We’ve had an unseasonably warm fall/early winter in the ADK and Northeast. Luckily, I’ve been fortunate enough to get a few climbs in as the season comes to a close. I teach with my climbing partner Don Mellor, and we spent our Sunday together away from the classrooms at Poke-O-Moonshine. We regularly send supertopo and 8a.nu posts back and forth, so I joked that I would make a trip report since it would probably be our final climb of the season together. I'll keep it short and sweet...here it goes:

We planned on climbing “Bloody Mary” – 5.9+, and to traverse over to the final pitch of “Gamesmanship”. The climbing was varied and lots of fun. Crimps, jugs, finger cracks, jamming, flakes, etc.




P1 was short, but sweet.

P2 and P3 were the highlights: A tough roof pull (crux) and sustained climbing with big exposure. The belay for P3 was awesome.




For the record- yes, I was wearing camo pants, and yes, Don proceeded to make fun of me.

P4 was a scramble traverse over to “Gamesmanship”. Although easy, it was still lots of fun.

P5 of Gamesmanship was a short handcrack that ran out to ski rails and finger cracks. One tricky move at the start to easier moves as the pitch progressed.


The Rappel was awesome. Lots of exposure and air. Fun adventures with the Don.




Until next season!