Beach Week, But Without the Sand. Or Ocean. Or Sun Probably. Beginner/Intermediate Climbing at the Red River Gorge!!!

OVERVIEW

Touted as the best climbing east of the Mississippi, the Red River Gorge is well worth the drive! It has a truly enormous number of climbs, a wide range of grades, and has sport, trad, and aid routes. The sandstone at the Red makes for some *chef’s kiss* delectable climbing.

On this extended weekend adventure, we will head over to the Red to satisfy that climbing itch. This is primarily a sport climbing trip (stay tuned for a trad trip I’ll post in the fall) and will cater to the interests/level of the attendees. We anticipate climbing mainly in the 5.6 – 5.10 range unless attendees express a different grade need in the trip survey.

If any attendees are looking to learn/practice specific skills, we will prioritize making sure you get that instruction and practice. If you are a solid top rope climber and are looking to learn how to lead, we have the capacity to teach a few folks. We also have several spots for beginners who are trying to get some outdoor experience and practice top roping/top rope belaying.

Examples of skills that would be great to learn/practice in the field: knots, lead basics (clipping techniques, footwork, etc.), lead belaying, cleaning routes, setting anchors on bolts, setting anchors on natural features (ex. tree anchors), abseiling, best practices/considerations, higher level skills (multi-pitch, gear placements, etc.), and anything else you can think of.

The plan is to spend our daylight hours at the crag of choice and to spend our nights camping and communing at Miguel’s. For those who aren’t familiar with Miguel’s Pizza, it is a well-known pizza shop in the Red that serves as a central hub and base camp for climbers; camping there is quite the… experience. And the actual pizza is fantastic.

Note that this trip is focused on sharing skills and knowledge. As such, each trip attendee will be expected to actively participate in mentoring less experienced climbers. Experienced folks who want to help mentor/teach: please sign up and let me know in the comments on the trip survey what you can help with!

Because this is a long weekend trip, we can be flexible and try to work around attendees’ schedules to ensure everyone is able to come. Please be sure to mention any schedule requirements in the trip survey, or reach out to Sophia or me directly.

We are going to do our best to take people off the waitlist in pairs/trios of people who are looking to climb similar grades and have complementary skill sets. Because of this, please let Sophia or me know as soon as possible if you need to withdraw from the trip.

SCHEDULE:
We will plan to leave Charlottesville any time between Thursday, 12 May morning and Friday 13 May afternoon. Since we will have several cars, we can have staggered leave times, so please indicate your preference/availability in the trip survey. Note that the drive is about 7 hours. *DRIVERS NEEDED*

The bulk of our climbing will be Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, but if there are enough people to constitute a car that wants to get in early enough to climb Thursday or leave late enough to climb Monday, that’s chill too.

We will plan to depart from the Red sometime in the morning of Monday 16 May, but again, this is flexible.

EQUIPMENT LIST (stuff you’re responsible for bringing for yourself; most of the personal climbing equipment is available for check-out at the gear room):
– Climbing harness
– Climbing shoes
– Belay device and locking carabiner
– Chalk and chalk bag
– Helmet
– Any personal climbing gear you’ll want (PAS, slings, spare biners, etc. – please don’t check out these items from the club though)
– Breakfast, lunch, and snacks; also money for dinner, or pack dinner if you don’t want to eat at Miguel’s
– Sleeping bag
– Sleeping pad
– Pillow
– Change of clothes
– Tent

CLUB GEAR (group gear we’ll bring for everyone):
– Ropes
– Quickdraws
– Anchor equipment (webbing, slings, perlon, spare locking carabiners, etc.)
– Trad rack
– Guidebook