Weekly Choss I

1: Before - Now (3/10/13)

After wrestling the computer with a buzz on for what has seemed to be hours I finally figured out how to set up a gallery of images as thumbnails so that you, the viewer, may click at your fancy and have them magically enlarge, scroll, etc.

Anyway..this is the first installment of a new department we're calling "Weekly Choss", kinda keeping up with the choss theme (Notes From The Choss Pile).  Except here, instead of spewing about various subjects, we'll just let you know what's happening in our neck of the woods.  Along the lines of our previous "Weekly Sends" piece, we'll talk about noteworthy sends, FA's, scours, discoveries and the like.  As this is the first one, we'll reflect back to a little more than a week..two weeks.

We've been busy.  Well Andy and I anyway.  Alex, Dawson, and Kyle are only on climbing trips (J-Tree, Bishop, Rocktown..who needs 'em).  Back home us injured bums have been "scouring the hills", not expecting to find anything new though, cause it's all been found.

In the last two weeks the two of us combined have been to a dozen areas within northwestern Connecticut and the southern Berkshires.  All of which have seen some level of development but are still producing new lines, some areas with more potential than others.  The above images are a sample of only two locations.  Both of which have been pretty thoroughly combed over as far as "roped climbing" goes (though I could see a line or two more).  The boulders however are virtually untapped..as far as we can tell.  Psyche is high.  Expect to see numerous updates about the status of work being put in at these spots.

As for the other areas, some of the visits were merely just hikes to reacquaint ourselves with the rock.  Some were first time encounters.  About half a dozen or so of these areas have been somewhat lost to obscurity despite their quality.  They need a good cleaning since they have hardly been touched in six or seven years.  Good thing we're motivated.

1. Get beer.

2. Get brushes.

3. Get to work.

The snow has been brutal on our scour missions.  Post holing up to your nipples is not the funnest thing in the world.  Especially when your leg is plunging into holes formed by mounded boulders, a little dicey to say the least. We're still waiting to wake up a bear with all the poking around we've been doing in caves.  The snow is good for one thing though - wiping your ass in times of drastic measures caused by some shrimp tacos the night before. It's warming up though - the peregrines know what time of year it is, we've already seen a pair at one crag.  Melt.

In other news Andy and I have moved into an apartment in Norfolk, CT - Rock Cricket Manor.  Lets see if we can squeeze out some more rock in the area.  I'm feeling good about it.

-Ryan