[Jerry Morefat]

I'm probably off on a work conference next year to Boston. I'll be finished on the 1st of March and I'm keen to stay around and do some climbing after this for a week or so. I was was hoping to mine UKB's collective knowledge for potential locations. My criteria are a) preferably sport climbing (mid/high 7s), but also open to trad and/or bouldering, b)relatively cheap and quick (~1 day max) to get to from Boston and c)somewhere where I can persuade/con someone into climbing with me (as I'll be on my tod).

I'm a bit of a nipper when it comes to climbing in the States, having only been to Yosemite once. However my current thinking is to fly or train/bus it to Red River Gorge, Kentucky. As I understand it March is the start of the climbing season there and it's relatively easy to pick up partners at Miguel's Pizza. A friend has suggested Rumney, New Hampshire which is obviously closer but doesn't look as inspiring and might be too cold in March?

Any advice gratefully received.

[a dense loner]

If Rumney doesn't look inspiring u may as well lie down n die

[cheque]

Getting to Kentucky (Lexington is the closest city to the Red) shouldn't be hard, but public transport is nonexistent between there and Miguel's. The English guy I met there had arranged a lift from Lex but been stood up and had to shell out £120 for a taxi!

[SA Chris]

March could well be a bit chilly in New England; might be OK for bouldering but possibly too cold for routes? As dense said, Rumney looks amazing??

Worth asking here; http://newenglandbouldering.com/ ?

This site used to be full of useful topos etc, but I think once the guidebook was published they cut back on the info.

This may be of use though;

http://archive.newenglandbouldering.com/mass/ma.html plus some of the other states aren't far away.

I wouldn't even think of bus or train to Kentucky if you are time restricted.

[Jerry Morefat]

Thanks for the links Chris. Wil check them out.

As dense said, Rumney looks amazing??

To be fair, I didn't say Rumney looks unispiring, just not as inspiring as the Red. However, having not been to either and coming from a position of complete ignorance I'm prepared to be corrected on this!

Getting to Kentucky (Lexington is the closest city to the Red) shouldn't be hard, but public transport is nonexistent between there and Miguel's. The English guy I met there had arranged a lift from Lex but been stood up and had to shell out £120 for a taxi!

Hmm, sounds like from what you and Chris say, an internal flight and car hire are the only real options to get to the Red. Do you know what the chances of picking up a partner are and if the Red will actually be climbable at the beginning of March? Is the campsite open then?

[cheque]

Do you know what the chances of picking up a partner are and if the Red will actually be climbable at the beginning of March? Is the campsite open then?

Miguel's will be open. It's very easy to find partners there. March can be wet apparently, but many of crags there are so steep that you can climb in the rain and a lot of the stuff is immune to seepage (although it barely rained when I was there so this is not advice from personal experience).

Bear in mind that in a normal (ie non-4x4) vehicle, a lot of the crags are inaccessible, especially so if it's been raining. This includes the Motherlode region and the PMRP, so a lot of very good climbing. There's a lot of very good climbing that you can get to in a normal car though and finding a lift in a suitably robust vehicle shouldn't be hard. I hired a normal car and mainly used it for giving people lifts to the supermarket (I don't advise eating every meal at Miguel's- it's good but hardly a balanced diet!) in exchange for lifts to the crags.

Also, if you end up going to the Red, train endurance as much as possible before you go- getting pumped is the stopper on every route and you'd want to be 'hitting the ground running' in that respect with only a week there!

[a dense loner]

Ferret is on a 3mth road trip on the eastern side and pops up from time to time on here he may be of some use when he gets back, there's a first time for everything I suppose, but not that that's just plain wrong