Touring the Candy Shop

Saturday and Sunday brought some of the best conditions so far this Fall, as Jenn and I found ourselves in C-ville. Since neither of us felt like driving over the mountain to the Harrisonburg crags/boulders, we decided to take a second look at the Sugar Hollow boulders.

Sugar Hollow is similar to the blobby granite that one can find north of C-ville at Old Rag, except its a little more quartz-ish. Anyhow, the traveled problems are great, while the less traveled problems are still shedding a bit. Most of the problems fall into the V0-V4 realm, but there are 3-4 harder problems as well.

We had visited nearly a year ago to check out the local hard problem, the Egg (v9?), but cold and wind made the day less than ideal. This time we were met with sun and no wind. To warm up for the Egg re-match, we checked out some nice lines bellow the Egg, the highlights being the Pipe Line Arette and a Short Sloper Problem. The arette, while easy (V1), is asthetic and has an exciting landing. Definitely fun! The short sloper problem, located just a stones throw from the arette, started on a nice jug SDS, to a jug and a technical mantle topout using a neat fin feature. Different for sure, and pretty fun.

The heater problem for the day was the Egg. A bit of starring and thinking jogged memories of beta from Dave Tucker. After a few tries the first move finally revealed its self; boiling down to my trying not to suck for a second or two. A few attempts at the top make sure it was sussed out, led to a few near sends. A quick break for wine tasting @ Oakcroft (only $1 !!!) and some coffee, and a few more tries left me with sore skin and no more attempts. Maybe next time. Way psyched to come back and check out the other hard problems!


Topo
1) Egg Arete: SDS on arete
2) Egg (v4 & v8+/9?) (fa: Glassberg): SUS on sloper and gaston. Arete is off.
SDS on edges and climb into SUS. Arete is off
3) SDS on big sloper
4) ??? (V3) SDS on big sloper jug/side pull. Up via edges and side pull
5) ??? (V2) SDS on jug/flake
6) Traverse (V5) same as 5) but traverse left and top out 3 feet shy of the boulder's edge
7) ??? SDS on crack. Top out on arete.
8) Pipe Line Arete (v1): SDS on sloper.
9) ??? (V3/4) SDS onlow eyebrow jug. Top out via fin feature, pockets and crimps.
10) ??? (V6) SDS on jug climb roof with edges.
11) ??? (V6) SDS & climb crack
12) Great White (V7) (fa Berhens): SDS on sloper and edge. Climb up via crimps and pocket.
13) Start under roof on crack and edge. Climb out roof to face and top out. Beware of pipe line.
14) various warm ups.

The Season is here!!!

It looks like some cooler weather is finally in for a bit. Which is a much need change of pace after a way hot summer. Jon, Tom, and I went up to McAfee's Knob this past weekend and were psyched to sample some great friction.

We found a new boulder (dubbed Quattro) and put up 4 new lines on it. Nothing way hard, but really cool moderates. To find the boulder, start at the Arrow Head boulder, walk about 50-80 feet up the trail, and the boulder will be immediately on your right. If you come across the block in the trail , then you missed Quattro. It is has a featured vertical face at about 7-8 feet tall. The new problems are listed from right to left. Pictures to come...

1) un-named, v0 (FA Bernard) SDS on jugs, go up and left to crack system and top out.

2) A Cups, V4 (FA Walker) SDS same as 1, head up and right to rail. At end of rail, top out directly above on slopers and a finger lock.

3) Mud Puppy, V3 (FA Walker) SDS in middle of wall on jugs, and go straight up to lie back. Top out via great lock/pocket and slopers

4) Raising Brows, V2 (FA Walker) SDS on left side at pockets/edges. head up w/ right hand to eye brow and lef to edge. Side pull a sloper and reach for the jug.