After being immersed in the Colorado climbing community, life brought me to Vermont. I really didn’t know what to expect. I had heard of Rumney before, and that “New England climbing wasn’t too bad”. I was certainly in for a treat! As soon as the decision was made—I was leaving Colorado to start a life in Vermont—the first thing I did was open Mountain Project and search for Vermont. I sorted the results by “number of stars”, and began reading. One name continued to pop up everywhere- “Travis Peckham”.
If you have ever climbed in Vermont, chances are you’ve enjoyed some of Travis’s work, either through one of the many routes he has established, his Tough Schist climbing guidebook, or by climbing at one of the many areas he has helped secure access to. To say that Travis has had an impact on the Vermont climbing scene would be putting it mildly. Since he recently retired from nearly 20 years as a board member of CRAG-VT, I jumped at the opportunity to spend some time picking his brain to learn about this Vermont legend.
Who is Travis?
Even though climbing is clearly one of his biggest passions, it’s really hard to define Travis as a “just” a climber when there’s so much more to him. Travis wears many hats: He’s a father, husband, successful entrepreneur, former ultramarathoner, snowboarder, mountain biker, and Chief Technology Officer with more than 30 years of software industry experience. Amongst other things, he will soon become a twice published author with Vermont Rock, the evolution of his first Tough Schist climbing guidebook.
How does he accomplish so much? “Well, ” he says, “I don’t watch a lot of TV. It’s easier to get things done if you enjoy what you’re doing, and you’re thoughtful about how you manage your time”.
The Vermont native first got exposed to climbing while in college in the early 90s, when climbing was not as mainstream as it is today and a climbing gym was a rare sight. One of his friends took him to the dank graffiti-covered walls of Quincy Quarries, south of Boston, and after getting up a 5.6 in his Converse All-stars he was hooked. “I wasn’t scared at all- just exhilarated. When I got to the top of the climb, I knew right away that I had the right kind of focus, and that rock climbing was something I could probably do pretty well.”
VT Development
Once back in Vermont, Travis was excited to explore his newfound passion. There must be so much more climbing here than around Boston, he thought. There are so many cliffs, people must climb them. The disappointment hit hard after trying to buy a Vermont rock climbing guidebook at the local climbing shop, Climb High, and finding out there was no such thing.
But while there was very little established climbing in Vermont in the early 90s, over the years the state’s potential began to reveal itself as attitudes towards developing and establishing new routes began to change. “It wasn’t until late in the 90s that route developers began accepting bolts and fixed protection in the Northeast. Vermont, especially northwestern Vermont, doesn’t have many cracks that offer opportunities for traditional protection. Vermont rock has a lot of quality face climbing that’s only really possible with fixed protection.”. Once Travis had changed his perspective and approach to scouting for routes, he realized Vermont’s huge potential and started developing and documenting the area.
The effort required to both establish new crags and collect development data proved to be bigger than he initially thought; However, once invested in something that draws his attention, Travis doesn’t like giving up- “Sometimes you have to be a little naive to start working on something. When you realize the amount of effort is far more than you anticipated, and the initial excitement starts fading, it’s key to be stubborn and see your work through to the end”.
And that was how Tough Schist was born.
The New Guidebook
It’s called Vermont Rock, not Tough Schist 2. Once hearing the reasoning it makes perfect sense: “I think the second time you tell a joke, it’s not as funny. That, and a lot of people didn’t actually know what Tough Schist was about with such a quirky title”. The work on the new book is now complete, and it’s in the process of being printed. It should be available early this summer, but pandemic-related supply chain and shipping issues may cause delays.
I haven’t had the opportunity to take a peek at the new book, and as a current owner of a copy of the original one I had to ask why I should invest in the new one.
“The book has been completely reimagined, not just expanded. When I was working on the first version of the book, printing guidebooks in color was unusual—that’s how long it’s been. Climbing guidebooks are essentially a technology that has continued to evolve, and I wanted to make something that used the best modern conventions.” .
Vermont Rock boasts drone photos, updated topos, iconography, grade distribution graphs, and tons of new pictures. It has more than twice the number of climbs, including many new areas and new development in existing areas.
Speaking of new technology, I thought his perspective on apps like Rakkup and Mountain Project was really interesting: “I think there’s definitely room for both because they have different strengths. The app has unlimited space for belay photos and is GPS enabled, which can be invaluable when finding a cliff for the first time; there’s community interaction, and updating the content is much easier.” On the other hand, he explained, “A guidebook is unmatched when it comes to planning a trip, building stoke, and looking at the photos. It’s more like a climbing magazine and can be a lot more engaging than an app. ”
When Travis talks about the work he put in the new version, it’s easy to see his passion spilling through. He went to every climbing area in the book, took most of the pictures, and did the writing, editing, design, and topos. A monumental amount of effort was put into the new version of the guidebook.
“During the pandemic I went back to all of these places, which renewed my appreciation for how good the climbing is in this state. I often get sucked into a new route project, then once I tick it, I’m onto a new one. I think I was stuck in that cycle and it was great to break the routine and reignite my passion for the climbing at all of Vermont’s crags.”
Peckham went on to explain- “Vermont has so many different types of rock, all with different personalities. There’s a different character to each crag and each region in the state, and I tried hard to capture what’s special about each place. You don’t want to have a picture of someone hanging off of one arm on a 5.13 if what makes a place special is its 5.6 toproping. ”.
“After more than 30 years I still have experiences like I did when I first started. It’s still pure joy and pure excitement. Sometimes I wonder why I’ve been driven to put so much time into these guidebooks, but then I realize that if I can be a small part of showing people amazing experiences with great friends—to help them experience even a tiny bit of the outstanding experience climbing has been to me—then it’s totally worth it.
Travis’ Favorite Climbs
One thing is looking at the stars and ticks for popular routes online, but a completely different thing is having direct access to the source. I couldn’t resist asking Travis about what he enjoys the most when climbing. Listening to Travis’s answer was like asking a dad which kid is his favorite. Without giving too much away, here’s a small window on what he considers some of the best spots in the state after writing the new book:
Favorite moderate trad: Black Mountain and Deer Leap
Best place to have an alpine adventure: Smuggler’s Notch. Not even a hint of hesitation with this one.
Favorite new area: Lily Slab, at Lake Willoughby. He raves that “it’s such a beautiful chunk of granite. There are really good face and friction climbs.”
Best multi-pitch adventures: Marshfield Ledge. Travis calls it ”One of Vermont’s most beautiful cliffs, with up to 400’ of vertical and outstanding views of thousands of acres of unspoiled forests and wetlands.”.
Best moderate sport climbing: Eagle Hollow, Vershire. “[It’s a] terrific area with awesome 5.10 and below sport routes. Great views, no highways, no road noise. Awesome!”
Areas worth mentioning that couldn’t fit the other categories: “Smugglers Notch has some of the best sport climbing in the state and it doesn’t receive nearly enough attention”
On Contributing
As one of the newest members of the CRAG board, I felt intimidated to work side by side with the people who have shaped Vermont’s climbing, and was hesitant to believe I had much to offer to the community. Travis offered me an unexpected, yet welcome, perspective in response to these thoughts.
“You don’t have to be the best climber to be involved. I know I certainly wasn’t. But there are many ways to contribute—developing and sharing new climbing areas, working for CRAG-VT, taking pictures that get people stoked. When you look back at it, the small contributions add up and become something of a legacy. All you have to do is want to help and get involved.”.
It is evident that Travis is truly grateful to be a part of the Vermont climbing community. “We may not have the best climbing, but we probably have the best climbing community. There is a lot of respect, cooperation, shared excitement, inclusiveness, and positive support here. We need to take care to keep it that way as we continue to grow to make sure we don’t lose one of the best things about being a Vermont climber.”
Thank you Travis for inspiring me, and I’m sure countless other climbers, to contribute to Vermont’s climbing legacy.
