LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk 33 Biking Noonmark to Rooster Comb (via Old Mtn Cof fee) This section was the fastest we rode all day. We got down from Noonmark and realized it was quarter to 4… and Old Mountain Coffee closed at 4! (This was, of course, before they closed for good earlier this year, much to the heartbreak of many.) I asked Noah what he wanted as I clipped in and hammered as hard as I could to sneak in before closing time. We had planned on two main stops for nutrition, and the coffee shop was of course an integral stop. We were coming down to the wire! I passed some new friends we made up on Noonmark and ran into more friends right at Old Mountain. I love seeing people out and about but there was coffee and food so close and fleeting so I had to run in. Noah and I ended up sitting and feasting right there for a few min- utes getting ready to head back into the mountains up Rooster Comb. Old Route, Rooster Comb (5.5) (FA Fritz Wiessner) (4p) - Onsight for us This one was the hardest to find. We had not been to this cliff before and most of the time new visits to areas here crux out in simply finding the cliff. The cliff turned out to be rather close to the hiking trail but was impossible to see through the trees. By now you aso may have noticed a theme with these route names. Weissner was one of the early developers in the Adirondacks and most of his routes are the early or first routes on the cliff. We got to the base and the light was starting to dim. Racking up I looked up, not 100% positive on which way to go. The drainage straight up seemed right but un- der the roof to the right looked more fun. Thankfully, under the roof to the right was the way to go anyway. I extended a piece and stepped out right and looked up…at more friction slab next to a big crack. How did Fritz find all these things? He found every weirdly sized crack, squeeze features, and chock stones on these cliffs. Each route we followed Fritz up led us to repeating the refrain, "Fritz is my Prophet," with varying levels of joking. He found these creative and fun and engaging routes that hold up as stellar climb- ing today. I made my way up climbing it more like a slab route until I got to a piton where I stood up and walked the slab bent over pulling through the crack as a huge un- dercling. We had been finding pitons all day. Adding to the history of the quotes, they were being climbed through generations of climbers and climbing technol- ogy. One of my only superstitions around climbing holds with the pitons you find all over the Adirondacks: al- ways clip the lucky pitons. Noah came up to me with similar reactions of both stoke and this route is wilder than we had anticipated. Left: Noah Ball skips off the summit of Noonmark after completing an on- sight of the Weissner Route. Photo credit: Jake Handerhan Above: Will Roth at start of the final pitch of the Great Cimmey Route on Pitchoff Cliff. Photo credit: Phil Brown

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