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Store Hours & Directions What We're All About Cool technical sorts of stuff
For over 30 years, Rock & Snow has been home to the newest and most innovative gear and clothing related to climbing and outdoor rec in general. If you see or hear about a new piece of gear, ask us for the details. There's a good chance we'll be one of the first stores to carry it and use it! Lots of expertise & local knowledge
We're all climbers, so we know what climbers need. And we all live and play in the New Paltz area, so we know lots of useful things about it. Climbing routes? We know them all. Campsites or hotels? Got it covered. We pride ourselves on our local knowledge, and we love to share it with anyone who will listen. Love of the rock
We love our Gunks, home to some of the best climbing in the world. A portion of our sales goes to support local preservation efforts, so in addition to offering the best gear and advice around, we're helping to keep our environment happy & healthy for future climbers. 
Our History Dick Williams, a local climbing pioneer, initially had the idea for Rock & Snow in 1965 and after much effort the store opened on April 10, 1970. Business has grown over the years and the store has witnessed various developments and evolutions within the climbing industry, such as; sticky rubber climbing shoes, camming devices, high-tech clothing materials, indoor climbing gyms, etc. These years of growth and development have also included tremendous challenges including a fire on February 20, 1990 that completely destroyed the store. After the fire, Rich Gottlieb, who was store manager at the time of the fire, joined Dick Williams as a full partner. For three years, Rock and Snow was temporarily relocated across the street while design and consultation for a new store took place. The new and larger store opened on April 1, 1993 and has continued to improve and grow since that time. In 2000, after 30 years of devotion to Rock & Snow, Dick Williams sold the business to Rich Gottlieb - you can bet that you will be seeing Dick on the cliffs a whole lot more. Consequently, it's likely that you will be seeing Rich in the shop a bit more. |  | 
The first store, circa 1974
The fire...
And now
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Our Team Well, here's a rundown of the crew you'll be seeing or talking to here at the store. Everyone is knowledgeable about the gear that we sell because we use it, abuse it, and wear it out. You can always find some of us out playing when we're not here. Whether it's climbing, hiking, biking, or cross-country skiing, any season or weather we do it, so here is a taste of who's who at R&S!  | Rich Gottlieb
I started to climb in
the early 80's in the southeast while pursuing the artistic life.
Climbing kept interrupting every other aspect of my life and the closer
I got to it the more I wanted to know about it. The road trips just
kept coming: Colorado, California, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, New
Hampshire, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Peru, Italy, Quebec. Climbing is
fun. Climbing is pulling into a parking lot 1000 miles from home,
seeing an old partner from 10 years back, and just giving them the nod
as if it were only last week that you were tying in together; then
perhaps you tie in again. Climbing is a wonderful combination of the
expected and the unexpected, it is a test and a tonic. Now life is
running on the same track as climbing is and I share life with my wife,
Teri, and my daughter, Celia. At Rock and Snow, I am also sharing my
life with all the people that make this venture possible; the people
that work here, the people that supply us, and of course the people
that grace us by coming through the door and trusting us. It's all tied
together and we're all tied in.
| Andrew Zalewski Andrew grew up
in the small village of Rosendale, just a few short miles from some of,
in his opinion, the best rock climbing in the world. His passion for
rock, and hatred of ice, has fueled numerous trips to England and
France and an untold number continential climbing trips (ok, the number
is somewhere around thirty). He recently earned a B.S. in English from
SUNY New Paltz (magna cum laude) and is currently serving as
manager at Rock and Snow which is, in his opinion, the best rock
climbing shop in the world. Andrew is married to his lovely former
girlfriend, Amy, and has a cat, Rupert. In addition to rock climbing of all forms,
Andrew's interests include, but are not limited to art, kitty cats,
science, fiction, science fiction, motorcycles, hiking, and being highly opinionated.
|  |  | Tony Vuocolo
Tony grew up not far from New Paltz in Putnam County. His youth was
spent riding his BMX bike looking for cliffs to climb: large, small,
road cuts, it didn't matter as long as it was climbing and was an
adventure. Then he found the Gunks! Tony ppent many nights sleeping in the Overlook lot until he finally made New Paltz his home in 1997. Most of his days
were spent climbing at the cliffs, the gym, or a friends' wall. Now he
dealing with injuries and learning that there are actually other things
to do, and some of them are actually enjoyable! So while he might not be
climbing this season, look for him hiking in the catskills,
snowboarding, biking, and golfing. If you have something for him
to try just let him know, he'll try anything twice.
| Sean Nelb Sean gazed East across wind-swept prairie and saw a rising white cliff
in the distance that he knew he would one day call home. He did this
despite the cliffs facing the opposite direction from his vantage point
in Michigan. His vision is awesome. Sean went on to earn a Master's
degree in climbing (believe it!) from SUNY-ESF, before moving to the
Gunks so that he could climb more. He enjoys roofs, cracks, electronic
rock music, and random phrases in German that he doesn't understand. He
blames his successes in climbing on a diet of oatmeal. |  |  | Roger Ennis Hello my name is Roger. I came to New Paltz in 1997 from West Point
where I served two of my four and a half years in the ARMY.(Grew up in
Virginia) I stayed in this area to attend SUNY New Paltz and to travel
the northeast. I have come to love this area and the many great friends
I have met along the way. I learned how to climb while living here and
my whole life is centered around this lifestyle. I hope to see you all
at the cliff and if you are not at the cliff you should be supporting
your local climbing shop. I wanted to thank my friends who have opened
my eyes to the world, John Bowman and Lee Gordon. | Margaret Clapp I’m Margaret. I moved to good ol' New Paltz two years ago to
"go to school.” I'm an art major,
studying painting at the local college. When
I am not in my studio or working you can usually find me at the cliff, climbing,
or just hanging out eating sour gummies with Team New Paltz. |  | Picture coming soon
| Steve Barison
The first time I ever touched Shawangunk conglomerate was about 26 years ago. Summer 1982. Age 13. Rhododendron. Hooked. That
same trip I purchased a copy of the red Dick Williams guidebook at the
original Rock and Snow location. To a boy of 13, this place may as
well have been Willy Wonka's chocolate factory! Rigid stem Friends
were the latest wizardry. Now after many years working in the city I
had an opportunity to live and work in the shadow of my beloved cliffs,
instead of just visiting them on weekends. In addition to working here
at the Chocolate Factory, I'm also a video editor, videographer, and
After Effects artist. Not to mention retired comic book collector,
very good skier, fairly accomplished hiker, and a pretty bad guitarist. | Devin Berberich Profile coming soon |  |
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