Lincoln Woods May 28-29

I was recently in Providence, RI spending a couple nights staying in a dorm room along with my senior year roommates as we relived the drunken care-free fun of college.  Ben is one of these roommates, and is responsible for introducing me to outdoor climbing in 2002.  He is a stoic and self-admittedly disheveled guy who sleeps next to an espresso machine to expedite his early morning caffeine intake. 

 Ben entertaining the campfire masses with his plastic burning skills

Ben and I spent much of our free time as undergrads either dodging campus police while buildering, or at bouldering at Lincoln Woods.  I stand by my allegiance to this little state park, and I am sure it would get way more attention if it were as close to San Francisco as it is to Providence.  Its abrasive rock hosts numerous classic problems in the v2-v5 range, many of which have excellent landings and short approaches.  In order to truly relive our college lives, Ben and I had no choice but to spend some time there.  The weather cooperated enough to give us two good sessions to work on our old projects, namely Iron Cross (v4), The Sit Down Traverse (v5) and Hat's Off (v6).  Sends of the latter two are featured in a hokey video I compiled back in 2005:





Needless to say, neither of us were ready for the sharp and technical moves these problems had in store.  I linked a few new moves on The Sit Down Traverse, but was thoroughly spit off everything else I wanted to try.  I managed to redo do Mack's Traverse (v2) and Pond Cave Arete (v3), both of which are classic climbs I sent many years ago.  Hopefully, I'll get there again next time I am back in New England

Ben starting out on a v1 in the Sit Down area