The other day I posted an item on Adirondack Almanack about old climbing routes on Noonmark Mountain. I focused on the Wiessner Route, vertical crack rated 5.8+ on the Yosemite Decimal System scale, making it the hardest route put up by Fritz Wiessner in the Adirondacks. The post contains photos of the route and an unusual piton in the crack. I thought it might be interesting to post here photos of all six of the routes on Noonmark. All are one-pitch routes that lead to the summit. The gallery shows the start of each route in order, from climber’s left to right. Click on any image to enlarge it.
All of the routes, with the exception of High Noon, are believed to have been first ascended by Wiessner and his climbing partners in the 1930s and ’40s.
Chimney Crack, 5.3: Follow the obvious crack/corner to the top.
Kerr Route, 5.6: Start up Chimney Crack, then step right to surmount large knobby flake, traverse right under narrow roof to left-rising crack.
Wiessner Route, 5.8+: Straight up the widening crack.
High Noon, 5.9: Up the left-facing corner to roof, then over the roof. It’s thought that High Noon started as a variation to Center Climb.
Center Climb, 5.7: Up the left of the two parallel cracks. A harder variation follows the right rack.
Old Route, 5.4: Up the right-rising ramp to a vertical crack, which leads to a left-rising ramp.
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