In the month of February, I made more trips to tumbling bald that the past 3 years. It started with the CCC competion.
Rumbling Bald – 3 Trips in Feb
New River Gorger: Fern and the South side Crags
Last trip before Lasik Surgery, was to do some summer climbing up in the New River Gorge. This trip was complied with Sam and Jeff. We drove up late Friday evening in Sam’s truck. All 3 of us need to get a way for the weekend.
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Ship Rock and Looking Glass Weekend
Finally, an outside climbing weekend. After 4 weeks of falling through of partners, poor weather and other random events, I would be able to touch real dry rock again.
Moore’s Wall- North End
With the heat of summer baring down on the land, the closest cool option was to set off and explore the northside of Moore’s Wall. Alexis had never been to Moore’s, which put her in company with the majority of climbers around NC. There is some type of mystique that turns people off, but it is just good trad climbing fun.
New River – Star Chasing Trad Weekend
Many would say June is not the best time to send at the New River and they are right. There aren’t crisp crimp, flypaper sloppers, or Velcro mono dishes. Instead you learn to embraces the sweaty bulges, the dripping mossy slabs, and the spider infested cracks. Continue reading “New River – Star Chasing Trad Weekend”
West Virginia: Lower Meadow (Go Fish Luck)
Get Down to Get Up
It was time for a try-hard weekend, despite conflicts and weird weather. I piled the Jeep up with gear, and drove partner-less Friday night, time dragging on slowly with podcasts and Sheetz food. As the latitude rose, the snow on the ground got deeper and my thoughts wavered. Nevertheless, I committed to meeting Alex and Austin at the ACC campground and I do not bail. While pulling into the campground and seeing the 5-6 inches of snowy-icyiness packed on the ground, I knew Lady Luck would hold all the good cards this weekend and make or break it. The question was would she call out, “Go Fish” or hand us a set?
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Shortoff Mountain: The Circuit
Shortoff Adventures
Through some texts and random sequence of events, Mr. Alex Weir was going to grace NC again with his presence. Regardless of the failed previous attempts, we were able to meet up on the Sunday during the new Rumbling Bald comp. Since everyone and their dog was down in Lake Lure for the comp, so we had the pick of anywhere we wanted to climb at in NC. My choice was Shortoff, it’s as close to outwest alpine as we could get.
Linville Gorge: Shortoff Mountain – Dopey Duck
Wrapping up the Duck
Plans came together while drinking beer and eating pasties at the Greek Festival in Charlotte. With sugar, pulsing through our veins and complete disregard for the forecast for tomorrow, plans were solidified for Alpine-esk departure from Charlotte to go climb Dopey Duck at Shortoff Mountain.
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Moab, Utah: Back for the Climbing
Dudes and Deserts
As a last ditch effort before I left Colorado and the west in general, there was talk of a Utah trip. Moab. Ben was leaving the state soon as well and he never really went to Utah with the focus on tackling more of the technical stuff. Then there was Bruce and Barnoff, who were also on the cusp of unemployment as well. With 4 Dudes and 9 days, a lot of stuff could happen. Continue reading “Moab, Utah: Back for the Climbing”
Flatirons: The First (5.6R Trad)
First Flatiron
Back in Boulder again, I suggested to Ben that we climb the 1st flatiron before the weather started to turn and before the rock would be closed for raptor nesting. The approach we had planed was the direct route of the east face. This normally ends up being about 7-10 pitches (depending on your rope length and how ballsy you are).