John Peterson's Connecticut Traprock Beta

Background

Central Connecticut features numerous small traprock crags. Traprock, a form of basalt, provides delightful climbing on well-featured steep faces and cracks. Climbing in traprock requires some extra caution: In general, be very cautious about leading on traprock. I tend to lead at a level well below my usual on many routes. Many climbers toprope here but the lead climbing can be very rewarding. None of these crags are taller than a single rope length.

The best source of access information is the Ragged Mountain Foundation. Please observe all posted regulations, especially "NO PARKING" signs. Check the RMF web site for access information.

The guidebook situation is currently rather bad. I use the old Nichols guide for obscure routes. The original guidebook to Ragged is quite nice - you can use it to find most of the classic routes there. The newer Nichols guides are hard to get and not recomended. The RMF has published a small guide book (just $6.00!) - good reference but this doesn't cover the out of the way routes or help much with finding the crags. Harlin's East Coast climbs covers some of the better routes. Although Nichols lists hundreds and hundreds of routes, the majority of these are trivial or even positively awful. His stars don't always mean much: after going to the trouble of locating the "off the beaten path" crags in his book, you'll often find the ** and *** routes are hardly worth doing. Certainly most of the unstarred routes on these crags are never repeated (for good reason). On the other hand, most climbs on the major formations are good.

Nearly all fixed gear has been removed. Fixed gear on the Main Cliff is mostly back in but other Routes that used to be safely leadable are now seriously unprotected. Don't trust the guidebooks!

Lead Climbing

Here are some of the better leadable routes. The ratings and stars are mine (that is, non-sandbag ratings). Any unusual gear is noted. A standard rack should include small camming devices and RP's. Many other routes are leadable but either I haven't done them or I wouldn't do them again. All of these routes are worthwhile.

Pinnacle Peak Area

Most of the stuff here is better top roped than led.

Spider Wall Area

Main Cliff (Ragged Mountain) Area

Most of these routes are in Reppy and Striebert's guidebook to the Ragged Mountain.

Meriden Area

Overview of the Crags

Some personal opinions on the crags listed in the green Nichols book. Rocks I haven't been to yet are not listed. Both Lamentation mountain and Chauncey Peak have decent crags but this is second-hand information - haven't been there yet.