> I will go in Baltimore (Maryland) for 2 months. Are they good place to climb near the town? >Are they climbing wall in town? Could you give me informations about this. >Thank you. There are three main areas I know of. Suburbs of Baltimore: 1. Rock State park 2. Woddstock Rock 3. Misc spots Patapsco State Park. Short drive: 1. Maryland Heights (1.5 hours) 2. Annapolis Rock (1.5 hours) 3. Carder Rock/Great Falls (By DC) Rock State Park - It's north of Baltimore, and has the longest routes. It is suitable for toproping or leading, watch out for the tourists. My favorite route is "Strawberry Jam", an 5.8 overhanging jam crack in a small pillar. It should be on any decent road map. WoodStock Rock - It's near Granite Quarry (popular swimming spot). It's down the train tracks from the Woodstock bar. Lots of short overhanging climbs. The classic route is "Bloody Bucket", a leaning and painful 5.9 jam crack. Hang out at the Bar's outside dining area, and you feel like you're in rural WVa. Patapsco State Park - Several areas, all within the park. Ilchester - The local climbers hangout and best place to met climbing partners for other stuff. Look for the IMSAR folks, tell em Rob says hello! Just south of Catonsville by Rolling Road. My favorite climbs here are "Midnight Lightening" (5.12 ?) , done by Mark Chapman of Yosemite fame. (a local) Downside, this can be a heavily vivited area. Friction Wall - East of Ellicott city across the river. Don't climb on the beautiful one by the road, it always gets a visit from the police. Couple nice aid routes though. :-) Anyway, it's a visible quarry. Most of the routes are on a single wall on the east side, it's an obvious spot. On the right side is the best 5.6 I've ever seen called "Dirty Dog". My favorite is "40 weight" ( 5.11+), which ascends directly up the seemingly blank wall. The crux move is literally a long stretch off a grain of sand! Dam Rock - downstream the Patapsco River from Ilchester. Blode's Dam is built right into it. It's got a few good topropes. Up hill from the dam is another rock, the "Rock above the dam" is a short but fun friction wall covered in little quartz crystals. There's a great overhang there, but the crux is kinda painful. Hanging on while falling is *not* a good idea. :-( Maryland Height - Outside of Harpers Ferry, WVa. A short enough drive for day trips. It's about the closest spot for 300+ ft lead climbs. Park in Harpers Ferry and walk on the tourist bridge across the river. My favorite is "Hard Up", a 5.7 that goes up a crack in the left side of the old sign. (It's huge) There are also numerous 5.0-5.4 climbs here on the right side of the face. You can rapell down the large corner. In Town there is also Jefferson Rock, which has a dead horizontal 10 foot crack. It was the first 5.12 in the area. Somewhere on floppy I have a climbing guide to this area put out by my climbing club many years ago. Near here is the only consistant ice climb near Balto. It's about 120ft vertical flow. I've gotten arrested here more than once, (ok, I'm an idiot :-), but for a day trip from Balto, it's worth the risk. Hint, rappel down from the top, and leave no gear by the train tracks, it's the Amtrak trains that catch ya. :-( Annapolis Rock - Gotta hike into this one. :-) It's a few miles north of Greenbrair State Park and Interstate-70. Just hike in on the Appalacian Trail. It's got camping and steady water. "Nixon's Nose" (A1) is the classic aid climb up a large overhang. It's got similar climbing to the Gunks. Lots of climbs of all kinds. I can email a rough guide to anyone that wants it. Carder Rock - Better to ask others on the net about this one. - rob - -- Cygnus Support << KERNEL: Panic, core dumped >> Headquarters PO Box 1548 Darkstar crashes, 1937 Landings Drive Nederland, CO 80466 pouring its light into ashes, Mountain View, CA 94043 +1 (303) 258-0506 reason tatters, ... +1 (415) 903-1400 -- Cygnus Support << KERNEL: Panic, core dumped >> Headquarters PO Box 1548 Darkstar crashes, 1937 Landings Drive Nederland, CO 80466 pouring its light into ashes, Mountain View, CA 94043 +1 (303) 258-0506 reason tatters, ... +1 (415) 903-1400