LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk 31 Climbing, biking, hiking, and everything in between. Noah Ball came up with an idea to engage in this kind of day walking in the footsteps of Fritz Weissner. Weissner is a mountaineer who climbed around the world and put up numerous routes in the Adirondacks. Weissner is an influential character who could, should, and does have many other pieces written about him and his climbing. He climbed in a daring and headfirst style which is evident in his routes. Quoted saying "When I cannot climb, I want to die," Fritz paved the way to the climbing we love in these mountains now. Years later, in 2024, Noah was inspired by these lines, and wanted to climb as many as he could in one big go. Thus the "Fritz Traverse" was born. This adventure would take us on about 60 miles of biking, 12 miles of hiking, and 15 pitches of climbing. I was lucky enough to be Noah's partner on this day, and already cannot wait for the next one. But first — The Fritz. Biking Avery ville Road to Chapel Pond The first leg of our bike was the longest and darkest. We woke up at 2:45 and Noah made coffee. I have rare- ly tasted coffee as good as it tends to taste that ear- ly. Our bikes already packed, we kitted up for a chilly morning ride and pedaled off. I cannot remember biking through denser fog than this morning. The bike out was relatively uneventful with a few deer sightings and a steep fast descent through Cascade Pass. On our way we biked past the cliffs and trailheads we would see later in the day. We made it to Chapel Pond before the sun broke free from the horizon. This put us 25 miles into the day, nearly half the biking done. Empress (5.5x) (FA 1933, Fritz Wiessner, George Austin) ( 7p) - Re- peat for us Empress is located immediately lookers left of Chap- el Pond, on the left side of the Chapel Pond Slab. We started up in the dark which was rapidly giving way to the first glimpses of sunrise. Noah flew up the first pitch, stretching out a full rope length. It was easy fast climbing as we traded leads and I took us to the base of a crumbling pitch. Noah took the business end of the rope back and led us up through some delicate moves into hollow flakes, giving way to the main halfway marking ledge of the route. As I made my way to him I was met with a grinning face and a tin whistle welcoming me to the ledge. Tak- ing the lead again I made my way through the offwidth pitch and stepped out onto the friction slab at the top. As I broke over onto the slab the sun exploded in the sky behind me, warming my hands and showing me the way up. We ended up simuling our way from there up the last few pitches to the top and were able to really take in the sunrise. I cannot recommend this line high enough, especial- ly in the amazing conditions we received this morning. Absolute stunner of a route. Old Route, Upper Washbowl (5.6) (FA Fritz Wiessner) (2p) - Onsight for us This next route we didn't even have to bike to. Cross- ing the road and heading intothe Giant Mountain trail, we followed the left hand turn towards Creature Wall and the Washbowls, making our way all the way to the Upper Washbowl. Finding the route proved easy when we rounded a corner and it just looks like the way you're supposed to go up the cliff. Fritz proved throughout the day to have sent the proudest, most inviting and beautiful lines up each cliff. Noah got himself ready and took off up the route only to be quickly slowed by an obtuse chockstone, a theme of the day we would soon find out. After looking around he made his way up and over the block and con- tinued up the phenomenal and unique movement we were quickly learning are trademarks of Fritz's routes, such as mantling, stemming, and lots of grunting. He was telling me how awesome the route was and I was chomping at the bit to grab hold and get moving. As I came to that first chockstone which looked so mellow from the ground, I quickly realized this climb would be more physical than I thought and that grades don't al- ways equate to the speed at which some routes can be onsighted. As I took the right path around the block where Noah had taken the left, I was thankful I got to follow on this pitch. The climbing quality did not diminish and I met up with Noah on the edge of the 3rd class traverse over to the last pitch. I made my way across the traverse, roped in to go make an anchor at the next base, and missed the mark just a hair. I was set up below a daunt- ing if beautiful looking corner crack, contemplating both Fritz's prowess and how the hell grades worked in the 30's when Noah told me I was looking at Partition (5.9, not 5.6) and we hadn't quite gotten to Fritz's crack yet. While I was sad to not go up this awesome corner it does get me psyched to get back to it soon. We went around one more corner and saw a chossy looking 30' crack with lots of stemming options. Now that is a Fritz route. I led my way up and already can't wait to get back to that cliff. This walk down was way easier and more straightforward than anticipated. We walked down the "gut" as Noah kept calling the drainage we were in and literally before we knew it we were back at the base saying hi to Liz and Luis from Syracuse, a couple climb- ers we had met on our way up the route. Biking Chapel Pond to Noonmark Our second bike leg was a sharp contrast compared to the first. We biked a whole 1.5 miles from Chapel Pond down to the AMR. However, this bike leg also included the best food stop of the day. A friend met up with us at Chapel Pond with breakfast sandwiches, coffee, and treats. It was probably the best breakfast sandwich I have ever had. We caught up on how the slab and Up-

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