I made my first trip of the year to my favorite sport climbing crag, Rumney, a few weeks ago. It felt so good to actually grip real rock instead of slamming my ice tools and crampons in to an ice pillar.

Rumney, located about 15 miles west of Plymouth, NH, is some of the best sport climbing you will find in the northeast. Beautiful, steep metamorphic schist crags scattered at the base of Rattlesnake Mountain...absolutely amazing! There are many easy to moderate routes, as well as the highest concentration of 5.14 routes anywhere in the country. All bolted. You've gotta love it!

Yes, Rumney Rocks Indeed!

I brought along my brand-new girlie pack that I won last year from La Fuma. I was pretty psyched about this pack for several reasons. First, I never win anything. Ed McMahan has yet to come knocking on my door carrying balloons and a big cardboard check with a large number followed by multiple zeros printed on it...yeah, it just doesn't happen. And secondly, did I mention it was girlie??? Lime green flowers. Awesome. Oh, and there's even a little case hanging off of it for your makeup, you know, in case you want to powder your nose at the belay station.

My "Girlie" Pack

Of course, in true Sonya style, I made one tiny tactical error...I had never actually used the pack. Heck, I hadn't even tried it on. I just assumed that somehow the La Fuma people over in France magically knew my size and created this beautiful pack to fit me perfectly.

Uh, wrong. I pulled the somewhat heavy pack on (after all, I had rope, gear, food, water, and my makeup bag inside) which now felt even heavier because the waste strap was too large and the pack rested squarely on my shoulders. Nice. Oh well, I'll just have to suck it up and deal.

So, gang, did I mention we'll be climbing at the parking lot wall? Who needs the hour-long approach? Not me.

Of course, the tactical errors did not stop there...nosirreee!

From the looks of this picture, you would think our phone conversation from the night before played out something like this, “Hey Karin, do you want to go climb at Rumney tomorrow? Good, glad you can come out. Oh, and make sure you wear your black Prana pants, a light blue shirt, and a black jacket. What, you don’t have a black jacket? A black vest is fine.”

Major fashion faux pas. We looked like a set of book ends. But wait, there's more!

Jeremy, left, Mary, center, and Karin on the right. All wearing the prerequisite blue shirts.

Time to climb! I love the texture of the rock at Rumney. It's very grippy on the shoes and you can always find little knobs and small cracks for your fingers. The bolts are well spaced so there's little worry of hitting the deck (that would be climbspeak for "ground") if you fall.

Sonya setting up a rope on a route at Upper Vader Wall

Of course, climbing is very serious business. You should always be very, very careful and take everything SERIOUSLY. Never, ever do things like this:

Unless, of course, you are a trained acrobatic rope artist. Which I am.

In between climbs, Karin and I found a moment to relax and catch a few rays of sun. After all, it was a very long winter.

We finished the day off with a few challenging and fun climbs and then dinner at Lucky Dog Restaurant in Plymouth (if you go out there, it is a MUST!).

Lower Vader Wall, Yoda, 5.9

Rumney, to me, is the ultimate sport climber's playground. If you do go, make sure you arrive early as it gets crowded by the afternoon. Also, make sure that your party is color coordinated. After all, that's the new "in-thing" for climbers.

Have fun and climb safe!