March 16, 2025 – WinterFest

Event is now over, thanks for attending!

 

WINTERFEST IS BACK!!!

Get prepared for your climbing season on Sunday March 16 with a day of indoor climbing clinics to learn new skills, practice rarely used ones, and take your climbing to the next level.

WinterFest is a full-day event packed with hands-on climbing clinics and featuring an all-star roster of local Gunks climbing guides, hosted at the Gravity Vault in Poughkeepsie. These master classes will be offered on a rotating schedule throughout the day, and each General Admission ticket entitles you to two clinics, climbing gym access, and a closing pizza party, where you will get to hang out with guides and other community members to get some stoke going for the upcoming season.

We’ll feature guides from a host of amazing Gunks climbing guide services covering hard skills from anchors to descent, and sidebar classes focusing on technique, falling, the science behind trad gear, and so much more. And as usual the Mohonk Preserve Rangers will be representing with some SAR and rescue skills. For easier browsing, we’ve listed all the WinterFest climbing clinics below so you can choose your two favorites before you purchase your tickets. Just make sure the times don’t overlap!

Last year’s WinterFest clinics sold out incredibly fast, and with limited slots per clinic be sure to book yours early.

Overview of Climbing Clinics

Remember, you must purchase a General Admission ticket and sign up for only 2 add-on clinics, unless otherwise specified below. For the latest status on available WinterFest climbing clinics, see the Eventbrite ticket site where you can purchase your tickets.

12pm – All About Top Down Belaying (2hrs)

• Total slots: 6 – SOLD OUT
• Aaron Snider, Gunks Guides
• Join Aaron Snider from Gunks Guides in this top-down class on belaying from above. Aaron will walk you through belay device options, safety techniques and ways to make your belaying more efficient. A must for any leader looking to solidify their belay techniques.

12pm – Anchoring Fundamentals (2hrs)

• Total slots: 6 – SOLD OUT
• Franz Buzawa, Gunks Guides
• Join Franz Buzawa from Gunks Guides for this fundamentals class on all things anchor building. From equalization techniques to load forces, backups to redirects, Franz will help unpack one of the most intimidating factors of being a gear leader.

12pm – Self Rescue 1 – Belay Escape: (2hrs)

• Total slots: 6 – SOLD OUT
• Patty Lankhorst, Gunks Guides
• Join the inimitable Gunks Guides Patty Lankhorst, who brings her decades of experience to teach two back-to-back self-rescue clinics that add up to a masterclass in getting out of sticky situations (and preventing them in the first place).This clinic focuses specifically on how to set up and release assisted and non-assisted belay systems, a skill that is missing from many climbers’ toolkits and one that can be the difference between success and rescue. If you’ve ever been in a situation where you’ve wondered “what would happen if my climber weights the system and I cannot release it,” this is the clinic for you.

12pm – Women’s Rappelling Basics & Strategies (3hrs)

• Total slots: 6 – SOLD OUT
• Anyssa Lucena, Genuine Climbing
• Join Anyssa, founder and lead guide for Genuine Climbing for this limited-space women’s specific clinic focused on descent. You will learn how to set up a rappel, what you need to consider, and common mistakes to avoid to ensure that you can descend safely and conscientiously. Anyssa has a long history of running women’s clinics, retreats, and guide days and offers her unique brand of women-specific instruction.

12pm – How to be a Good Second (2.5hrs)

• Total slots: 25
• Dr. Richard Goldstone
• 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)

• Total slots: 4 – SOLD OUT
• Alan Kline, Rise Outside
• 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 A-Z (2hrs)

• Total slots: 6 – SOLD OUT
• Alan Kline, Rise Outside
• You just got to an anchor, what now?
  Anchor building with cord and other materials, belaying a second up, transitioning to down. Gear anchors, chain anchors, terrain anchors – you name it and Alan will be addressing it in this 2hr masterclass. This open-format clinic will tidy up your existing skills, and give you plenty of new material when it comes to Gunks Anchors.

1pm – Improvised Rappelling (2hrs)

• Total slots: 6 – SOLD OUT
• Eric Waldron, Gunks Guides & Climbing School
• How to get down without your ATC.
  It isn’t over until you’re back in the parking lot, and retreat, especially when hasty, can be a stressful thing. If weather comes in or an accident happens things can feel intense – drop your ATC and things start to get serious. Eric Waldron will guide you through how to get down safely when accidentally separated from your rappel device.

1pm – Crack Climbing Skills (1hr)

• Total slots: 6 – SOLD OUT
• Dustin Portzline, Advanced Rockcraft
• Crack skills are often overlooked in the Gunks, yet so many routes offer opportunities to jam your way through when things get tough. Get your stoke on for some jedi crack training with Dustin.

1pm – Intro to Sport Leading (2hrs)

• Total slots: 8 – SOLD OUT
• Angelo Urrico, Rise Outside Guides
• So, you have been top rope climbing for a while and you are ready to start leading bolt-protected sport routes? This clinic will introduce you to the equipment, technique, and safety skills needed to have fun and be safe while sport climbing indoors or outdoors!ded to have fun and be safe while sport climbing indoors or outdoors!

1pm – Multi-Pitch Transitions: (2hrs)

• Total slots: 6 – SOLD OUT
• Teddy Dondanville, Mountain Skills
• Climbers lose a lot of time transitioning from one pitch to the next.
  In this workshop, hosted by Mountain Skills Guide Teddy Dondanville, you’ll learn how to speed up your transition times so you can climb longer routes. Whether you’re a leader or a second, the tricks you will learn in this workshop will send you to the summit faster than ever before.

1pm – What does a guide carry and why? (2hrs)

• Total slots: 10
• Greg Kanter, Gunks Guides & Climbing School
• A deep dive into all the gear that is – and is not – on a typical outdoor climbing harness and why, and how to get the most out of what you carry.

2pm – Falling and Commitment (2hrs)

• Total slots: 6 – SOLD OUT
• Dustin Portzline, Advanced Rockcraft
• This training addresses falling directly to help improve commitment. We do progressive falling practice, with movement, breathing, resting, and body/mind awareness exercises. Students leave understanding more about appropriate risks and how to commit to those risks. Gunks climbing guide and educator Dustin Portzline brings nearly two decades of experience to this clinic as a licensed Warrior’s Way trainer.

3pm Finger Injury Clinic (2hrs) – NEW!

• Total slots: 15
• THIS CLINIC DOES NOT COUNT TOWARDS YOUR 2 TICKET LIMIT!
• Dr. Miguel Zavallos
• Join GCC Fest regular Dr. Miguel Zavallos for an intensive clinic on all things finger injuries, from prevention to treatment. We’ll start out with the most common types of finger injuries, how they happen, and what to do to treat them. It also includes live demonstrations of taping techniques, hangboard routines, and strength testing using a forceboard for those interested in getting their numbers at the end of the clinic while Miguel does a Q&A on general climbing rehab to wrap it up.

3pm – Multi-Pitch Transitions: (2hrs)

• Total slots: 6 – SOLD OUT
• Franz Buzawa, Gunks Guides
• Belay transitions are often the most-overlooked factor in a successful summit. Whether dialing your safety and efficiency here in the Gunks or if you’re training for longer routes in areas like Potrero Chico, Red Rocks, or Yosemite this course will really help improve your skill set. We’ll cover the basics of things like leader anchoring and belay transitions, and add in plenty of tips and tricks for speed to improve your chances of topping out your climbs.

3pm – Preclimb Routines (2hrs)

• Total slots: 8
• Aaron Snider, Gunks Guides
• Aaron Snider from Gunks Guides will help bring you to the perfect sending state with a focus on preclimbing routines. This class focuses on physical and mental prep, and will help you put some intention behind your climbing day.

3pm – Self Rescue 2 – Hauling: (2hrs)

• Total slots: 6 – SOLD OUT
• Patty Lankhorst, Gunks Guides
• Join the inimitable Gunks Guides Patty Lankhorst, who brings her decades of experience to teach two back-to-back self-rescue clinics that add up to a masterclass in getting out of sticky situations (and preventing them in the first place).
  Part two of her masterclass, Patty will cover all things hauling in this 2-hr clinic. How to set up systems, when to set up systems, how to do it safely – all with the gear on your harness.
  Patty will help you create a strategy to keep things organized and safe, with her legendary stepwise style of instruction.

3pm – Women/Genderqueer Safe Descent: (2hrs)

• Total slots: 6 – SOLD OUT
• Rita Strauss, Alpine Endeavors
• Completing the climb is only half the risk, getting down is the other. This clinic will demonstrate modern techniques to rappel with some safety systems in place – for single and multipitch routes – with Rita from Alpine Endeavors.
  Suggested gear list: Harness ATC and locker double length nylon runner sterling hollowblock or prussik cord 3 free lockers
  Please note this clinic is reserved for Women/Genderqueer applicants.

4pm – Cams: From Soup to Nuts (2hrs)

• Total slots: 25
• 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.

4pm – Climbing as a Party of Three (2hrs)

• Total slots: 6 – SOLD OUT
• Teddy Dondanville, Mountain Skills
• 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 Mountain Skills Guide, Teddy Dondanville, 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.

4pm – Crack Technique (2hrs)

• Total slots: 7 – SOLD OUT
• Chris Vultaggio
• 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)

• Total slots: 8 – SOLD OUT
• 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 – Accident First Response/PSAR (1hr)

• Total slots: 25
• Mohonk Preserve Deputy Chief Ranger Dan Cassidy and Ranger Alan Kline
• 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.
  Mohonk Preserve Deputy Chief Ranger Dan Cassidy and Ranger Alan Kline will talk over the MP’s strategy for their bespoke Preventative Search and Rescue program. Come learn about how you can help the rangers in their efforts to prevent climbing accidents, and what to do when it’s already in progress.

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

• Total slots: 6 – SOLD OUT
• Eric Waldron, Gunks Guides & Climbing School
• Ever found yourself stuck on a route your partner leads, or maybe you’ve swung out into space and can’t get back?
  Join Eric Waldron from Gunks Guides & Climbing School for a hands-on clinic where you’ll learn essential self-rescue techniques to help you safely and effectively continue your climb.

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

• Total slots: 10
• 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 – Women’s Hauling Systems (3hrs)

• Total slots: 6
• Jobi, Genuine Climbing
• Join Jobi for this limited-space women’s specific clinic focused on how to best assist your partner when they are struggling below you. You will learn how to assist your partner up the route when they are struggling making it to the belay using the tools on your harness.

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

• Total slots: 6
• Greg Kanter, Gunks Guides & Climbing School
• What to do when your second can’t quite make the moves.

5pm – Climbing Movement: (1hrs)

• Total slots: 6 – SOLD OUT
• Dustin Portzline, Advanced Rockcraft
• Whether you’re interested in footwork, becoming more static/dynamic, or just getting that flow going, Dustin is your man. This clinic will help you refine your movement skills, which some may argue are the most important thing you have keeping you safe. From tips to help you rest & conserve energy to mastering the tricky footwork the Gunks is known for, climbers of all levels will benefit from this movement primer.