BALCONY ROCK
BOULDERS
Maryland
Welcome to one of the staple
areas at Harpers Ferry. These boulders are close to the car, the rock is super
solid, there are slabs, dihedrals, arêtes, overhangs, crimps ,slopers, pinches,
and jugs. There are still a couple super hard projects to be climbed.
The Balcony Rock Boulders are basically
4 separate boulders. There is the Main Block, the Overhang Boulder, a small
rounded block between the Main Block and the Overhang Boulder, and the last
area is the Far End Area. You can also traverse the base of Balcony Rock for a
decent warm-up, and hit some of the smaller surrounding cliffs for unnamed and
unmarked boulder problems.
These boulders are just minutes
from the school bus turnaround parking area at the end of the town of Sandy
Hook, MD and a great start to any day at Harpers Ferry.
Main Block (problems #1-8)
Overhang Boulder (problems #11-16)
In the far right photo Conrad
Schaefer finishes problem 15 via the V5/6 variation finish. The direct finish
mantles the lip without using the arêtes.
Far End Area (problems #19-26)
Photo compilation:
MAP
The grades are approximate.
|
BALCONY ROCK
BOULDERS |
pg 6 |
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|
1 |
slab |
V0 |
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2 |
good slab |
V0 |
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3 |
climb right leaning arete to
the ridge and topout |
V2 |
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4 |
ss, start on the rail and go
straight up to the same topout as #3 |
V6/7 |
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|
5 |
ss, same start as #4 but climb
right on the rail to the false summit and topout |
V8/9 |
|
|
6 |
ss, project starting on a left
hand under cling and a right hand crimp (double undercling start for the
ultimate send!), ascend the blank 45 degree wall |
P |
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|
NEW |
very low ss (laystart
practically) on crimp and pinch, climb through more pinches and slopers |
V4 |
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7 |
ss, climb straight up and
topout |
V0 |
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8 |
ss, start #7 but traverse left
toward the false summit and topout |
V2 |
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9 |
ss on the left head up |
? |
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10 |
ss and head right around the
boulder and up |
? |
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11 |
ss at the base of an
interesting ramp near the mouth of a small cave |
V2 |
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12 |
Short easy face |
VB |
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13 |
ss, start on the sloping jug,
come out the left side of the roof to avoid the lip |
V2/3 |
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14 |
ss, start on the sloping jug,
come out the roof to a nice slopey mantle using the left arete |
V3/4 |
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15 |
ss, start at the base of the
overhang on small crimpers, crimp out the roof to the lip pinch and a
seriously hard mantle using slopers/crimps and no arêtes VARIATION: exit the
right arête (V5/6)(don’t grab the jug on 13/14) |
V6/8 |
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|
16 |
ss and climb the short right
arete |
V1/2 |
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17 |
VB |
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18 |
VB |
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19 |
ss and climb beginning with
left hand to the left of the broad arête on a crimp |
V3 |
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20 |
ss and climb the dihedral |
V1/2 |
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21 |
ss |
V3/4 |
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22 |
Good looking project with a
high gaston and crimp. Grab a spotter. Bad fall potential on this slope with a cliff below. |
P |
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23 |
Beautiful arête potential with
a deadly fall. |
P |
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24 |
direct start to #25 using a
low crimp |
V4 |
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25 |
ss, follow the crack up left
and out through the narrow gap between tree & cliff |
V0/1 |
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|
26 |
ss, from the arete jug move
out the roof to jugs off of a sloper. Classic and fun! |
V4 |
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27 |
Overgrown Wall |
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28 |
Overgrown Wall |
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29 |
Overgrown Wall |
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30 |
Overgrown Wall |
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31 |
ss, traverse uphill left or
climb straight up on good slopers LOWBALL |
V0 |
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32 |
LOWBALL |
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33 |
ss LOWBALL |
V1 |