The New River Gorge holds a lot of firsts for me. It is the first place I ever went climbing outdoors, the first place I ever climbed on lead, the first climbing festival I ever went to, and after this weekend the first place I flashed a 10a outdoors. When we woke up Friday morning the forecast had taken a turn for the worst, so we didn't get in quite as much climbing as I had hoped, but it was still a fantastic weekend.
Thanks to Chipotle and a detour to some non-existent hot springs we didn't get to Rogers until sunset on Friday, so even though the weather was beautiful the only climbing we got in was a tree at the visitors center. Saturday we headed out to Summersville lake and we were each able to get one climb in before the rain really started to come down. We climbed two more routes in the rain and then scrambled around near the water until we were thoroughly soaked through and ready for some Pies and Pints.
The rain continued to pour all Saturday night so we took our time getting started on Sunday, figuring everything was going to be wet anyway. After consulting Roger we abandoned our plan to go to Bubba City and decided to make for Rico Suave instead since it was the most likely to be dry. We lounged around while we spoiled some stray kittens with a can of tuna and fried up some pancakes with our leftover Halloween candy, then packed up most of our stuff and hiked out along with a group of people from Ohio.
This was definitely one of the best days climbing I've had in a while as far as performance goes. We "warmed up" on Grit & Bear it, a 5.11a with a heinous run out at the top. I had played around on this route last time I was at the new with Kevin and Jen and I was only able to get up to just below the third bolt. I didn't finish it this time, but I got up to the 5th bolt on my first and only try, and I think if I had done it again I would have been able to get to the anchors. It definitely felt good to see some proof of progress and I'm stoked to get back down there and try it again. After a while we switched ropes with our friends from Ohio and we worked Rico Suave, a classic 5.10a, on top rope. By this point the sun had gone past the mountain and we were getting pretty chilly. I struggled a little with cold hands, but managed to flash the route no problem first try and I feel pretty confident that in warmer conditions I could flash it on lead. I finished up the day by running up Cuddle Monkey (5.7) to have a little fun and switch out our anchors. By the end of the day I was feeling pretty stoked, and more than a little sad that we would be leaving that night.
Turns out the climbing gods weren't too happy about us leaving either. We ended up with a flat tire that took 2 hours to change, then we missed our turn and had to go home through Seneca which added another 2.5 hours to our drive. To top it all off we stopped at a Chinese Buffet for dinner that only succeeded in making us all slightly ill. Definitely an epic ride home if there ever was one.
Thanks to Chipotle and a detour to some non-existent hot springs we didn't get to Rogers until sunset on Friday, so even though the weather was beautiful the only climbing we got in was a tree at the visitors center. Saturday we headed out to Summersville lake and we were each able to get one climb in before the rain really started to come down. We climbed two more routes in the rain and then scrambled around near the water until we were thoroughly soaked through and ready for some Pies and Pints.
The rain continued to pour all Saturday night so we took our time getting started on Sunday, figuring everything was going to be wet anyway. After consulting Roger we abandoned our plan to go to Bubba City and decided to make for Rico Suave instead since it was the most likely to be dry. We lounged around while we spoiled some stray kittens with a can of tuna and fried up some pancakes with our leftover Halloween candy, then packed up most of our stuff and hiked out along with a group of people from Ohio.
This was definitely one of the best days climbing I've had in a while as far as performance goes. We "warmed up" on Grit & Bear it, a 5.11a with a heinous run out at the top. I had played around on this route last time I was at the new with Kevin and Jen and I was only able to get up to just below the third bolt. I didn't finish it this time, but I got up to the 5th bolt on my first and only try, and I think if I had done it again I would have been able to get to the anchors. It definitely felt good to see some proof of progress and I'm stoked to get back down there and try it again. After a while we switched ropes with our friends from Ohio and we worked Rico Suave, a classic 5.10a, on top rope. By this point the sun had gone past the mountain and we were getting pretty chilly. I struggled a little with cold hands, but managed to flash the route no problem first try and I feel pretty confident that in warmer conditions I could flash it on lead. I finished up the day by running up Cuddle Monkey (5.7) to have a little fun and switch out our anchors. By the end of the day I was feeling pretty stoked, and more than a little sad that we would be leaving that night.
Turns out the climbing gods weren't too happy about us leaving either. We ended up with a flat tire that took 2 hours to change, then we missed our turn and had to go home through Seneca which added another 2.5 hours to our drive. To top it all off we stopped at a Chinese Buffet for dinner that only succeeded in making us all slightly ill. Definitely an epic ride home if there ever was one.
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