Well, I would have to say Rumney is one of the best sport climbing crags I have been too. The thing I liked the best is that there is a ton of diversity in the climbing here, everything from boulder problems, to boulder routes, to power endurance, to pure resistance. Not to mention great rock and lots of hanging draws. Therefore, you can try whatever you want with little commitment to needing to get to the top if you do not like the climb. My least favorite part of the place was the scene. I generally find sport climbers less friendly then boulders, probably because two sport climbers are not forced to interact with other people in the same way that boulders need to, and Rumney has no shortage of people intensely working their projects, especially at the Waimea wall. I guess I am more attracted to chilling on a crash pad with my friends then hang dogging up a wall next to three other people doing the same. My favorite time here was getting up to Waimea on Sunday at 7 am, an hour before anyone else, and having the whole wall to just us. The climbing can best be described by three strengths of Dave Graham's: crimping, technique, and kneebar-ery. I would consider myself a pretty solid crimper. When the way to grab a hold is in question, I often roll my fingers into a crimp without thinking but this is the first time that my joints hurt from crimping so many things in a row. The climbing here is also fairly technical, with lots off heel hooks, drop knees, toe smears, knee bars, and other various methods of rock trickery. Overall, I got to climb some great routes while here and I look forward to the day I get to return, even though I don't know when that will be next.
Waimea Wall
The Fly
The start of Big Kahuna (5.12d) and a typical piece of rock on Waimea
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