Rock & Snow

Took an ice climbing lesson from Jesse in March through Rock & Snow (sort of) it was with Alpine Endeavors. I’m overweight. I struggle to climb, but I do. I lost a bit of weight and wanted to give this a try after only indoor gym climbing. Jesse was so awesome it almost made me cry. He made me feel like I could do it. We ended up doing way more than I thought we would and he wasn’t judgemental when I had to stop and struggle. If I wasn’t so broke all the time I would have done some outdoor climbing with Jesse and stopped by Rock and Snow more this summer. Great guys, great place.

Very friendly staff, who offered advice and suggestions for climbing and camping spots in the area. Will definitely be making more trips to New Paltz/​Gunks because of them. They’re my go to gear store now.

Can’t say enough good things about Rock and Snow! Great owner and staff who are all so knowledgeable and professional!
Keep up the good work!

The staff are friendly and helpful, and a great source of information and beta for the area. They will also match the price of anyone else, even sale prices (I think) — Just show them the link on your phone, or tell them where and they’ll look it up for you. It may feel a little awkward /​obnoxious to ask them to lower their price, but it’s much better than not buying from them at all!
I admit I buy most of my gear online from the big retailers (backcountry, ems, REI), but I try to support Rock & Snow when I can, even if it’s just stopping in once in a while to buy a few carabiners.
They really are a good business, and they contribute to many local climbing organizations, and serve as an impromptu lost & found for gear that you find abandoned at the crag. Stop in on your way to the Gunks, say hi, and buy something! (They also have a nice clean bathroom, and your friends can browse gear while you wait.)

Love this place I funky stuck in the sixties New Paltz. The staff is knowledgable without being pretentious and the gear is limited but top notch. Yes, of course you’ll pay more than anything off of Amazon but with that comes the service and advice. If you want to save a few bucks by going to Ramsey Outdoor (yech, they should hire a cleaning service) or Campmor, go ahead, it’s only 80 miles or so away. You pay peanuts, you gets monkeys and Rock and Snow has no monkeys working there. Climbing is a serious business and they have serious staff to help you along.
Then cross the street to Bachus for some food and spirits.

My girlfriend Krystine booked an ice climbing trip with Alpine Adventures/​Rock & Snow for my college graduation as part of a weekend retreat (awesome girlfriend, right?!) Rock & Snow is right in town and carried a decent variety of gear for adventurers. The ice climbing trip was a nice experience and provided the best ice climbing trip I’ve ever had! Thanks to our very knowledgeable and cool ice climbing guide Joe, we not only had a safe and fun climbing experience but also learned a good deal about New Paltz, Catskill Mtns, Mohonk, and the surrounding areas. If you are in New Paltz during the cold months and want an awesome adventure go check out Rock & Snow.

Fantastic and very knowledgable staff make Rock and Snow a great place to gear up.
Climbing is the forte here and if you need advice on what to put in your rack, the staff here can tell you exactly what you need, even give you tips on specific routes and make recommendations. I had a detailed conversation about fitting and material stretch with one of the staff when buying climbing shoes here. When one of my cams was recalled, R&S called me to make sure I knew and was OK. Phenomenal. Otherwise a decent selection of hiking gear, there are also x-​country ski and snow shoe rentals as well as some other equipment.
Yes, they’re a little more expensive than what you might find online. But the knowledge, the service, and the support of local folks who love getting out as much as you do is more than worth it.

The place for gear and to pick up climbing chicks ;0

I was on the hunt for some hiking shoes and lo and behold the rock and snow online store had vibram KSOs in my size on SALE for $ 25 (plus $ 10 shipping)! Shipping to CA took only three days after shipping out. Selection is limited as far as shoes go, but if you get lucky you might find a deal like I did.

Cool Outdoor Gear Store in New Paltz.
Great selection of outdoor gear, books, friendly and knowledgeable staff. When we asked about hiking in the Mohonk Preserve, one of the staff members (sorry, didn’t catch his name) gave us a bunch of inside tips and spent time showing us where we should go on a map.
Stop by if you are in the area.

This store is great, from the knowledgeable staff to the prices they carry! Thanks to this store, I got my first pair of Vibram Bikilia, and it did take me a while to find the style I wanted, but the staff was so patient; they helped me find the perfect size and pair. Not only that, but they had a 20% discount, so I go my bikilia for $ 85! I can’t find that price anywhere but there. Glad these guys are around. They also have awesome Teva sandals and flipflops…

Great shop.
Trail maps for the area.
Lots of climbing gear, clothes and hiking boots.

For cross country skis, $ 18 for renting regular for the day is a good price. But what excited me is they had premium skating skis (the shorter ones with the better, skating bindings) and they were just a little more, $ 25 I think. I loved using premium equipment for rental. We took the rentals over to Minnewaska State Park and did the Black Diamond 3 hour trail to Castle Point. FYI skate skiing is a little tough on steep uphills. But for downhills, the skate skis feel almost as good as downhill skis.

I was recommended to go here for mountaineering equipment by some personnel in Campmor. However, looking around the store was frightened by the prices and surprised at how little it was footprint-​wise. Now I know this stuff costs money, but when the prices of items are 20% more than that found at other retail outlets such as Campmor or Ramsey Outdoors, that is just ridiculous. Ended up buying my new snowshoes and ice axe online, and saved maybe 150 $ dollars. My GF ended up buying alpine boots (not the heavy duty plastic molded types) for under 100 $ elsewhere.
Suppose if you are in a pinch and need equipment or are loaded where money is no object, then come here. Otherwise, look elsewhere.

I used to be pretty devoted to online shopping, but these folks make brick and mortar make sense. You can’t beat the personal attention, the local intel, or the friendliness. These are people who live and play in the area, and are experts at the activities you’re interested in, so there’s nothing about your sport or that region that they can’t help with. You can buy or rent a wide variety of climbing, hiking, x-​c skiing, and camping gear. They drilled a hole in my climbing guide for me even though I bought it elsewhere. And when I last made a big-​ticket gear purchase, the price was as good as the best deal on the Internet. Way better, in fact, because it also counted toward their (free) Top Brass club (get $ 25 credit after spending $ 500).

Great Shop and Staff, if you are climbing or hiking in the area you should visit. The staff is helpful and knowledgeable.
Keep the local shops in business. If you are new to climbing, buy your shoes here, not on the internet. Knowledgeable help is important. You will be much happier. Paragon, REI & EMS generally do not have knowledgeable staff regarding climbing.
The Internet stores are not going to tell you how to get to the new climbing area that does not have a guidebook or fit your shoes properly.

Great shop, great staff, and great prices on our snowshoe rentals. We reserved the shoes the day before and discussed the trail with the very knowledgeable shop owner, who was also nice enough to provide us with directions to the trail head. The following morning we picked up our reserved, pre-​paid snowshoes and were on our way in a jif. I think the rentals were $ 15 each for the day. Awesome.

With all sorts of outdoor activities available in and around New Paltz it’s little surprise that there’d be a great gear store in town. Rock and Snow has all the clothes, gear, and info to outfit your forray into the surrounding mountains and beyond.
Like every brick and mortar store their prices are higher than online but no more than other outdoor retailers and and they prove indispensible as a source of last minute gear and area info so I always try to partonize them when in town.
The clothing selection is good and rock gear selection is excellent. They rent ice gear and x-​country skis annd other miscellany. They have a wide selection of area guide books.
They also offer rock & ice guiding as well as running the annual Ice Fest. I’ve known and climbed with a couple of the guys there and all are very knowledgible, safety oriented climers.
The back room looks like its off limits, like its staff only, but go ahead on in it’s the clearance racks and you’ll find some great bargains.

A great place to gear up. The staff is very helpful, knowledgeable and the store has a great selection.
Need a guide for your Gunks climbing adventure? You can book one here! I’m still a rookie and don’t dare venture out on my own yet. I had a great (and tiring) day! My guide offered a lot of technical advice and encouragement. (I swear he was really Spiderman in disguise!)

I have never rock climbed. First, I am afraid of heights and I also have what were once referred to as «pencil arms». But, I just spent a week hiking various trails in the «Gunks» (Shawagunk Mountains) and visiting New Paltz.
This store has really cool outdoor clothes, great sales, books and maps. Plus, the staff were incredibly nice and helpful. We spent a lot of time (and money) here and we came out with some very cool clothes. Heck, I bet we even looked a litlte bit like rock climbers when we wore them hiking.