TheBurg

24 | THEBURGNEWS.COM | 06.20 F ishing, kayaking, boating— there's plenty of summertime fun to be had on the Susquehanna River. But climbing boulders smack dab in the center of the waterway? Enter a group of "bouldering" enthusiasts. To them, the river affords a new way to find the perfect rock. "If the river lets us, we'll go," said Brian McCall. He's talking about boating out to rocks on the river, inflating a pad, and climbing atop said rocks. Bouldering, rock climbing without any equipment, in water is not a new sport. But the Susquehanna presents a unique challenge, in that the water is typically shallow, presenting a hazard for the inevitable falls. For Chet Gross, bouldering began almost accidently. "I started to go out there, swimming around and looking for stuff," he said. He and friend Sean Heisey then used Heisey's boat to explore other options. "We saw all this awesome rock, but the water was only a couple of feet deep— and we were like, 'How can we do this?'" Gross said. eir first attempt used a plastic floating dock, which they floated under the climber as their crash pad. It proved less than ideal. ey also considered building a net on the back of the boat, but that idea was quickly abandoned. Finally, they contacted the water sports company Aquaglide, which provided them with an inflatable pad. e 12-by-12-foot pad looks kind of like a small barge as it's towed down the Susquehanna. It's maneuvered with poles provided by a bamboo stand along the river. A favorite spot sits on the Lower Susquehanna between Peach Bottom and the Holtwood Dam. Lined with fantastic river cliffs on both sides, and smooth potholes, rounded by the swirling of river water, this picturesque area is a climber's nirvana. McCall described the group as "river pirates" and explorers. But their treasure is rock. "It's a whole other subsection of the sport, searching and exploring," he said. "You know, I spend just as much time exploring for rock as I do climbing a lot of the times." Potential climbs along the river are more easily seen through GPS than those hidden by rhododendron, trees and mountain laurel in the forested areas. "ey're big-time trendsetters," said fellow climber Kyle Stapp. "What they've done is they've opened up access to many boulders that were otherwise inaccessible." ROCKIN' ON THE RIVER A group of friends have become pioneers in bouldering the Susquehanna. BY SUSAN RYDER Photos by Chetroy Productions

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