Growing up in the northeast, I always looked up to climbers like Dave Graham, Paul Robinson, and the many others who grew up here and went on to do great things. One trend I noticed time and time again was that none of them ever stayed in the Northeast, and that always confused me. Why move to Colorado or California when we have plenty of quality hard projects at home, plus where else can you find a community as amazing as the Northeast.
As a young climber progressing through the grades I always chased that next challenge, like it or not that next challenge usually revolved around chasing a grade goal. In my head v15 was the level of a “professional climber”, if you can climb that hard you “made it”. Areas with a climb of that level are automatically a destination. So when you look around the Northeast and realize that there are no developed climbs that are that difficult, and there are barely any v13s and v14s as well, it becomes a little uninspiring to stay here and try to “make it” as a pro.
When I was younger I had dreams of moving to Colorado as well. There's just so much to choose from, surely I could make it there. As I matured, I started hiking around more on my own, finding new inspiring projects and such. I began to love the Northeast more and more. I realized there's a reality where I could stay here, a place I love so much, and try to “make it”.
Over the last few years I’ve been trying to do exactly that, developing as many hard climbs around the Northeast.It has taken me to Pennsylvania, Maine, and most recently Vermont, but one place I always come back to is the Gunks in New York. One thing people don't know about the gunks is just how untapped it is. I would say there is likely just as much rock here as there is in places like Chaos Canyon in Colorado, maybe even more! You just have to be willing to hike past all the choss.
At the beginning of last year I started to hike out to the Forbidden Forest zone a lot. Benn Wheeler and I had started trying a project together that would later turn into “Playing With Sticks” when Adam Shahar first ascended it. We were all so psyched on the caves out there, they were perfect for hard climbing. The same night Adam FA’d “Playing With Sticks”, he also climbed a new line starting in the middle of the Forbidden Forest cave, a line that local legend Liam Welling pointed out to him. It’s a stand start in the middle of the roof linking into the end of “Forbidden Forest”. Adam ended up calling it “Three Little Pigs” and grading it v12, another new hard boulder in an area once thought to be tapped out!
Quickly, Adam realized there was a potential lower start possible, on the same obvious jugs “Further into the Forbidden Forest” starts on. As soon as Adam got back to his car for the night he texted us right away and we were all so psyched.
“Three Little Pigs” turned out to be quite the epic for me. Two savage intro moves lead to a huge throw to a weirdly slotted crimp. The massive throw move always seemed to throw me off. One summer day Adam, Benn and Noah Wheeler, and Myself went out to play around on the low moves, and to our surprise we did them! I actually managed to do all the moves relatively quickly, but linking these moves felt nearly impossible. Towards the end of the session
I decided to try the massive throw on the stand again and somehow stuck that too! For the first time everything was falling into place, the “Big Bad Wolf Project” was born. Like we usually do, we got to talking about how hard we thought it could be. Noah and Adam threw out that it could be v15, I was a little skeptical at first honestly. I think I was still stuck in my old mindset, “it can't be that hard, not here, not for me”.
As the summer came to a close, the temps started to drop and I only had one climb on my mind. The first day below seventy degrees, I rushed out to the cave with Bryce Viola and got back to work. The massive throw move still felt hard but doable now, most of the start moves of the lower sequence worked still as well. I did however manage to unlearn the second move of the lower section. I came back a few days later and finally managed to send the stand start!
Having not only sent the stand now, but feeling steady on it, I started to feel confident. The only climb I wanted to do now was this project. On weekdays I would run out after class, get to the boulder around 5pm, and climb until like 10pm. The solo night sessions are always so special out there, it feels so secluded but in reality you're not even that far out from the roads. On weekends I would try to get anyone psyched enough to come out and rally, it usually ended up being my Girlfriend Siri or good friend Ori.
Ori and I headed out one day, he was going to try this v10 he almost did last time called “Little Red Riding Hood”. We set up the pads, I got the camera out, and he basically did it on his first try! Once he sent, he decided to switch focus to trying “Forbidden Forest” and I decided I would play around on the lower moves of the project in hopes of learning them more. I started to feel good on the moves and told Ori I was going to try from the start. I also told him I wasn't going to get very far, but if I do somehow stick the second move, pull your phone out and start recording.
I pulled on, stuck the first gaston perfectly and floated the second move. I heard Ori in the background scramble to get his phone out. I managed to stick the next move too, and then the next, before I knew it I was in the stand facing the massive throw. I went for it. . . and wasn't even close! Ori and I were freaking out! I couldn't believe how close I had just gotten, and nor could he. Game mutha fukkin on.
A few days later I convinced Siri to come spend two days in New Paltz during the week, I had Thursday off and decided I would skip class Friday. The first day we went to her project, “Even Lovely” v9 and she sent after a little battle. The second day was reserved for the project. When I woke up in the morning I started to have doubts. I don't love skipping classes for climbing but I was way too psyched, I had to go try. Sorry Mom.
Siri and I hiked out, once we got to the cave I warmed up quicker than normal. I did my usual routine of repeating the stand moves and before I knew it I was ready to try from the ground. I pulled on for my first go, stuck the gaston pretty poorly but managed to readjust, got my foot up to reach for the second move and slipped off. I probably rested less than five minutes before trying again, and again the same thing happened.
As I pulled onto the wall for my third go of the day, I didn't feel any different. Nothing felt special. It was just another attempt. I climbed perfectly through the bottom. Again, I face the massive throw, but this time I hit the weirdly slotted crimp perfectly. I let out a growl and kept climbing. Slowly I realized what was happening, I was actively sending. I tried not to let it get to me but we all know how hard that is. Now on the final set of holds reaching for the lip, I could breath, I grabbed the lip of the cave and turned to Siri in amazement. As I topped out, I couldn't help but scream a little. It honestly felt way better than I expected it to. I must have been freaking out for like five minutes before I called my Dad and let him know. I texted the boys ASAP too, they were so psyched!
“The Big Bad Wolf”, the first v15 in the Northeast, was born that day.
Reflecting on the experience now, it truly feels like a full circle moment for me. The generations before me inspired me so much, their vision and psych were infectious. I hope that the development myself and many others are doing now can inspire future generations to push the limits even further. Someone’s gotta do the v17 project in the cave still!
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