doesn't really have any one outstanding moment or section, though the whole thing is quite good. I enjoyed it immensely and thought it was well worth the walk.  And I would do it again the same way, with the short pitch at the bottom, followed by a longer pitch with all of the great climbing in it.

Back on top of the cliff, it was already late for lunch. We had a bite and then rapped back down to check out Cruise Control (5.9). Like Westward Ha!, this climb is easy to find. If you continue walking right (north) just a short distance from Westward Ha!, maybe thirty feet or so, stepping over a boulder that is resting against the cliff face, you will quickly come to a spot below a small, left-facing corner in orange rock that leads up to a groove/shallow open book. The open book then trends up and right to a roof. This is Cruise Control.

It looked good to me. I had wondered earlier in the day if, when push came to shove, I would feel up to a 5.9 on Millbrook. Before we started Westward Ha!, I was so nervous, worrying about how the rock would feel, and about whether we were really equipped to deal with the climbing at this cliff. I did not want us to exceed our limits. But once we completed Westward Ha! these concerns melted away. The rock felt fine. The climbing was familiar. I knew I could handle leading a Gunks 5.9, and Cruise Control was supposed to be on the easy side of the grade. This was going to be no problem.

The first pitch was a great pleasure. The moves up the initial corner are nice, and the rock quality through the rotten band seemed fine to me. I can't remember any terrible looseness. Then the crux climbing comes at a technical sequence up the shallow open book. The left side of the book forms a beautiful layback flake with solid pro. By the time I was through this sequence I was already telling Gail how wonderful the pitch was, and I hadn't even reached the roof.

The overhang adds another cool dimension to the pitch. It is a solid 5.8+/5.9- affair, again with great gear. After you pull over it the pitch romps up easy territory to a pedestal where there are good cracks for a gear anchor. (You could also continue to the next shelf.)

(Photo: Pulling over the roof on pitch one of Cruise Control (5.9).)

As I prepared for pitch two, I thought the real business of the climb was over. The second pitch is 5.8, and I assumed the groove and roof on pitch one were the main attractions of the climb. I didn't expect much out of the second pitch.

Boy was I wrong. The second pitch of Cruise Control is amazing.

It starts up the obvious right-facing corner that rises above the belay ledge. But after 20 or 30 feet you need to traverse around the corner to the left and onto the face of the cliff. I placed a good nut while still in the corner but felt obligated to sling it really long to avoid the prospect of horrendous drag.

Peering around the corner, I could see good little footholds. But I was blind as to the hands, and the face above looked blank. Would there be any placements out there? Dick Williams rates this pitch as 5.8 G. That would seem to indicate that there must be pro out there, right?

Making the commitment and stepping out onto the face was spectacular. I found myself on a gorgeous white billboard beneath a small ceiling. The rock was solid and I could see the path up and left. The climbing here was easier than 5.8.

But there wasn't any pro. I spied a wide horizontal at the top of the billboard, at the overlap. I hoped my largest cam, a big blue Camalot, would fit. I moved up, easy does it, one exquisite move and then another. Staying focused. By the time I reached the overlap I was surely well into R-rated territory. A fall at that point would have been a long, sideways, swinging affair.

I tried to place the blue Camalot. It was tipped-out and biting into mud in the crack. Not good at all.

What to do? Maybe the blue cam would fit better if I moved it further to the left, off-line?

Looking around, I realized I'd fallen victim to tunnel vision. There was a vertical crack system just above me running upward, the continuation of the route. But in my fixation on the wide horizontal crack I hadn't even seen it.  I could get a great cam or nut right over my head. I threw a yellow Alien in the vertical crack and exhaled. 

Everything was going to be fine.

(Photo: Topping out on Cruise Control (5.9). Photo by Christian Fracchia.)

Just then, as I breathed a sigh of relief and looked upward, I saw a human head peek out from the top of the cliff.

"Chris, is that you?"

It was! I had told Fracchia I was headed out to Millbrook and he showed up (with his sheepdog) to see how I liked it and to snap a few photos.

While he got set up to shoot I climbed through the physical crux of the pitch, up the fun crack system through another overlap and on to the top. As I finished the climb Chris got the nice photos you see here.  Then we hung out and chatted while Gail climbed the pitch.  When she topped out she too was thrilled with the awesomeness of the second pitch of Cruise Control.

I think Cruise Control is one of the best moderate climbs in the Gunks. The first pitch is great, and the second is stupendous. If you are cool with the 5.9 climbing on pitch one then the runout on pitch two through easier territory shouldn't bother you too much. But I do think Dick's 5.8 G rating for the second pitch is misleading. It should be something like 5.8 G (5.6+ R).

When we finished Cruise Control it was already mid-afternoon and we figured that including time spent packing up and walking, it would be at least another hour and a half before we'd reach the car. We thought about trying to do one more pitch but decided to call it a day instead. This turned out to be the right call, as I was really drooping by the time we finished the hike back to civilization. After four pitches of climbing and three hours of hiking I was exhausted. Gail was still hiking strong.  I could barely keep up with her.  I need to toughen up, I think.

I was so satisfied with the climbing we did at Millbrook. Getting to the cliff may be inconvenient, but the isolation gives the place a special atmosphere and a solitude you just can't get at the other cliffs. On this beautiful Sunday, while the other cliffs were surely overrun with gumbies (and I mean no offense to all of you gumbies out there), Gail and I were the only people climbing at Millbrook all day.  

I hope it doesn't take me a year or more to go back. There are several other climbs I'm dying to try. Maybe I've got the Millbrook bug.