to this day While some Ragged ascents have been completed with bolts drilled on the lead, and hooks placed over ledges, they are not the norm here.
The Main Cliff at Ragged Mountain is the main attraction. It is about 100 feet tall and more than a quarter mile long. I remember my fi rst trip there as a 17 year old like it was yesterday. Steep and intimidating, long and sustained, we climbed Wet Wall. 5.6 should be easy, but we were at Ragged. I had to earn every inch. The awkward start, the long reach to the jug, the wide fl ake halfway up, the rest ledge. I did think about belaying at the rest ledge. I was scared and tired. I continued on though. The steep top out still gets my attention when the wind whips up, and I can still hear the hex nuts clanking like cow- bells. My buddy Alain was here for a few days last spring, and he told me that he had forgotten how intimidating this place was. On a route like this 5.6, one can begin to appreciate what climbing here is like. It’s is steep and sustained. The vertical cracks intermingle with delicate face holds that unlock fantastic climbing sequences, the black patina providing little crispy edges for fi ngers and toes.
The reality is that the climbers I have met in other places have never been here. Our routes can be fun or frustrat- ing, strait forward or devious, strenuous or delicate (or both!). And, rest assured, they will be challenging. You might fi nd yourself facing a sequence of thin face climbing on Vanishing Point, getting lured into the wide on Carey Corner, or possibly stymied by the tricky crux gear on YMC. Mostly, you’ll be amazed that Fritz Weissner did Vector in 1935, be- cause back then, it was the hardest route in the country at 5.8. Today, with a rack of cams, a padded harness, and the best sticky rubber shoes known to man, it actually feels more like 5.9. I like to
2011 MAY JUNE |
Chad Hussey on
Bombay Indirect (5.9+) photo by Bob Clark
think that all of his training in Dresden, Germany has led us down a proud path. Weissner took his skill set to most of the major climbing areas in the United States, leaving his mark most notably at Devil’s Tower, the Gunks, and on K2. Some of the corner systems at Ragged’s Main Cliff remarkably resemble individ- ual pitches of routes at Devil’s Tower.
On any given weekend, you can fi nd the cliff strung with top ropes from one end to the other. Climbers like getting a pump in, and we like to socialize. What
we often forget is that Ragged has a strong and proud history written on the sharp end. Weissner, Whitney, Gilman, Kor, Reppy, Barber, Webster, House and Streibert have all left their mark here. They all started from the bottom, and fi nished on top, without resorting to pulling on their gear, or hanging on the rope. They say Weissner did the FA on Vector with only one piton for protec- tion. Often, visiting climbers or insur- gent sprayers on the web say that we should be transforming Ragged to meet the modern day. They say add bolts,
climber MAGAZINEism | 21
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