The Airfield

[Fred]

A few years ago someone told me about this new bouldering spot in Maine. I have been wanting to check it out but for whatever reasons our plans never seemed to work out, until today that is. This area is located on the Route 9 (The Airline) between St-Stephen and Bangor, Maine. It's about 1h from the border and all of the boulders are roadside and concentrated. When I first drove into the parking area I could barely contain myself. The boulders were so high you had to duck to see them out the car window. Some of them are huge!! So we rushed to get the pads and went on a mission. However, our enthusiasm was quickly crushed by the lack of features on these boulders. Smooth as a baby's bum they were. Nonetheless, there were some features and we managed to establish a few problems. Although there are limited lines on each boulder due to blank features there are such large numbers of boulders concentrated in one area that it is still worth the visit. Once more lines are established I think this area has potential. Certainly not NS quality but definitely decent. I should note that the stone is coarse granite similar to Bridgetown but more solid crystals and finer grain.

I have posted some photos on http://www.beta-source.com and I should have a short vid up soon.

Here are a couple maps to help you find the place. Search 29000 Rd Maine in Google Maps. There is a large pullout for parking at the intersection of 29000 Rd and Route 9. This area may have already been named but I have given it the tentative name "The Airfield" given the "Airline" highway.

[Fred]

Here is the link for a short video. Sorry for the bad quality and production... just wanted to get something together to show the boulders.


http://www.beta-source.com/videos/airfield.mov

[Adam]

looks pretty cool - no development was ever done there? guess it is not that close to an urban center...

[Fred]

There was some development by a St-Andrews crew but we only found one cleaned line. We only explored the Western Sector. Next trip I'm planning on checking the other side of the highway.

[Adam]

looks like a cool spot tho.

[Shawn B]

If you care if the area has been climbed before, I'd suggest checking with Jon Tierney. He has a guiding business in Orono and owns Alpenglow Gear there as well. I'm sure he would know any history. You can probably reach him through the shop's email. Google alpenglow gear bangor maine to get his shop as there are two alpenglows.