THE CHOSSPILE – Spring 2026
COMPILED BY SETH MACIEJOWSKI
For years, the CRAG Rag was a staple of climbing in Vermont. The chosspile was the way that local climbers learned about new developments in the area. Unfortunately, other priorities and communication mediums pushed the chosspile to the back seat. We here at CRAG-VT decided we needed to revive this old tradition and have brought back the Chosspile from a long hiatus. Way back in March of 2019 I penned the following words : “2018 will prove to be a seminal year for the Vermont climbing scene”. Reflecting back on the tremendous activity in the Vermont hills over the past seven years, this statement has proved to be prophetic. Developments in the Vermont climbing community have come faster than ever and grown the scope and breadth of climbing in this state and the great accomplishments of this small, but strong climbing community are a record written on the stone of the spirit and drive we share. Given the plethora of new areas and routes, I’ll comment on each of these moments in turn.
Mere months after the release of the 2019 Chosspile, Vermont (and the world) were faced with a new challenge, that of the COVID-19 pandemic. The community was plunged into a period of uncertainty. Could we even climb routes that others had touched for fear of spreading the virus? Was it even ethical to climb if you potentially could burden the healthcare system with a climbing injury? Climbers faced these questions, lock downs and mandatory isolation how they always do – with ingenuity, grit and positivity.
Late in 2019 I stumbled across a new, untapped chunk of rock hidden in plain site during a survey of the newly acquired Bolton Dome property. It was hard to imagine that Terra Incognita, which soon yielded sixteen new routes, could have remained camouflaged in the hillside so close behind the Dome. Working in isolation initially, myself and a cast of characters including Travis Peckham, Mischa Tourin and Chris Skalka established numerous modern classics including “Bring Me Da Juice”, “Artic Tern”, “Grip Da Grab” and “Cyclops”. In a nod to climbers finding humour in dark times, some of the route names reflected the uncertainty of the times including “Take your Vidamins” and “Corona with Lyme”. This crag was soon introduced to the public with the addition of a beautifully manicured and signed trail from the bottom of the Dome. If you have some spare time at the end of your day, you should not miss this leisurely stroll to the top of the Dome for sunset.
The author on “Bring Me Da Juice” at Terra Incognita (Travis Peckham)
Cloaked in her own secrecy in the depths of the pandemic, Kristen Fiore scoured the hillside far above the 82 crag and stumbled across the fantastic discovery of the Revolution Wall. Kristen somehow persuaded Phil England and Connor Myers to make the long schlepp loaded with route development equipment to establish the classic arete line, “Which Side are You On?” which is a strong contender to take the title of Vermont’s best 5.6, along with other instant classics including “Solidarity”, “Smash The Patriarchy” and numerous other lines at this well concealed schist wall. Given that the approach to the Revolution wall is over an hour, it speaks to the quality of these routes that they have logged a fairly significant number of ascents in the intervening years.
Matt Gault on Abolish the Patriarchy at the Revolution Wall (Travis Peckham)
Given all this activity and the inability to travel wider afield, climbers also rediscovered areas that had been previously overlooked. Looking for something to do on a sunny sunday afternoon in the spring, I made the bushwhack from the townline ice climbing area up to the Thieves Wall, to see what kind of opportunities might still be available at the cliff which was only peripherally mentioned in the first edition of “Tough Schist” with a single paragraph and three listed routes. To my chagrin, I arrived at the obscure crag to find two parties already at work on new routes! The ever elusive Dustin Dearborn had taken advantage of a limited work schedule imposed by the pandemic to take on the task of bringing the “Thieves Wall” into the 21st century. Enlisting the help of Bill Thibeault, Adam Chamberlin and a number of other dedicated locals, Dearborn added numerous new lines to the crag including the classics “Embezzlement”, “Sticky Fingers” and “Tax Evasion”. In classic Dearborn style, he refrained from dropping any info, preferring to operate in secrecy while adding over 15 new lines to the wall.
Travis Peckham on “Cobra Kai” at the Thieves Wall (Mischa Tourin)
Even as this explosion of new route development at formerly obscure and unknown crags took place, dedicated route developers continued to ferret out routes from the venerable crags in Bolton and further afield. After an initial wave of intensive activity, route development at the Bolton Dome took a more moderate growth trajectory as Mischa Tourin steadily increased the route count by adding the instant classic “Senderista” and opening the entirely new sub area that became known as “Cloud Nine”. With a keen eye to filling in the missing classic lines, Mischa uncovered the stellar line “Mid-nite Plowboy” in 2024 immediately adjacent to “Senderista”. Up at Upper West Bolton, Travis Peckham made it his personal mission to fill in all of the remaining lines by adding “Sweet Lazy Life”, “Opal”, “Nice Tooth” and “Heartless” and firmly entrenching Upper West as “The home of the 5.10”.
Mischa Tourin on “Senderista” at Bolton Dome (Travis Peckham)
A short pace further up the road, Upper Upper West had its own sort of renaissance, seeing development of a number of new lines at the Wild West Wall, The main wall and the pond wall in the years following the pandemic. Steve Riccio came onto the scene adding “Dawn Patrol” at the Wild West in 2023 and “Rain Delay” at the main wall in 2025. Seth Maciejowski and Travis Peckham contributed to the efforts at UUWB with the addition of “Kiss Up” and the cliff’s hardest line “Kick Down” 5.11b, which tackles the big down sloping roof left of the main wall. Finally, Adam Sherman continued his long love affair with UUWB by adding “Self Incrimination” on the main wall, “To Obscurity and Beyond” and “Law of the Instrument” in 2025. It continues to amaze me that climbers are still able to establish new lines of this caliber at cliffs so close to Burlington that have had decades of climber traffic.
Seth Maciejowski on “KickDown” at Upper Upper West Bolton (Travis Peckham)
Outside Chittenden County, Marshfield Ledge, Black Mountain and Eagle Hollow in Vershire formed the epicenters of activity in the post pandemic years. On the wide granite expanses of Marshfield Ledge, Ira O’meara-Costello added “Lycanthropy” and “Ultra Violet Arete” while locals Zach Landis and Jen Lloyd continued to add routes including “Proof of Work”, “I Feel Pretty”, “Tiers of Joy” and “Buck Jumping” on the fine granite on the far left side of the ledge. Lloyd and Landis’ “Lord Frothington” a moderate four pitch 5.9 just right of the high grade has gained immediate prominence in the community. Not to be outdone, Travis Peckham and Seth Maciejowski plucked the plum line “Bidin’ Time” on the far left end of the slabs. Maciejowski and Peckham cleaned, bolted and freed the three pitch route in one twelve hour effort in November of 2020 with perfect conditions for the intense friction sections on pitch two and three. On the central cliff, Alden Pellett and Deane Calcagni joined the party and added the beautiful slab moderates “Sunny Sick Day”, “Toad Hotel” and their most recent addition “Lost in the Lichen”. Marshfield Ledge, long in the canon of Vermont climbing, continues to deliver excellent lines well into the third decade of the 21st century.
Deane Calcagni on “Lord Frothington” at Marshfield Ledge (Alden Pellett)
Deep in the woods of the Northeast Kingdom, Black mountain and its immaculate, faceted features, entered a new phase after its initial discovery. A cast of characters of the Vermont climbing scene including Ira O’Meara-Costello, Mischa Tourin, Travis Peckham and Seth Maciejowski along with a boost by western Massachusetts based Black mountain aficionados Ryan Stefiuk and Kristin Dolcimascolo gathered to fully realize the potential of the magnificent, unique geometry that Black has to offer. The new additions to the cliff are too numerous to fully describe, but this era at Black Mountain resulted in the modern classics “Divided Sky”, “Rain Shadow”, “The Absence of Light”, and “The Spice Is Life” to name just a few of the many excellent climbs added to the cliff. A newly established approach trail, kiosk and signage was added to the cliff in 2024 making the backwoods backwater that much more accessible. As we enter 2026, Black mountain continues to demonstrate why it has become the focal point of Vermont crack climbing.
Claudine Safar sending “Divided Sky” at Black Mountain (Travis Peckham)
Down in sleepy Vershire, Vermont, the crags above Eagle Hollow were rediscovered by locals. Since the establishment of some of the original lines including “Turkey Shoot” and “Eagle Shit” some time prior to the 1990s, Eagle Hollow had seen little activity. Matt Severson took it upon himself to fully realize the potential at Eagle Hollow and began to add numerous new lines to the main cliff and the recently explored lasso ledge. Along with a number of familiar names from the Vermont climbing community including Ira O’Meara-Costello, Morgan Patterson and Travis Peckham, many new classics at the crag went up including “The Wildlands”, “Higher-class burnout” and “Eagle Horns”. While the crag is partially on private land, access is stable and on any given weekend, the crag can be quite busy these days.
Radek Teplitz pulling the roof of “JoBird” at the Lasso Ledge of Eagle Hollow (Claudine Safar)
Back up north, Smuggler’s notch demonstrated its alpine nature once more on Memorial day 2020 when a massive rock slide nearly 200’ wide and 200’ tall cleaved off the left side of the Castle Wall on the west side of the notch. The rock slide sent boulders the size of RVs cascading into the notch and crushing at least one parked car. The presence of bolts in some of the boulders indicated that the rock slide had eliminated at least one of the routes on the Castle wall. Peckham ventured into the zone not long afterwards to assess the damage. Five routes had been entirely erased from the wall including “Squatty Pigman”, “Shine up” and “Manic Obsession”. Peckham may, at this point, be a contender for holder of the most first and last ascents of individual routes. Peckham, proving once again to be the wizened sage of Smuggler’s notch, continued to add lines in the Notch, adding to the list of midsummer, bug free options for climbers at ENT Gully and in the Ragnarok area. Among these lines are “Mighty Have Fallen” “AstroHen” and “Rainbow Connection”, on the wild arete up and left of Ragnarok. Significantly, Peckham put up perhaps his most difficult route ever, “Starry Night”, 5.13b on the wall south of Ragnarok. “Starry Night” is the culmination of two months of effort by Peckham and numerous patient partners willing to make the trek.
Mischa Tourin on the exposed arete of “Rainbow Connection” in Smuggler’s Notch (Travis Peckham)
Ira O’Meara-Costello, longtime voracious developer of rock routes in Vermont, took it upon himself to bring Nichol’s Ledge in Woodbury online as a destination crag. With help from Caleb Fischer, Dustin Dearborn and Kel Rossiter, Ira put in over 15 new routes on the steep granite including “Hotbox with God”, “Imposter Syndrome”, and “Deep Space Nine”. Nichols Ledge has long drawn the interest of local climbers, but Ira was the first person to put in the massive amount of effort required to bring a new cliff up to a climbable state. With its southwest facing stature and dry conditions, Nichol’s is proving to be a great late season destination.
Zach Lees on “Imposter Syndrome” at Nichols Ledge (Ira O’Meara-Costello)
2022 saw the release of the second revision of the Vermont Rock climbing guidebook with Travis Peckham’s publishing of “Vermont Rock”. This was the culmination of a decade of work of revising and adding to the original edition, “Tough Schist”. After exhaustive research, Peckham recorded and documented over five hundred additional routes since release of the first edition. With extensive photography of all of the cliffs, this high quality new revision has brought yet more climbers to the state and led to additional route development.
The events I’ve discussed above are only a cursory overview of the tremendous amount of activity that has gone on in the past seven years. I’ve intentionally overlooked efforts in Appalachian Gap, Mount Elmore and a number of other areas in an effort to limit the scope of this update. As such, I would suggest that readers interested in going deeper get their hands on a copy of “Vermont Rock” and follow “Vermont Rock” on social media to get the full narrative.
With the arrival of the second edition of the guidebook and thousands of new routes, it is clear that Vermont has become an epicenter for New England climbing in its own right. Offering a great diversity of rock and climbing styles it is no longer the climbing backwater worthy of only four pages of description in Tim Toula’s “Rock n’ Road : an atlas of North American rock climbing areas”.
