The Boston climbing community, chiefly members of the Mountaineering Committee of the Boston Chapter of the AMC, has a decades-long tradition of top-roping outdoors on weeknights between April and September. Though this was initially only on Wednesday night at the Quincy Quarries south of Boston, some who had difficulty making it to the Quarries after work started climbing on Tuesdays nights at various North Shore locations. The North Shore is home to many interesting crags, in different settings and on varied rock, but none of them is large enough to stay interesting through a whole season, so a schedule was published every March that rotated between them.
For a few years now, I have been publishing the Tuesday night schedule on my Web site, with directions to the crags published separately. That has worked out well, but we've always lacked an efficient means for two-way communication. That has been a particular problem on days when rain threatens: Do you go anyway, only to find that everyone else was scared off? And even if you know it's definitely going to be too wet for climbing outdoors, it would be a help to be able to find others in the same predicament who want to go to the gym.
So here's the plan: A few days beforehand, probably on Sunday, I will post a brief blog that includes the latest weather report for the following Tuesday's destination. When you decide you are coming (or not), post a comment saying so, and I will do the same, so that everyone can keep count. Shortly before leaving work Tuesday, we can all see what's what, and maybe discuss alternatives if the weather looks bad.
And if you have any trouble with the Web site, send me an email and I'll help you get started.
The first Tuesday on the new schedule is April 7. Hope to see you there!
