If you have formatting issues in
your email view this online in a browser.
 |
Most of the classes have concluded for the season, and we enjoyed a lot of success, with students and new friends. As we start into June, our first rock trip of the season is on the table. The Gunks in Gardiner, NY. Mega fun multi-pitch destination which will feature our new intermediate class students getting acclimated to fun on the hard rock(and grades) of this infamous ridgeline. May afforded us our first Women’s+ crag day of the year. As usual, very successful with new and old friends. Brian ran a couple of Sport classes, always valued and appreciated. This last weekend we helped the AMC with its first local AMC 150 celebration, more to follow in June. AMC 150 at Durfee Hill on Wed. June 10th, 4pm start. AMC at Ross Pond celebrate a crag day June 13th. 8:30 start. AMC 150 at CRG Randolph, Monday June 15th, 4pm start. We’ve constructed a full 2026 schedule(see below), get out there and enjoy the climbing event options. If you’re new to us, let us know who you are, and what you aspire to. Maybe we can help each other. Climb together, grow together, get those higher grades together. If anyone would like to contribute to this monthly newsletter please email your contribution to risouthcounty@gmail.com or bikeskiboy@hotmail.com. Contribution needs to be 200 words or less to fit in this newsletter format. A photo is helpful as well but not necessary. |
|
 |
2026
AMC Narragansett Climbing Trip/Event Schedule This is a synopsis of the upcoming AMC trips/events. Click the link above for details. Trip announcements go out about a month before any trip date! The trips are all focused on multi-pitch trad and ice, except for the Rumney trip, which is sport climbing focused. Jun 6-7 Rock Climbing Gunks Jun 10 AMC 150 Climbing day(afternoon) at Durfee Hill Jun 13 (20 rain date) Ross Pond celebrate a crag day. Jun 15 AMC 150 Climbing afternoon at CRG Randolph Jul 11-12 Rock Climbing Cannon/Franconia Notch Jul 18 Pine Ledge celebrate a crag day Main and South cliff areas. Jul 25 Gym to Crag - Sport Climbing Class - Beach Pond Aug 1-2 Rock Climbing Rumney, NH Aug 29 Lantern Hill celebrate a crag day. Sep 12 Durfee Hill celebrate a crag day Sep 19-20 Rock Climbing North Conway, NH Sep 26 or 27 AMC RI Women's+ Crag Day - Durfee , Sep TBD Veteran Leaders Retreat at the Gunks? Oct 10-12 Rock Climbing, Gunks |
|
 |
The
Reepschnur Rappel -
Brian
You are ready to rappel and discover you forgot your tube-style belay device. You only have a GriGri. You have a few options. One is rappel using a Munter hitch (twists the rope, hard to backup) another is to use a carabiner brake rappel (fairly complicated and needs lots of biners), and the third is the Reepschunr. The Reepschnur is the easiest of the three especially if you don't know what a Munter or carabiner brake rappel are. The Reepschnur is simply an overhand on a bight tied on one side of the rope and attached to the other side of the rope with a locking carabiner, so it closes the system. Just be sure you rappel on the locked side of the rope (the blue rope in the image). TEST IT by pulling on each side before you attach your GriGri and rappel. There was just an accident at Red Rocks in Nevada where a woman using a Reepschnur rappelled off the wrong side of the rope and fell to her death. This method can be used rappelling on a single rope or on two ropes tied togher. If used on two ropes tied together make sure the knot/biner is on the side of the pull rope. After rappelling make sure the stopper knot is untied and simply pull the rope on the side of the locking carabiner. |
|
 | Climbing Accident Reporting: A Fallacy - Brian Every year the AAC puts out a book entitled Accidents in North American Mountaineering (ANAM) detailing the year's accidents in climbing. Supposedly its purpose is to learn from other's mistakes. I have knowledge of two serious accidents that were reported in ANAM. Both of them were inaccurate accounts of the accidents by people who were not there to witness them and did not talk to the actual people who did. They offer an assessment which is a coulda, woulda, shoulda by people who weren't there and don't know what they are talking about. One of the accounts was from an accident at Echo Crag in NH where I witnessed a member of our group take a life altering fall. It was reported in the ANAM by a local North Conway climber George Hurley. The report was not close to what happened other than someone fell. The second report that I am familiar with is more recent and involved a climber who fell on the climb Seeking Forgiveness at Ross Rocks, again with life altering consequences. I don't know who wrote the report, but they were entirely speculating as to what happened. They speculate in the analysis that the climber was sport climbing and expected to find more bolts where the route turned into a trad crack. The fact is, the climber was trad climbing and placed three pieces of gear in the crack that all pulled when he fell. (I spoke to the climber.) It was also reported that there was a "two-bolt anchor" on the route that wasn't even there at the time of the accident. I know, because I installed the anchor after the fall. So, the bottom-line is don't believe anything you read in Accidents of North American Mountaineering or Mountain Project. There is a good chance that it is purely speculative account by Monday morning quarterbacks. | |
 Drew Lombardi on The Dangler |
Breaking
Into the Grade: Gunks 5.10 - Brian
These are all “easy” 5.10s that I’ve done, so this is first-hand beta. They have short cruxes and are well protected if you are competent at placing gear. Beatle Brow Bulge
5.10a – Place multiple pieces below the roof
not just one in the horizontal crack at the lip of the roof.
https://www.mountainproject.com/route/105818020/beatle-brow-bulge Dis-Mantel 5.10b –
Height dependent. I think it is a grade easier if you
are 5’10” or taller.
Dat-Mantel 5.10b –
Protects well below and above the roof. A
blind reach over the roof to a jug. Seldom-Mustard-Never-Relish
5.10b – One roof pull. Get multiple gear
in the crack below the roof. The Dangler 5.10a –
Not as daunting as it looks. Before you
commit, reach out and place two cams. After about 10 feet of straight
arms and
heel-hooking, place a cam, swing, and throw a right leg up. City Streets 5.10b –
Climb to the roof, clip a piton, back
it up with a nut, and do a big reach up and left. |
|
 | This Month's Climber Bio by Ronnie Schroeder - Leonardo Emilio Comici (1901-1940) Initially, I thought to write this bio because of the climb “Emilio” at the Gunks. But that climb was not named after this man, but he did have important influence on US climbing. Comici was an Italian mountaineer born in Trieste. He began as a gymnast and speleologist (study of caves), which gave him extraordinary balance, rope skills, and comfort on steep terrain. By the early 1930s he was one of Europe’s leading alpinists, celebrated for his fluid movement and pioneering “directissima” philosophy (finest route follows the most direct, vertical line to a summit). His 1933 ascent of the north face of the Cima Grande di Lavaredo (iconic Dolomites wall) pushed technical standards and set a new benchmark for big wall climbing. Although he never climbed in North America, his ideals reached us from European climbers and early transatlantic climbing literature. In the Gunks of NY, pioneers such as Fritz Wiessner and Hans Kraus adopted Comici’s preference for steep, clean, direct lines. The emphasis on precise footwork and controlled, gymnastic movement became features of technical climbing in both the Gunks and the emerging crags of New England, including Cathedral Ledge and Cannon Cliff. Comici died in a climbing accident in 1940. | |
 |
Local
Crags: The South Cliff of Pine Ledge -
Brian
I have "advertised" this crag before and still few go there. The south cliff of Pine Ledge has some very fun climbs especially if you are seeking challenging (i.e. harder) climbs. Some of the hardest routes I've developed live here. It is a bit hard to find compared to the main cliff but rewards those with good exploration skills. Follow the instructions on the Pine Ledge page and you'll find it. There is an AMC scheduled "Pine Ledge Celebrate a Crag Day" on July 18th when we can clean the cliff of errant growth and climb there. Not to be missed are Ocean State 5.11a, Little Rhody 5.11b, Hope 5.11a, and Business Time 5.10a. There are more moderate routes there as well. |
|
|
Ken's
Training Tips You rested(from last month), but you’re still short on time. Here are some quick ways to get an effective, quick workout in. 1) Pullup / Pushup Pyramid. Time involved 5-7 minutes. Not hurrying, but not dilly dallying either. Do a pullup set, then do a pushup set, and it can go something like this…1 of each, 2 of each, 3 of each, 4 of each, 5 of each, 4 of each, 3 of each, 2 of each, 1 of each. Play with the actual numbers, depending on how strong you are. Can’t do a pullup, then do an assisted one…with a band, or by jumping up to the bar and lowering slowly. Pushups a challenge?…do them off of your knees, or leaning into a table, etc. It doesn’t matter how strong you are, only how strong you get. 2) Leg crusher…Bulgarian Split Squat(google it)…do 6 reps with as much weight(dumbbells or kettlebells) as you can safely manage(I use two 35lb, or 44lb Kettlebells). Put the weights down, and immediately follow with 6 jumps(no weight) in the same Bulgarian squat position. Then do the other leg. 3 sets total, with a 2min rest between. 10-12min. * disclaimer…a very effective workout, that left me appropriately sore. The second time I did it, my right knee was sore for several days after. Maybe adjust that ‘air jump’ portion to suit!? 3) If concerned about your knees, do this instead…1min Horsestance pose, or wall sit. Alternate that pose/position with BACK lunges(correct form and go deep with the knee to the floor) either no weights for 1min, OR 6-8 reps with moderate wgt kettlebells or dumbbells. 4) 5-5-5-5-5-5 W/O of a month or more ago… using a chin up bar or hangboard 5 sec. dead hang 5 sec. chin over bar hold 5 sec. head to bar hold 5 pullups 5 sec. negative slow lower. Individually, very easy. Together…that’s a bit of time to be hanging, and doing ‘stuff’. Climbing technique – Do you feel the burn when you start climbing? Maybe you jumped on something a little too stiff of a grade for the warmup you had, or didn’t have!? OR, you’re on that desert crack that just keeps going, but your forearms are like overfilled balloons, about to burst through your skin?? Can ANYTHING help!? Alex Puccio[multi-time US Bouldering Champion] taught me something I almost never miss doing…works best when standing. Very simply…with your palms facing up, and angled down a bit towards the floor, take your opposite hand, and gently pull your fingers back towards the back of your hand. This shouldn’t hurt, no matter what it sounds like, but the stretch you will feel in your forearm. Hold that for about 10-15 seconds. Do the opposite hand, and then do each individual finger for 6-10 seconds. Shake out your hands and arms, flick your fingers together, one at a time, and see if that alone doesn’t hold the forearm pump at bay for your next session. Jonathan Siegrist point of view… ‘Jonathan Siegrist has climbed 90 routes at 5.14c or harder. Here’s what he told a friend who walked away from a send… The friend came painfully close on his project outside Vegas. “Jonathan: Nice work. Take a rest. Get back on it.” The friend declined. Said he’d rather go home and train. That’s the trap! Training feels good 99% of the time. Set your reps. Hit them. Leave satisfied. Climbing above your comfort zone feels bad 99% of the time. Try hard. Fall. Drive home deflated. But it’s not worth training just to train. The best memories come from the climbs we had to fight to finish. The challenge is resisting the pull of the thing that feels good now, for the thing that actually matters later. Red Rock last month: “not as fit as I wanted. Still went. Stoked the fire anyway. Gym last week: Fighting a cold. Showed up anyway. Outdoor days are rare. You climb whether you feel 100% or not. Keep the goal the goal.”’ Quote inspiration: “When life feels stuck, train first. Not because the workout fixes everything. Because it gets you moving again. Don’t wait to feel ready. Start with the work. The unstuck protocol…when life feels frozen. Stop negotiating, put on your shoes. Train for 20min – weights, pushups, walk, anything. Take one next action – send the text, make the call, start the thing.” - Arnoldspumpclub |
|
 |
Join
the ClimbRI email group Most communication among RI climbers (including the AMC) is done through a Google Group called ClimbRI. There are currently just over 400 climbers in the group from RI, CT, and MA. |