2025 GCC WinterFest Recap

2025 saw another wildly successful WinterFest for the GCC, sponsored by our longtime partner Rock and Snow.

The kind team at the Gravity Vault in Poughkeepsie played host to our event and transformed their gym into a large learning center with over a dozen clinic stations and a neighborhood of vendors, affinity groups, merchandise and free snack tables.

In total the GCC welcomed 17 guides and instructors to lead nearly 30 clinics this year. This wide range of educational offerings covered the technical (Anchor-Building, Multi-Pitch Transitions, Self Rescue) and the philosophical (What to Do When things Go Sideways, Philosophies on Staying Out of Trouble), the athletic (PreClimb Routines, Crack Climbing Skills) and the mental (Falling and Commitment, How to Be a Good Second).

As always the GCC maintains a strong commitment to its JEDI fundamentals, welcoming back local affinity partners Brown Girls Climb, Paracliffhangers, Kinship Climbing Collective, as well as newcomer the Amy Stone Foundation to represent their respective orgs. Offering JEDI scholarships to each of our events is foundational to what we at the GCC do, and this year we are pleased to say we had nearly a half-dozen takers. If you’d like your organization represented please give us a shout!

Additionally we were happy to sell out all our affinity-specific clinics, including women’s-specific courses with Genuine Climbing and the women/genderqueer descent course.

One of the things we love best about our events is the ability to offer local-specific clinics, education you simply won’t find any place else. We had local climbing legends come forward to talk about their experiences through decades in the Gunks and about what gear and tactics do (and don’t) work here.

The Mohonk Preserve represented as always, leading a strong clinic on Accident First Response and Preventative SAR. Where else can you get a clinic that will combine potentially life-saving skills with the chance to be backboarded and strapped to a rescue litter? This course has been one of our stalwart offerings, and every person who attends this clinic will make our local climbing community that much stronger with their rescue skills.

For those interested in injury-prevention, we welcomed back Dr. Miguel Zavallos of Climbing Rehab who led a clinic focused on all things hands and fingers, and how to keep them functioning at the high performance levels that climbers demand.

Each participant was able to register for two clinics, and in-between many spent their time at the Climbers’ Social Corner, swapping stories and asking questions of Gunks veteran climbers and enjoying free snacks supplied by the amazing woman- and climber-owned Dank Bread Brooklyn.

Thanks to the support of Rock and Snow we wrapped up the evening with a pizza party social, where participants and guides talked over their days and plans for the upcoming year.

Thank you to our volunteers, participants, guides and clinic leaders, the amazing staff at the Gravity Vault, our vendors and all those who came out to hang for the event – see you at our flagship GunksFest Labor Day weekend!