Chapel Pond and it's many well known routes, both rock and ice, form the epicenter of Adirondack climbing. Part of what makes this location so special is its diversity of terrain-from the rolling 800' of Chapel pond to the dead vertical and slightly overhanging Spider's Web-there is something here for everyone.
A few rock routes see the lions share of the action: the Regular Route on Chapel pond Slab, Tilman's arete, North Country Club crack at Jewels and Gems and Seven Ounces at the Beer Walls. On a nice day, you can depend on these being used by climbers. Part of what I love about climbing and guiding around "the Pond" is that there is so much hiding in plain sight. The route Beam Me Up on the Chapel Pond Gully cliff is one of these.
It is positioned above and to the left of the Tilman's arete area, giving it a commanding position overlooking the water. It is best accessed by climbing something on the Tanager Wall, which is mostly obscured by trees but offers plentiful crack climbing from 5.6 to 5.10. The route Brightly Colored Males has become my preferred choice as it offers a good warmup at 5.6. This will bring you onto a forested ledge below the start of Beam Me Up.
From here, you launch up a left facing corner with a crack and plentiful holds, after approximately 50' a left-rising crack system is followed for about 30'. This deposits you in a middle of a slabby face which is climbed by a series of up and left sequences to bring you to a tree island immediately below an opening to the next part of the cliff. Route finding on this pitch is tricky and it is nearly a full 200'. Breaking it up into two pitches can be prudent as is bringing small cams.
From the tree island, head left and up on another left-diagonalling crack. Then make a series of committing friction moves up to another horizontal crack which leads to a scoop and a bolt. Moving up to and through this bolt is hard friction climbing (5.8). I prefer to belay 10' above the bolt using medium sized cams. This keeps the pitch short, around 80' and preserves communication with my belayer.
From here, another 100' pitch moving (you guessed it) up and left brings one to the top of the formation. The descent involves an exposed downclimb on a ramp, underneath the aptly named Ampitheatre of the Overhangs, consider keeping the rope out to protect this. From here, a few minutes in the drainage will lead one to the popular descent from Chapel pond slab.
Below is a picture which displays the route's position above Chapel pond.
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