Rolling Like Movie Stars at Millbrook

(Photo: Will coming up pitch one (5.9) of The Movie Star (5.10+).)

I never made it out to Millbrook in 2016, not once. I hoped to correct this regrettable oversight in 2017, but for some reason it didn't happen. I let the entire year slip away, again, without paying a visit to the wonderful white cliff.

As 2018 got underway, I thought of every weekend as a chance to go to Millbrook. I was itching to get out there again. I resolved to go back to “the Bank” as soon as I got the chance.

A recent Saturday seemed like the perfect opportunity, with no rain in the forecast and temperatures expected to reach 70 degrees. My partner, Will, had never been there, and he was eager to see what it was all about.

Half of the cliff was closed for falcons but I had several targets in mind (a couple of hard 5.10’s among them) that were open.

I hoped I would feel up to climbing the harder stuff.

I'd been cruising along pretty well lately. In the Trapps and the Nears I wouldn’t think twice about trying any 5.10. But Millbrook, I knew, was different. The isolation, the loose rock, the spooky atmosphere— what Todd Swain describes as the “terrors of Millbrook”— could make me revise my plans. Once we were actually there, I expected that my bold ambitions might float off with the falcons, leaving us with few options. (There aren’t many easy routes at Millbrook.)

But I tried to put these doubts out of my mind. The last time I visited Millbrook, I’d gotten up the nerve to do my first 5.10 at the cliff, The Time Eraser. And once I finally sacked up and did it, the route went perfectly. I hoped I could build on that success with Will.

Our day began with the pleasant but long-ish hike out to the crag. We chugged along pretty quickly, but still spent over an hour on the trail. Was it the long walk that kept so many climbers away from Millbrook? Or was it the nature of the place?

We seemed to be the only ones at the cliff as we set up for the rap in to the base. Although civilization was visible beneath us, it seemed very far away. There was no road noise. The peace was disturbed only by a lone rooster, crowing away at some farm down below. I tried to imagine the crowds that were surely swarming the Trapps, even at this early morning hour, and felt so grateful that we had this huge expanse of stone to ourselves.

(Photo: Crossing the Death Ledge.)

Since it was Will’s first visit, we started with Westward Ha!, the ultra-classic 5.7 up a prominent corner system in the center of the cliff. It is everyone’s first route at Millbrook.

I led a short first pitch up from the Death Ledge to the tree at the base of the corner, so Will could then take it to the top in one pitch containing all of the great climbing.

Even though I’d done this climb twice before, I felt a bit uncertain as I led our first pitch. Was I really going the right way? The rock was so hollow and dirty. I picked my way slowly towards the tree, worried that this might not be my day to shine at Millbrook. I felt like I took much too long on what ought to have been a quick no-big-deal kind of pitch.

Will was clearly feeling the Millbrook spook too as he led off into the real meat of the climb. He was tentative and slow, but as he continued up the beautiful corner he seemed to gain confidence. By the time he disappeared around a roof up high I felt like things were looking up; we were going to have a very good day.

(Photo: Will setting off on the lead on Westward Ha! (5.7).)

As I climbed up to join him I remembered how great Westward Ha! is. There are some fun sequences in the corner. I have been working in the gym on my crack climbing skills, in preparation for a climbing trip to Squamish, BC (post coming soon). So on Westward Ha! I tried to throw a jam in whenever I could. It was fun but seldom necessary. I found the face climbing near the top of the cliff to be outstanding, on clean white rock with wonderful, grippy texture— quintessential Millbrook.

I decided it was go time. I was ready for something a bit more ambitious for our next route. We rapped back down and tip-toed our way across the Death Ledge until we found ourselves beneath The Movie Star (5.10+).

This climb doesn’t appear in any guidebook, but it is featured on Christian Fracchia’s website, The White Cliff. From Christian’s description, I gathered that we could expect technical 5.9 climbing up a leaning corner on pitch one, and then a couple of 5.10 cruxes after that. I wasn’t sure where to belay; it seemed from the photos on the website that the route could be broken into four pitches if you stopped at every ledge. I figured we would try to do it in two or three.

The usual rotten band off of the Death Ledge didn’t look too bad, and as I got started most of the rock seemed solid. It wasn’t long before the features forced me to the right and I found myself in the leaning corner depicted in Christian’s photos. Moving up the corner, I encountered thoughtful, continuous climbing, with no "stopper" moves. Before I knew it I was mantling onto a comfortable ledge where it seemed natural to build a belay. This was a very nice pitch; I might give it a rating of sustained 5.8 rather than 5.9, but regardless of how difficult it is, I found it quite enjoyable, with good gear.

(Photo: Will on pitch one of The Movie Star (5.10+).)

I knew I was about to hit the hard climbing. The right-facing corner system continued above me, with a pretty blank-looking section right off the belay. When Will joined me on the ledge I took the lead again.

I got through the first problem pretty fast. It took only a few delicate moves to reach some good holds at a shallow overhang, and once I was over that I was cruising up again towards another ledge. It seemed too early to stop, however, so I continued past the ledge into what was clearly the crux of the route, another even blanker corner capped by another overhang.

I knew I had to get to the top of this corner and then move left— a standard Gunks roof escape. But how? The corner was very smooth. I looked around for a while and eventually settled on something resembling a foothold. Stepping up, I managed to make some kind of Houdini move to the top of the corner, where I found good hands and could place gear.

Now I was stuck at the overhang. I had to figure out how to move left around the outside corner, and I struggled. I couldn’t find any feet, and I started to get pumped, just hanging on. I wanted to commit to something and move around the corner but I couldn’t see anything; no hands, no feet. I was in a stalemate with the rock. I remember uttering a number of sounds, along with a “f*ck me!” or two for good measure.

I was considering taking a hang when I finally spotted a foothold I’d missed. With no time to waste, I planted my toe on it, matched hands and moved blindly around to the left, where all became clear. I found more holds and gear, and then made it up to another little ledge, where I exhaled and decided to build an anchor.

Calling down to Will, I asked if he had seen my struggle with the crux.

He said he couldn’t see me but heard a lot of grunting going on!

I felt proud. This was a tough on-sight. I’d give it a 5.10+ for sure. And such good moves! The Movie Star is an awesome climb, very worthwhile. It is destined to be a Gunks classic. We all owe Christian a debt of gratitude for making this climb known to the general climbing public.

(Photo: Will between the two crux sections on The Movie Star (5.10+). I'm standing just above the hard moves around the corner.)

I think Will would agree about the quality of the climb and its difficulty. When he got up to the crux corner, he struggled too. He was having no trouble during the early going, but then all of a sudden I heard “oof, how did you DO this??” Along with “nice lead!” and a bunch of assorted curses. Eventually he figured it all out and made it up to join me.

I kept on leading for pitch three. It wasn’t entirely clear where to go but I followed the path of least resistance, taking a (5.8?) jog to the right around a little overhang and then heading straight up a dirty, vegetated gully to the top. Looking at Christian’s pictures that evening, I saw that I could have avoided some of that dirt by stepping left after the first part of the pitch. But even though it appears I went the wrong way for the final fifteen or twenty feet, I don’t think I missed much.

(Photo: View of the Trapps and Skytop from a perch near the top of Millbrook.)

As far as we knew, we were still the only climbers at the cliff that day, but as we emerged from The Movie Star at the top of the cliff we encountered a group of about ten hikers sitting around just above the top-out. This is another unique feature of climbing at Millbrook. There is a popular hiking trail from Minnewaska (called the Millbrook Mountain Trail) that dead-ends at the cliff's edge, so throughout the day groups of hikers reach the end of the hike, take a break, have a snack, and then turn around and hike back. (I've done the hike with my kids.) Where the hiking trail hits the cliff, close to Westward Ha!, the "summit" area is set back a ways from the edge, but further south by The Movie Star the slabs run pretty much right up to the precipice.

When Will and I stepped over the lip, surprising the group of hikers, I felt like we might as well have just come over the Visor on Half Dome. We were greeted with awe and wonder. One shocked hiker asked the most intelligent questions he could, under the circumstances, such as "How was your climb today?" and "How long did it take you?" I tried to explain that there are many routes to get from the bottom to the top, that we'd already done two of them that day, and that were going to go back down for more.

Then we marched off as heroically as we could.

We had time for another full-length route. Will was still getting used to the semi-alpine quality of the rock at Millbrook, which dictates that every hold must be treated with some skepticism. Given this reality, Will wasn’t too keen on leading anything hard, at least not yet. I understood his reticence; I had been there! But I wanted him to be able to lead something so I suggested we try a moderate climb called Again and Again (5.7). I was eager to do the second pitch, a fifty-foot traverse under a huge ceiling. And I knew that after the second pitch we’d have the option of finishing with an easy scramble to the top, or if we felt up to it we could do something harder: the 5.10 third pitch of Cuckoo Man, over a roof.

Again and Again is easy to find if you know what to look for: a massive, radically overhanging right-facing corner. This corner is so big, you can quickly pick it out from as far away as Bruynswick Road down in Gardiner. The corner houses a legendary 5.12 route called Happiness is a 110-Degree Wall. Again and Again starts about twenty-five feet to the right, at a smaller but equally obvious right-facing corner that forms the right side of a pedestal leaning against the main wall of the cliff.

(Photo: Will on pitch one of Again and Again (5.7).)

Will led pitch one, a perfectly pleasant climb up the side of the big pedestal. The route-finding on this pitch couldn’t be easier, and the rock seemed pretty solid, with good gear.

After I joined Will atop the pedestal I took the lead for pitch two. This is truly a great pitch. It is marred slightly by dirt and bird shit in the early going, but the position and exposure soon make up for these trivial shortcomings. The long, rising traverse takes you across a smooth face under a gigantic overhang. The traverse stays below the roof level, on the seemingly blank face, for almost its entire length. You keep thinking the holds will run out, but as you move laterally, a magic row of footholds just keeps on going, with fun move after fun move. And while Dick Williams’ book gives this pitch an R rating, I thought with modern gear the protection was plentiful.

(Photo: Looking back at Will from the end of the long traverse on pitch two of Again and Again (5.7). Behind Will is the enormous, leaning corner of Happiness is a 110-Degree Wall (5.12).)

Once you finish the traverse there are some more fun moves up a corner on beautiful white rock.

This climb deserves to be popular. It is the Gunks’ answer to Seneca’s ultra-classic Pleasant Overhangs (5.7).

(Photo: Finishing Again and Again (5.7).)

Now that we were done with pitch two, we had a decision to make. Should we scramble up an easy gully to our right, reaching the top of the cliff and the end of our day? Or should we do the third pitch of Cuckoo Man, just above us?

I decided I was up for the Cuckoo Man challenge. Will said he was game to follow it.

All three pitches of Cuckoo Man have 5.10 cruxes. The whole climb is on my to-do list, but the first pitch off of the Death Ledge seems like a committing proposition, since it has a long 5.8 runout before the (well-protected) 5.10 roof section. I took a good look at this pitch as we walked over to Again and Again. I think I'm ready for it but there's only so much time in one day. It can wait.

Pitch three, our goal for today, appeared to have good gear throughout. It looked to me like an easy traverse under the overhang to a difficult roof problem.

When I got up there I found out that the traverse is the real business. There is good gear but it can be strenuous to place and/or remove. As you move to the right the handholds get smaller and smaller and the feet fall away to nothing, over an empty abyss. It is exciting.

I was happy to work my way through it on the first try-- I would say this pitch, like The Movie Star, is on the "plus" side of 5.10. Once I finished the traverse, getting to the notch in the roof, I found the moves upward to be easier, maybe 5.9+.

This is a quality pitch on great rock, and a nice way to reach the top of Millbrook without having to dig through a dirty gully to get there.

(Photo: Will making it over the roof on pitch three of Cuckoo Man (5.10).)

Our day had come to and end, sadly. I had expected us to make it to the Gunks Climbers' Coalition barbecue that night, which ended at 8:00 p.m. But when I looked at my watch atop Cuckoo Man I was surprised to see that we were running late-- it was already almost 7:00, and we still had to hike for over an hour just to get to the car. So we missed the barbecue, which I regret. At Millbrook, a land that time forgot, the hours have a way of slipping away from you.

As we hiked out I resolved not to wait so long to go back again! I am excited to do so many routes there. I feel like I've graduated to a new level of comfort at the cliff and I'm ready to tackle the climbs I've always wanted to do. In addition to the rest of Cuckoo Man (5.10), my targets include Swinging C (5.8 or 5.10 depending on the source of information), The White Corner (5.9/5.10), Lessons in History (5.10), High Plains Drifter (5.10), and Square Meal (5.11-), just to name just a few.

Adventure awaits!

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!

Climbing at Millbrook: Realm of the Fifth Class Climber (5.9) and Old Route (5.7)

(Photo: Gail on the last pitch of Realm of the Fifth Class Climber (5.9).)

I got up on Monday morning, looked in the mirror, and found bits of lichen in my ears.

This could mean only one thing:

I'd been climbing at Millbrook.

Sunday was one of the longest days of the year. It was expected to be a beautiful day in the Gunks. The main cliffs were sure to be overrun. Why not head back out to Millbrook, where we might find solitude? It had been more than a year since my first trip out there. I was overdue for another taste of this most mysterious and daunting of Gunks cliffs.

Last year Gail and I had picked off the two most obvious plums, Westward Ha! (5.7) and Cruise Control (5.9). These two great climbs are centrally located and relatively easy to find. They sit pretty much directly beneath the spot where the Millbrook Mountain Trail reaches the cliff.

This time around I suggested we venture a bit further afield, towards the southern end of the cliff. I was eager to check out Realm of the Fifth Class Climber (5.9). There were a few other routes nearby that I thought we also could do.

Realm of the Fifth Class Climber has a reputation for being on the easy side of 5.9, and also for being well-protected. It seemed like a good candidate for Gail and me. I also thought that since it ascends a prominent corner system we could be fairly sure we were in the right place when we started climbing, which is important at Millbrook! I didn't want to mistakenly stumble into 5.11 X territory.

Chris Fracchia (a fount of knowledge about Millbrook) had given me some advice about approaching Realm. He said we should rap in from directly above the climb rather than traversing over to it on the shelf popularly known as the "Death Ledge." The Death Ledge traverses the whole of Millbrook about one third of the way up the cliff, and all of the climbs start from this ledge rather than from the ground because the rock beneath the ledge is crumbly choss. The Death Ledge itself is pretty crumbly in spots, too, hence Chris' suggestion that we avoid it as much as possible by approaching our chosen climb from directly above.

We followed Chris' instructions and it seemed like we were in the right spot. We were able to find a good tree to rappel in from without too much trouble. By a stroke of dumb luck we stumbled upon another experienced Millbrook climber who confirmed we were in the right location, which gave us the confidence we needed to back our butts off of the cliff and into the unknown.

Even though I knew we'd found the right spot, I was nervous, just like the last time, as I stepped into the void and rappelled down the steep white cliff. Millbrook is a little bit spooky, there's just no getting around it.

(Photo: Rappelling down to the Death Ledge. The triangular roof visible up at the top of the photo is pretty much directly above the start of Realm of the Fifth Class Climber (5.9.).)

Once we got down to the Death Ledge, Realm of the Fifth Class Climber was easy to locate, just to the left of our landing point. The guidebook splits the climb into three pitches, but they are pretty short. I thought maybe I'd combine the first two into one 100 foot pitch.

I led the first 5.7 pitch up a right-facing corner without any trouble. The rock was pretty good and the climbing was mellow. I didn't place very much gear, hoping to reduce drag and save my favorite pieces for the crux climbing above. I finished the first pitch in no time and with plenty of gear left. But as I looked up at the intimidating crux of pitch two right above me, I worried that if I continued without stopping I might create some bad drag going in and out of the overhanging corner. And let's face it, I was still feeling some Millbrook jitters. I decided to bring Gail up and to do the route the traditional way, in three pitches.

(Photo: Gail climbing the last bits of pitch one of Realm of the Fifth Class Climber.)

Pitch two of Realm is a great pitch. It climbs another, larger right-facing corner. The crux comes near the start of the pitch as you escape a ceiling, climbing up to and around it and continuing up the corner system. There is a committing move out right from under the ceiling and then a challenging move up on the face with poor footholds, which leads to more good climbing up the corner with better holds. The pro is outstanding. You can place gear pretty much whenever you like in the crack at the back of the corner.

(Photo: Making it look easy, as always! Here I'm working up the corner to the crux roof on pitch two of Realm of the Fifth Class Climber (5.9).)

Full disclosure: I went back and forth several times before I finally did the crux move out and around the roof. It is a committing sequence. But once I put myself out there it went okay. I didn't find it soft for 5.9. Seemed like solid 5.9 to me. I was glad that I had Gail nearby for moral support.

(Photo: Gail reaching the end of pitch two of Realm of the Fifth Class Climber.)

After two very good pitches, I thought the third pitch was kind of a letdown. There is a hard, awkward move up onto a shelf, right off the belay. After that the pitch is pretty easy and not that much fun. You climb up and left to easily skirt two different roofs and then the climb is over. Watch out for some very loose plates on the wall beneath the first roof. 

I wasn't sure where the 5.9 is on this pitch. Maybe it is just that first awkward move.

(Photo: Heading up pitch three of Realm of the Fifth Class Climber.)

After Gail joined me atop the cliff we rapped in again from the same tree as before. I was hoping we could take a short walk to the north on the Death Ledge to do Again and Again (5.7). I was intrigued by this climb's long traverse under a roof on pitch two. Though the climbing isn't supposed to be hard I thought the position under the roof might be very exciting. Also, after the roof traverse this climb meets Cuckoo Man (5.10) and I was considering checking out that climb's final roof problem.

But when we got back down I couldn't find a secure way to cross the ledge from Realm to Again and Again. The Death Ledge just north of Realm is so much worse than it is over by Westward Ha!. It is very steeply sloped and loose. I couldn't see a safe path across, and I wasn't eager to try to make it, even roped up. I pictured myself sliding right off into oblivion.

So we decided not to do Again and Again.

But the only way out was up. We had to climb something.

(Photo: Hanging out on the sloping, loose Death Ledge near Realm of the Fifth Class Climber.)

I had another moderate climb in mind, Old Route (5.5 or 5.7, depending on who you believe). This was the very first climb ever done in the Gunks. It was put up by the great Fritz Wiessner in 1935. Wearing sneakers (!!) and using just a couple of soft iron pitons for protection, he made history, establishing with this climb what would become THE eastern center of American rock climbing for the next half a century.

Gail and I crossed the Death Ledge over to Old Route without a problem. It is south of Realm, in the opposite direction from Again and Again. We pitched it out, staying roped up while we moved on the ledge. I slung some trees along the way. The ledge wasn't as terrible to the south of Realm, but it was still pretty junky and loose. It is just a touch more than 60 meters from Realm to Old Route. I stopped at a tree when I was just about out of rope, and then after Gail came over we scrambled up to the right-facing corner where the climb begins.

Everyone agrees on where this climb starts, at an obvious right-facing corner. But different guidebooks disagree about where the route goes from there. Dick Williams has the climb going straight up the corner until it ends and then veering left up a woodsy dihedral to the top, while Todd Swain sends the climber on a long horizontal traverse after the corner ends, finishing the climb in a totally different place. Chris Fracchia identifies on his website yet another possibility, this one based on Fritz's own recollections as published in Appalachia magazine in 1960. We did the climb this last way, going up the corner just until we reached a bush and ledge, then stepping left to a v-notch and, at the top of the notch, moving back right to the belay at the top of the corner. And then moving left as the Williams guide has it for the second pitch up the large vegetated right-facing corner to the top.

Standing beneath Old Route, we both had to wonder why Fritz picked this line out of all the thousands available in the Gunks. It doesn't look so great. My guess is that he chose it because it looked like it could be climbed. The initial corner has lots of features to grab on to and the part towards the top of the cliff goes up a gully/notch, so Fritz figured he wouldn't get shut down at some massive overhang.

(Photo: Pitch one of Old Route (5.7).)

The first pitch, it turns out, is well worth doing. The initial corner is easy and pretty dirty, nothing to write home about. But the move into the v-slot is a toughie (easily 5.7 or harder) and then the climbing up this slot is clean and interesting. Once you reach a roof and start to traverse right to the belay ledge the moves are easier again and the exposure is really nice. I would think that anyone following Fritz on this traverse in 1935 would have been terrified! If this pitch were in the Trapps, it would have been cleaned up by the passage of human traffic long ago and it would by now be a popular trade route.

But since this climb is at Millbrook it hasn't been cleared of its considerable debris. Every ledge is full of loose rocks-- some small, some the size of cinder blocks. I couldn't get through the pitch without knocking a couple of the small ones off, and I narrowly avoided sending down some of the big ones. The belay ledge, too, is a mess, covered in loose crap. And the trees there are not very useful for the belay. One tree is dead and the other is very small. I chose not to use them. Instead I moved up and left to the next ledge and built a gear belay in some cracks that seemed solid.

(Photo: Finishing the clean climbing at the beginning of pitch two of Old Route (5.7). It is pretty densely wooded the rest of the way.)

The second pitch begins with enjoyable moves up the wall to the left of the belay, and then you chimney/grovel your way to the top up the big dihedral with a wide crack at the back, past bushes, trees and lichen-- lots of lichen. It is all 5.easy climbing. I found it fun up to a point. By the time I got to fighting my way past the final tree I'd had about enough.

I doubt I'll ever do Old Route again but I'm glad we did it once, partly for the connection to Fritz Wiessner and also because the first pitch has some very nice moments.

Realm of the Fifth Class Climber, by contrast, was pretty high quality for most of its length and I would be happy to do that one again.

It was great to be out at Millbrook, no matter what we were climbing. The place has a special atmosphere and it is very enjoyable just to hang out at the belays and up atop the cliff. You feel removed from it all up there, much more so than at the Trapps or the Nears. The ground, the buildings, other climbers... all of them are much further away. The cliff demands caution and respect, but it also offers genuine adventure and some very good climbing. I hope not to wait another year to go back. I'd like to jump on Rib Cracker (5.9), The High Traverse (5.8 by one of the variation finishes), Again and Again/Cuckoo Man (5.7/5.10), maybe even The Time Eraser (5.10-), some time soon.

If we have some agreeable weather this summer (not too hot) I might be able to make it happen in the near future.

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.