Pilot Mountain & Looking Glass

I've been climbing outside three times now.  I'll summarize each trip.

Pilot Mountain with Scott Dempsey

We drove up on Friday, camped from the car, made a big breakfast and then slowly sauntered over to the climbing part of the park.  It was a real busy day.  Scott and I looked for top rope anchors available, and after nearly an hour of scouting the place, settled on a 5.9 climb.  This was probably too aggressive for my first climb.  I had never been outside before, and, well, I didn't trust the anchors at the top, so I was scared to fall.  This was also my first time climbing with Scott.  After a couple of failed attempts up the this first route, we took the anchor down and found an easier climb which we were both able to do.  Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of either route, but I would remember them if I saw them.  I must make a habit of taking a picture of each route I climb and trying to find out the name, so I can document the climb.

Overall, it was an ok trip, although I would have preferred to do more than two routes.  We didn't have enough webbing to use natural anchors, and many of the bolted ones were in use.  I think my next purchase will be more beaners and a bit of webbing that I can use as loops.

Looking Glass with Appalachain Mountain Institute

Looking Glass is a slab, and this climb was completely different than Pilot.  It was really all about feet.  The hand holds were almost non-existent.  It was a fun trip.  I paid about $90 or so to attend this class.  It was quite an expensive trip for what it was.  I drove up to Brevard (4+ hours) on Friday, stayed at a hotel in Brevard (cha-ching, another $80), ate at an Irish pub while reading John Long's climbing book and then climbed with these guys the next morning.  I was probably the most experienced climber there, save for the guides.

We didn't climb very long.  I got to do maybe 5 routes.  None were too challenging, although I was happy to have done a slab since that sort of climbing is so different.  I also probed these guys for some anchors tips, and saw first hand, how the cams worked.

Since the climbing was short, I went for a quick 3 mile trail run at the entrance to Pisgah.  It was sweltering hot, so I'm glad I didn't pick a 6 mile run.



Pilot Mountain with Triangle Rock Club

This was my favorite trip outside so far.  I got to do quite a few routes, and being more enthusiast than anyone else in my group, I was allowed to climb first on all routes.  Also, I made an effort to document the routes I climbed, so I could go back at a future date and climb them again, at least the ones I thought were worth it.  The routes I noted were:

• pee break
• buzzard's breath
• goldilocks
• creative germs
• honey pot (not sure here)
• snooker
• scarface

 These were mostly 5.6 and 5.7 routes, so they weren't too difficult, however, I found myself a few times wondering if I'd make it.  I even slipped on one of them as I went over a rounded semi-overhang.  My arms simply gave out.  It's amazing how much more stamina is required to climb outside than is needed indoors.

(There's a pamplet that describes all the routes and is available at the base of the mountain and online.  I'll have to make a printout of this for the next trip I take out there, which looks to be July 21st with Andrew Hoover.  I met him at the Raleigh Rock Climbing Meetup at Vertical Edge, and we've been belay partners since.  We have a day trip planned to Pilot soon, and I think we're a good match.  I may be slightly better than he is on some days, although there are routes he's been able to do that I haven't: the crack orange route at VE I haven't mastered yet).

I did a lot of belaying while a Pilot on this trip which I'm grateful for.  I think being a good belayer is  important, so I'm glad I had the opportunity to belay different climbers, mostly newbies.  Some people warn you, others just drop off the rock unexpectedly, so it's good to get exposed to a wide variety of climbers.  It's also a good workout for your arms.  I also learned that the slack outside is very different than indoors.  When someone drops, they'll fall quite a good distance due to the elasticity of the rope, something that isn't quite as obvious indoors.