I have been climbing seriously since early 2002. Well, maybe not seriously, but I do climb a lot.
Started out top roping at Crow Hill in Leominster, Massachusetts. Great crag with a great history and frequented by a great group of climbers.
Did my first sport leading at Rumney in late 2002. My first sport lead fall was caught by my buddy Joel at Rumney on Easy Terms when I blew the 2nd clip on a wet climb somewhat after dark. I nearly decked as Joel and I ended up eye-to-eye at the base of the climb. We learned about the extreme forces involved in lead falls that night and the importance of the belayer bracing and standing near the rock face.
Started following trad in the latter part of 2002. Since then I have seconded a lot of people on crags all around the Northeast and have learned a great deal. Thanks folks!
Did my first trad lead on Beginner's Blessing at Crow Hill on June 21, 2003 which happens to be my birthday. It was a great birthday with my new rack and my daughter Caitlin belaying me.
I have had some great times climbing. I have also been dumb and have gotten banged up. I'm trying to use better judgment. It is no fun getting hurt. I did recently accomplish my # 1 goal for the 2006 climbing season, not getting hurt!!!!
She was extremely thrilled to second me on my first lead at the Gunks when I inadvertently did the 5.6 version of the first pitch of Sixish. Caitlin found doing the underclinging layback around the big block makes for a pretty stiff "warm up" climb first thing in the morning.
I know she has particularly fond memories of our escapade on Andrew. I took what turned out to be a pretty hairy detour on the second pitch in an attempt to avoid wet rock. Nothing like a few difficult moves with very significant exposure on wet crumbly rock with to add some spice to an outing!
Then came our strangely enjoyable epic rap off Andrew in the dark with headlamps safely stowed in the car. My motto is "Send the young down first. They are stronger and more agile!" This resulted in my favorite quote from the day, "Dad, you aren't going to believe this but I am not going to reach the ledge again!" Caitlin presented me with a set of doubles as a Christmas present that year specifically to lessen the chance of having to hang off a cliff on the end of a rope in complete darkness again.
The girl can catch a fall and has done so numerous times at Rumney before I finally wised up and stopped frequently pitching off things.
Our latest project is exploring an "undocumented crag" in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Thus far we have gotten 2 pitches up on what looks to be a 5 or 6 pitch climb. We have named it "The Zen of Bugs". It is tough being a belayer during black fly season in Vermont .
