2026 WinterFest Clinic Offerings

Agenda

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Registration
12:00 PM – 7:00 PM Clinics and Climbing
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM Pizza Party

Admission Tickets

First you will need either a General Admission Ticket (either with or without existing gym membership). General Admission tickets include 2 add-on clinics, climbing gym access, and evening pizza party. After you purchase your General Admission Ticket, you can register 2 clinics – many have limited capacity and sell out quickly! Since there is a ticket limit for clinics, best that each individual purchases their own tickets.

GCC WinterFest General Admission: $52.75 includes ticketing fees
GCC WinterFest General Admission for Gravity Vault Members: $44.36 includes ticketing fees

GET WINTERFEST TICKETS

Add-on Clinics (Choose Only 2)

Note: This page is updated regularly with clinic availability status, but the latest status will always be on the ticketing site, and sometimes cancelations may re-open a sold-out clinic.

12pm How to be a Good Second (2hrs)

Join Dr. Richard Goldstone for a reprise of his sold-out acclaimed clinic at prior GCC Gunks Climbers festivals.
We’ll talk about personal gear, belaying, choss management, cleaning gear, belay transitions, rappelling, getting yourself out of jams, expedition mentality, and maybe just a touch about evaluating potential leaders.
Prerequisites: The intended audience for this clinic is climbers who are transitioning from gym or sport climbing to multipitch trad climbing and who want to know more about the skills involved in competent trad seconding. There will be some value if you’ve never climbed outside, but some of the discussion may seem obscure.

12pm What if Things go Sideways? (1hr) – SOLD OUT

What happens if you drop your belay device? Or forget your anchor building material? Or encounter the unexpected when you’re more than half a ropelength out?
Join Rise Outside’s Alan Kline for a masterclass on handling the unexpected challenges of trad climbing.

1pm Anchors 101 (2hrs) – SOLD OUT

Offered by: Athe Torri Cervantes, Rise Outside
Learn and practice anchor fundamentals that you will return to again and again in your climbing. This course will cover the anatomy of an anchor, commonly used materials, and basic skills for building anchors.
We will also discuss how to assess your own anchors and the environment they are in.

1pm Assisting your Follower: Haul Systems (2hrs) – SOLD OUT

Offered by: Gregory Kanter, Gunks Guides
Learn how to help a second who can’t move on their own—because “try harder” isn’t a real rescue plan.
This clinic covers simple haul systems for assisting a follower on multi-pitch climbs.
Practical, easy-to-use techniques to get you both moving again (and still friends at the belay)

1pm Improvised Rappelling (2hrs) – SOLD OUT

Offered by: Eric Waldron, Gunks Guides & Climbing School
Ever been stuck at the top without your belay device and thought, “Well… now what?”
In this clinic we’ll come up with 10 ways to get down with what you’ve got on hand or have access to.
Learn practical techniques, stay calm under pressure, and pick up a few tricks that might just make you the hero of your next retreat—without turning it into a horror story.

1pm Multi-pitch Climbing Efficiency and Safety (2hrs) – SOLD OUT

Offered by: Angelo Urrico, Rise Outside
Looking to build some skills in the realm of multi-pitch climbing?
Angelo will cover a variety of multi-pitch topics, including gear, anchoring, belays, rope management, swapping leads, and much more!
You’ll walk away with eight specific skills/tips that you can use in your multi-pitch climbing – don’t miss this if you’re looking to up your multipitch game.

1pm Taking it to the Next Level (2hrs) – SOLD OUT

Offered by: Franz Buzawa, Gunks Guides
Progress in trad climbing isn’t just about grades—it’s about how you move and how confident you feel on the rock.
This movement-focused clinic is designed to help you climb smarter, more efficiently, and with greater control.
Through intentional practice, we’ll explore key movement skills, training habits, and mindset strategies that expand your comfort zone and open the door to harder, more committing terrain—no matter what grade you climb.

1pm Total Climber Audit: 60 Minutes to Maximize Your 2026 Climbing Season (1hr)

Offered by: Dustin Portzline, Advanced Rockcraft
Most climbers don’t have a plan to get better or get feedback; they have a “hope” plan. This workshop introduces the C.R.A.F.T. Framework—the same system I teach my clients—to help you identify exactly where your opportunities and limitations are before you climb outdoors this spring. Participants will spend the session participating in a 10-point “Autonomy Audit”, and reflecting more deeply on their aspirations and boundaries. Participants will finish the session with new awareness, new skill development and empowering momentum for the season.

1pm Women/Genderqueer Safe Descent (2hrs) – SOLD OUT

Offered by: Rita Strauss, Alpine Endeavors
Completing the climb is only half the risk, getting down is the other. In this hands-on clinic, participants will learn best practices for lowering off bolted anchors, and rappelling with extensions and third-hand backups.
Suggested gear list: Harness, ATC belay device, double length sling, friction hitch (eg, prussik or hollowblock cord), four locking carabiners.
Please note this clinic is reserved for Women/Genderqueer climbers.

2pm Climbing as a Party of Three (1hrs) – SOLD OUT

Offered by: Alan Kline, Rise Outside
Tired of fiddle farting around while climbing in a party of three?
Want to climb safer, move faster, and send more routes while climbing in a trio?
In this workshop, hosted by Rise Outside guide, Alan Kline, you’ll learn how to more efficiently climb in a party of three. Topics will include climbing/belaying with two ropes, three-person belay station management, and rappelling with two ropes.

2pm Top Belay Skills (2hrs) – SOLD OUT

Offered by: Aaron Snider, Gunks Guides
Aaron from Gunks Guides will help you learn how to belay a follower from above with confidence, covering anchors, redirection, and rope management.
This clinic covers different techniques for belaying from the top and managing the rope efficiently, helping you maximize your belay.
Join this 2-hr clinic for simple, practical skills to keep your belays bomber and your partner happy at the stance.

2pm Women-Specific – Self-Rescue for the Aspiring Leader (4hrs) – SOLD OUT

Offered by: Patty Lankhorst, Gunks Guides
Start learning the basics of self-rescue as an aspiring leader—because getting stuck shouldn’t be part of the plan.
Join Patty from Gunks Guides for this amazing and skills-packed clinic – taught by one of the longest-tenured guides in the area.
We’ll cover practical skills to get yourself (and your rope) out of tricky spots, with tips that build confidence and keep you laughing instead of panicking during this intensive 4hr clinic.
NOTE that this is a women-specific clinic.

2:30pm Cams: From Soup to Nuts (1.5hrs)

With Dr. Richard Goldstone.
This clinic aims to discuss all aspects of cams. There’s a touch of history, a smidgen of theory, an illustrated review of failure modes, and some practical guidelines for placements. Richard will try to illuminate how not to do things as well as how to do them.

3pm Total Climber Audit: 60 Minutes to Maximize Your 2026 Climbing Season (1hr) – SOLD OUT

3pm Women/Genderqueer Self Rescue (2hrs) – SOLD OUT

Offered by: Rita Strauss, Alpine Endeavors
• A great day of cragging can go wrong in an instant. Do you have the technical skills to get everyone back to ground safely?
• In this hands-on clinic, participants will learn essential self-rescue skills to solve common problems that arise in single-pitch climbing.
Participants will learn:
• Belay escapes
• Rope ascension
• Emergency counterbalance lowers and rappels
Suggested gear list: Harness, assisted braking belay device, double length sling, a friction hitch cord (prussik or hollowblock cord), four locking carabiners.
Please note this clinic is reserved for Women/Genderqueer climbers.

4pm Anchor Making Workshop (2hrs) – SOLD OUT

Offered by: Franz Buzawa, Gunks Guides
This hands-on workshop breaks anchor building down to what actually matters.
We’ll focus on using anchor materials efficiently, making smart decisions with the gear you have, and developing a holistic approach to building secure, adaptable anchors in real-world scenarios.
Bring your anchor making materials for this one!

4pm Crack Technique (2hrs) – SOLD OUT

Ask a gunkie to climb a 5.10 handcrack and they’ll turn it into a 5.12+ face climb.
Join GCC board member and crack technician Chris Vultaggio for a 2hr session on crack climbing.
We’ll start with making tape gloves, so come armed with a roll of 2″ climbing tape, then we will get wrist-deep into technique with the gym cracks.
This clinic will focus mostly on hand crack, but will we wander over to the offwidth crack to work some stacking techniques.

4pm Multipitch Climbing Efficiency & Safety (2hrs) – SOLD OUT

Offered by: Angelo Urrico, Rise Outside Guides
Angelo will cover a variety of multi-pitch topics, including gear, anchoring, belays and belay transfers, rope management, swapping leads, and much more!
You’ll walk away with eight specific skills that you can use in your multi-pitch lead climbing!

4pm Philosophies on Staying out of Trouble (1hr)

Offered by: Rich Romano
Join Rich for an anecdotal approach to learn how to keep yourself safe up on the wall in the most uncertain of situations. This sit-down clinic will give you insight into how to be creative with what you help manage situations before they get unmanageable.

4pm Rope Ascending for the Recreational Climbers (3hrs) – SOLD OUT

Offered by: Athe Torri Cervantes, Rise Outside
There are many scenarios in climbing where knowing how to safely ascend the rope, using the materials on your harness, is critical to the safety of you and your team.
In this clinic you will learn and practice rope ascending with common materials recreational climbers carry on their harness.

4pm – PSAR and Emergency Response with the Mohonk Preserve Rangers (2hrs)

You’re out climbing and witness an accident – now what?
Learn how to be arguably the most important part of the emergency response system as the first responder on scene.
From techniques to stabilize a patient to the order of operations (call 911, CPR, clear the trail, etc.) you can help strengthen the climbing community with this important toolkit of knowledge.

4pm Self-Rescue for the Follower (2hrs) – SOLD OUT

Offered by: Eric Waldron, Gunks Guides & Climbing School
Learn how to rescue yourself when you’re the follower—so you’re not just dangling in space, silently panicking, while your belayer has no idea what’s happening.
This clinic teaches practical self-rescue skills to get yourself (and your rope) out of jams with Eric, lead guide at Gunks Guides.

4pm Self Rescue – Hauling Systems (2hrs) – SOLD OUT

Offered by: Greg Kanter, Gunks Guides & Climbing School
What to do when your second can’t quite make the moves.

4pm What’s In my Pack and on my Harness (2hrs)

Offered by: Gregory Kanter, Gunks Guides
Tired of arriving at the base of your route already exhausted from just carrying your pack? This clinic offers an audit on why your pack may feel so heavy compared to your partner’s – and help you pare down that kitchen sink mentality.
Learn what actually earns its spot in a seasoned guide’s pack, from climbing to rescue to first aid gear.
Simple, practical choices so you’re prepared with gear you can multipurpose to meet the demands of both multi-pitch and cragging days,

4:30pm Half Rope Usage: Techniques, Pros, and Cons (1.5hrs)

With Dr. Richard Goldstone.
You’re finishing out your route, top of the cliff within a few body-lengths. Your partner is out of sight, under a roof and a long traverse back to the belay.
Each step becomes more tedious like you’re dragging an elephant from your harness – and you find yourself yarding up armloads of slack just to move. We’ve all been there, but did you know there is an easy fix?
Half ropes are not popular except in the UK, where they are the technique of choice for trad, and for good reason with their wandering pitches – just like someplace else we know…
Everyone knows they have the potential to reduce friction, but is that the whole story? Do the Brits know something we don’t?
As a 30+ year user, Dr. Goldstone will share his insights on how this seasoned practice applies in the Gunks, both pros and cons.

5pm Climbing Movement (2hrs) – SOLD OUT

Offered by: Aaron Snider, Gunks Guides
If ever you’ve looked up and watched a climber move, spellbound by their style and technique – this clinic is for you.
Learn how to move on the rock with more control and less struggle, turning difficult moments into expressions of artistic grace.
Aaron will share tips to climb smarter, stay balanced, and make every move feel easier regardless of your grade – because everyone has their “hard.”