"Few people are as passionate or as dedicated to rock, ice and mixed climbing
as Tim Anderson... he continues to develop new areas and pioneer new routes
at existing crags... the climbing community is very fortunate to have such a strong
climber with such a powerful drive to develop modern routes for all of us to enjoy."
- Rob (Griz) Ginieczki, 'Ice Climbing Pennsylvania' (2006)
Quite of an accolade , and from the esteemed "Griz" himself. We'll add:
"If Tim ain't out climbin', or at least involved, ain't nothin' happenin'."
List of Modern Laurel Highlands Ice: 2002 - Present
Secret Cliffs II, Grade 4+ - 6
Secret Cliffs, Grade 4 -5
Confluence, Grade 4 - 5
Plus many, many new routes added to earlier era walls and flows along with introduction of mixed lines and dry tooling, that, knowing Tim and a few of his cohorts, probably grade up to the M10 level of difficulty.
Boy, until setting down to compile this information we had never really thought about it, but just to summarize for the sake of brevity, "That f*k'n Tim put up a lot of impressive sh*t!"
Cover art for a photo book that we began in 2010. Got a few pages into it but then abandoned the project. Never went back to finishing it.
Viewing southeast along the approximate 1,500LF expanse of Grade 4+ to Grade 6 continuous, steep, vertical ice forming the Secret Cliffs II. The northeast striking wall return off in the distance offers very difficult mixed climbing potential.
Lean conditions viewing along the central and right walls.
The awe-inspiring 'Beast Wall'
Viewing up the Grade 6 'Beast' ("Griz" Ginieczki climbing) - we're gonna' go on record to comment that, "This is the largest concentration of hard single-pitch ice routes in the eastern USA"; a bit of paraphrased homage to Vermont's Lake Willoughby's claim to the "hardest multi-pitch" moniker.
Two video clip screenshot extractions - Tim on the imposing, free hanging 'Sick-le'
The 'Beast Wall' in lean conditions (Dr. Bob Coblenz climbing)
'Central-Right Wall' in big conditions (Laura Anderson climbing)
'Beast Wall' in thin, mixed conditions (Tim climbing)
Climbers adding scale to the 'Beast Wall' (Tom Kopler foreground)
Two new, seldom formed routes at the 'Gun Club' (top: Tim climbing; bottom unidentified)
Video clip extractions - mixed dry tooling at the Meadow Run Amphitheater, Ohiopyle SP (Tim climbing)
Meadow Run Amphitheater (Laura Anderson climbing)
Our loyal scribe at Buzzard (Krahlak) Falls in superb, fat, plastic blue ice conditions - need a thousand feet of this stuff!
A fat 'Irishtown/Mouth of Madness' (Tim Climbing)
Video clip extraction - mixed 'Gun Club/Internet Connection' (Tim climbing)
(Tim Anderson Images)
Always the innovator - Tim and Laura on some SWPA alpine they found
Looks high, windy and cold... we wanna' go!
Overlooking the vast Allegheny Plateau from high in PA's "Twilight Zone"
We came across this old Geologic Map of Fayette County years back. It was annotated with all the old, mostly abandoned mines and quarries of record. We highlighted the mine/quarry markers in blue for clarity. We further annotated the marker bed Loyalhanna Limestone crop lines in red. The Loyalhanna Limestone mines are usually location of steep ice flows as well as karst cave formation. An added bonus - the Mauch Chunk sandstone formation sits directly atop the limestone. The Mauch Chunk formation where exposed, be it walls or breakdown boulders, forms the majority of climbable rock in the Highlands. We further annotated the map with a few locations of the climbing areas discussed herein for ease of navigating the map features..... you're welcome.
Finally, more unexplained phenomena from SWPA's "Goblin Universe" - the odd and mysterious "Climbing Man". Those who have encountered this strange being claim that he leaps from the forest without warning, usually naked, and in a high pitch screeches "Hey mister - you wanna' climb with me!?" Prior to each encounter witnesses claim to an odor similar to "burning fiber rope or burning dry grass and hay" minutes before his appearance.
Outer space alien? Inter-dimensional being? Inner earth denizen? Or hoax? You be the judge!
And lastly, we'll speak for all....
Thanks Tim!!
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