The Gravity Vault - Upper Saddle River, NJ

I wandered into New Jersey to meet a friend for  Lunch and decided to get some climbing afterward.

I visited during the day and the place was pretty empty. The staff told me it can get pretty busy during the after work hours. There is ample floor space in the gym so I doubt you'll feel too crowded.

The bouldering wall is split in to two areas. One of the walls can be topped out although many routes don'r seem to be set up with a top out in mind. The gym has a decent bouldering area but the real fun seems to be on the ropes. The roped wall seemed to have a good variety of climbable surface.
There are also few exercise machines and a lounge area.

Over all the gym was well maintained and the climbs were o.k. I wouldn't go out of my way for the gym but if you are in the area it's not a bad gym.

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Gunks - Bouldering

Location:
Shawangunks, also known simply as the "Gunks" is located 2 hrs north of NYC near New Paltz, NY. The following map shows the parking lot to access the Gunks.

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Access:
To climb at the Gunks you need to pay the daily usage fee of $15 for climbing. If you will be visiting the Gunks often you can purchase a season pass for $85.

Boxcar Boulder

Approach:
There are handful of bouldering areas but majority of the problems are located in Trapps bouldering area. To access the Trapps bouldering Area after you park your car hike up the fairly well maintained on dirt and stone steps trail till you reach the carriage way. Once you get to the carriage road approach to many problems should be very easy. The whole approach can be done in flip flops but some might prefer to have better shoes for the initial hike.

Guidebooks:

According to the guys at Rock and Snow the best guide book for bouldering in the area is "Bouldering in the Shawangunks". If you have a hard time finding the guide book you can just go to Rock and Snow in new paltz on your way and pick up a copy.

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Where to Stay:
I made the Gunks a day trip from NYC. For much more detailed information on where to stay check out Mountain Project. The Mountain Project website has a very comprehensive list on everything you need to know about climbing at the Gunks.

The crash pad welcome mat at Andrew Boulder Problem

Food:
Bacchus is an excellent place for dinner. The food is pretty good and the beer selection is pretty awesome.

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Wi-Fi:
There should be plenty of cafe's with wi-fi access in New Paltz.

Links:
mountainproject.com
rockclimbing.com  
The Virgin's Guide To Gunks Climbing

Brooklyn Boulders - NYC

For a big city there are surprisingly few indoor climbing options. There are some normal gyms with climbing walls but there is only one real climbing gym.

Brooklyn Boulders

Brooklyn boulders is the only true climbing gym in NYC. BB is a fairly new gym that is still under construction. I came unfortunately on a day that more than half the bouldering areas were not accessible. The routes on the steeper wall were being replaced while the padded floor on the main bouldering walls were being repaired.

Routes being replaced

Fortunately when I told one of the guys working there about my cross country travels he decided to give me a free day pass and even gave me a quick tour of the gym that is still under construction. The part that is still under construction looks very promising.Once complete it should provide almost double the climbing surface.

 Slack line!

Besides the standard sport, lead and bouldering walls there is a slack line, gymnastic rings and campus boards. They also have a water fountain! No need to buy over priced waters at the front desk.
I was there during the middle of the day so it was pretty quite but I've been told it gets really crowded and busy after the work day is over.

 The rope climbs on the left, the bouldering on the right.

The vibe is fun and the climbs are interesting. If you are in NYC and don't have time to hit the Gunks definitely get your climbing fix at the Brooklyn Boulders.

Entrance to the fun!

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A 8 year old just kicked your ass...

We've all experienced it before. We are working so hard on a project and a kid walks up and just crushes it... The one thing is they usually aren't only 8 years old... 
http://www.deadpointmag.com/articles/view/8-year-old-girl-sends-power-silence-v10

Ashima Shiraishi recently sent Power of Silence V10. When I first saw this I thought it was an April Fools joke but after some further research it's true and there is a video to prove it.

http://www.deadpointmag.com/videos/watch/ashima-shiraishi-age-8-power-silence-v10
Wow, pretty impressive. So next time you are bouldering watch your back, Ashima might just pop out and kick your ass!
Go Ashima!

Finally NYC!

It only took about 1.5 months but I finally got to NYC! NYC is a special to me.Not because of the museums, not because of the night life, not because of all the hustle and bustle but because of all my friends in NY. NY has  truly become my home away from home and it was good to be home :o)

Rainy and windy day!

Eric and Caroline and home cooked food!

Sara!

Crustinis!

Salmon and couscous!

Leo's Steak Shop - Folcroft PA

 On my way to NY from my Maryland I decided I needed to get some Philly Cheese Steak! I was initially planning to hit up Pat's and Gino's but after reading some reviews I decided to check out  Leo's instead.

Leo's!

Leo's is a pretty small cheese steak place with no indoor seating. Usually that would not be a problem since they have ample seating outdoors but when it's cold and rainy like the day I visited it's a bit of a bummer.

One of the many plaques of awards on the walls.

The whole place smelled pretty amazing. I ordered a large mushroom cheese steak with hot peppers.

A large cheese steak wrapped up in 2 sections! That's a lot of Philly Cheese Steak!

The cheese steak was pretty tasty but the cheese was not mingled in with the meat. Since the meat is not seasoned I recommend that you order extra cheese to make sure you can have cheese in ever bite. Is it the best of Philly? I can't say but it is pretty tasty.

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Restful, relaxing and fun times in Virginia and Maryland!

I just wanted to say thanks to all the wonderful people in Virgina and Maryland that has made my trip pretty awesome. Thank you!