Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1998 13:58:00 -0500 (EST)
From: Patrick C Leger <blah+@andrew.cmu.edu>

Ok, here's the scoop:

There are 2 decent bouldering areas (that i know of) in Pittsburgh:
Crafton (aka Oakwood city park, aka "The Arena" among some climbers) and Aspinwall. Both are man-made walls composed of big sandstone blocks, though the climbing is fairly different between the two. Crafton is a much nicer setting, as it's in a park and not right along a railroad.

To get to Crafton, take 279 through the Fort Pitt tunnel. The 2nd or 3rd exit is 121 aka Greentree Road. Take the exit and bear left (the exit forks). At the stop sign, make a left and then make a right at the first light onto Poplar St. At the next light, make a left onto Noblestown Road. Go through the next light, bearing left. Go up a hill and around some curves; at the top of the hill make a VERY sharp right onto Durbin St (there's a store at the intersection). A few hundred feet down on the right you'll see a playground; pull into the driveway and park (it's easy to miss the driveway your first time in).

You'll see a large, circular wall about 15' high and 150' in diameter--that's it. People don't mind if you climb there, and chalk is ok, but don't be surprised if you get distracted by screaming 3 year-olds or stray tennis balls. It's a 400-foot traverse to get from one side of the wall to the other. You can probably do the whole wall without doing any moves harder than 5.8 or 5.9 if you're really good at routefinding and don't mind going up near the top of the wall.

It's pretty crimpy, though you can find some slopers, pockets, sidepulls, and underclings if you look for them. There are also a number of reasonably hard boulder problems which follow drill pockets to the top of the wall.

To get to Aspinwall, take the Aspinwall exit from 28 North [If you're coming from campus, take Fifth Avenue east until it turns into Washington Blvd. Take Washington to the end and make a left at the light, following signs for the Highland Park bridge and/or Route 28. Take the bridge, and get off at the Aspinwall exit. Make a left at the end of the exit ramp; this is the main road through Aspinwall. Stay on this road for a mile or so; eventually you'll see an elevated railroad track on your right, supported by a big stone wall right next to the road (if you've reached Waterworks Mall, you've gone too far).

You can climb on the side of the wall away from the road. The train engineers apparently don't care if you climb there, as they usually wave when they pass by. Watch where you park, though, as many of the nearby spaces are permit-only. The climbing here is a bit different from Crafton, as many of the blocks are lumpy and push you out from the wall. There are bigger footholds and more large slopers than at Crafton, but some tiny crimpers are occasionally required. The wall starts about 15' high and trails down to nothing after about 1000', but you can climb on it for at least 700' before it gets too short.

There's also "the Arches" (that's one name I've heard for it), which is a railroad bridge in east Pittsburgh. I'm not sure what the official access situation is, since it's railroad property.

Enjoy...