Pilot Mountain Clean Up

The Crew Who Rode in The Beast

On Sunday Nov. 25th, a small group of us went to Pilot Mountain State Park to help with the clean up effort.  The objective was to push off any rocks from the top of the cliff, so they wouldn't fall on the trail at a later time.  The burn took a serious toll on the top part of the cliff scorching numerous pines and turning the ground into a fine, black soot.  This soot was easily sent airborne as we combed the cliffed for loose rocks, and soon we were all caked with a thin layer of black dust, not unlike coal miners.  The dust filled our noses, ears, and on several occasions I found myself hacking and sneezing.

The debris was cleared mostly by tying into natural anchors and rappelling part of the way down the cliff to dislodge precariously balanced rocks before they decided to take a plunge into an unwary hiker or climber below.  By noon or so, we had mostly finished and were told that we could climb!

Teflon Toes

I was able to climb the following two routes on top rope.

• Gentle Ben (5.10a)
• Any Major Dudette (variation to left with roof) 5.10?

Bill Webster put in some bolts on a route to the left of Gotta Wear Shades called Teflon Toes.  It's rated a 5.11, but I'd like to try it.

I can't wait for Pilot to reopen, but it might be a little while longer.  While at the bottom trail, there were still some smoldering spots, and I left smelling like a campfire.  What a sight we must've been walking into Finnagan's smelling like a camp fire and looking like coal miners!

Moore's Wall

Due to the tragic loss of control of a controlled fire at Pilot Mountain, we headed to Moore's Wall today.

Pilot Burning

Pilot Mountain fire shows paradoxical need for prescribed burns

These are the routes we climbed.


Sentinel Buttress 5.5 trad, follow
Zoo View 5.7+ trad, follow
Blue Balls 5.6 trad, follow


I climbed with Zach Todd for the first time, and he led all three of these routes.  These were all trad climbs, so Zach was setting protection, and I was following and removing the protection.  This was the first time following and removing protection.  Zoo View was a second pitch, so this was also the first time I climbed so high.

Moore's Wall

It was a great experience.  Climbing at Moore's is quite enjoyable.  The routes we sent had juggy hangs and lots of foot rest.  Zoo View was definitely a challenge, with a slight overhang, but I found myself able to rest my feet, breath, regain my composure and able to continue the climb with coming close to burning my arms or panicing.

I can't wait to get out there again and try either something harder or leading.  I haven't placed gear before, but after seeing Zach in action, I think I'm close to ready.

Cedar Rock with CCC

I had the good fortune to experience some epic slab climbing at Cedar Rock with some new friends.  Brad Woolf organized a group campsite (Kuykendall) near the crag and had various events in store for us.  I'm not sure how long this link will last, but here's a link to the First Pisgah Climbing Festival.

I met lots of wonderful folks, drank some beer and sent some of the toughest slab I've seen to date.  It was a very busy day, and we got started a little late, so I only got to do two routes, however, they were quite memorable.

• Black Swan 5.10b
• Northern Exposure 5.8+ (I'm not sure about the name of this one.)

(I'm not sure about the rating of these routes, as I can't find any information on them.)

I wish I had taken photos of these routes, because neither of these is on Mountain Project nor rockclimbing.com, and I could have added them.

Access to the Cedar Rock climbing is about a 45 minute hike that passes over the Art Loeb Trail.

Mike Reardon and Brad Woolf are working on a guide book that should be available soon.

Here's a photo of Ryan Bandy being a badass on the slab.  (Thanks to Erin Nuckols for taking tons of awesome pics!)

PIlot with Triad Outdoor Adventures

I had the good fortune of climbing with some members of the Triad Outdoor Adventures group on Sunday Oct. 21st.  The event was organized by Bruce Nanney, a seasoned climber who moved to Boone, NC for climbing and has been doing so for about 7 years.  I learned a few things from Bruce who's attention to safety was of utmost concern.

We climbed exclusively at The Beach due to our 10:30am arrival at the mountain.  The usual suspects were on the tick list including:

• Scarface 5.6
• Body Surfin' 5.7
• Spin Drift 5.9 (2)
• Walking on the Beach 5.9
• Hawaii Five-O (wasn't able to send)

The last one I attempted with Ryan Archer twice and got about halfway up.  This last route was a real motivator considering the difficulty but also considering I really thought and could see where to go, but my arms simply refused to give me the power I needed to send.  Bruce was the one who pushed us, and I'm glad he did otherwise I would not have tried it.

Overall, it was a killer climbing day with beautiful weather, and I met lots of nice people, some, potential, future climbing partners.

I need to get back to Pilot as soon as possible to try Hawaii Five-O again.  I can do this.

Triple Crown Bouldering: Stone Fort

I missed the first competition in Boone, NC but was fortunate enough to make the trip out to Chattanooga for the Stone Fort competition.  I found the bouldering quite enjoyable, and although I was noting my score and sends, I did not turn in my sheet for official evaluation.  I was there to see good climbers go up the boulders and to have some fun and meet people.  I accomplished all of this.

Here are the routes I did.

18c Booger V0
18b Easy Does It V0-
22d Needless Things V0-
18L Incredarete V1
18h Shaggy V1
76b Nick of Time V1
54c Brian's Brain V1
54f Keel Hauled V3 <--- awww yeah!
51b Trailer Ball V1
12i The Little German Girl V1


I scared myself on Keel Hauled.  It tops out quite high, and my arms were spent.  I remember crying out to my spotter (Dylan Rigler) near the very top.  It would have been a tremendous fall.  Ironically, this moment made the whole trip worth it.

A guide can be found here.

http://shilohsedgeclimbingteam.blogspot.com/2009/04/little-rock-city-guide.html

There's also a book that was recently published.

Beer Walls Lead & Junkyard New Yosemite

New Yosemite kicked my ass.  I went in thinking I had this 5.9+ in the bag.  Wrong.  A little humility and a pulled groin muscle.  I'm still limping a little.  I tried to climb a couple of days after I got back, Tuesday, but that wasn't happening.  I got seriously spanked!

The lead climbs, however, were epic.  I lead on three sport routes at the Beer Walls in Bubba City.  One was a 5.7.  I do remember being scared at one point, quite scared.  I thought I had made a bad decision, and I couldn't down climb, so I was basically screwed because I couldn't see my ascent up the wall.  It was a moment when I realized this was much more a mental exercise than a physical one.  And a specific type of mental exercise, one that combined judgement, risk and creativity.  It was a defining moment in my climbing career.  I realized this was why I was out here.  This was the reason I was climbing.  It's a very memorable moment.  I can think back right now and recall just how I felt at that point up the route.  When I looked back on the climb later that weekend, I remember thinking I wanted to try something even harder, push myself even further.  I wanted to experience that risk and subsequent fear that makes you insanely focused on the task at hand.  A surge of adrenaline and a rush of fear immediately followed by the knowledge that the best course of action was to breath and think slowly and carefully.  This moment of razor focus is pure zen.


Wunderkind    5.6, onsighted, lead
Near Beer     5.6, onsighted, lead
Gilded Otter  5.7, onsighted, lead

New River Gorge & First Lead Climb

I'm so friggin' pumped.  Andrew and I went to the Craggin' Classic event hosted by the American Alpine Club at the New River Gorge climbing area and had the most phenomenal climbing experience yet.  I've never met so many climbers, sent so much badass rock, and had such a concentrated amount of activity squeezed into one weekend for as long as I can remember.  We did boulder problems, top-roped and even did two sport lead climbs for the first time ever.

The lead climbs were a spontaneous "extra" feature of the weekend.  I was half joking with Andrew about getting some quickdraws at the local climbing store in Fayetteville.  I figured, I could buy some and have them for when we eventually got up the courage to do sport.  After mentioning it a couple of times, I think Andrew started getting excited.  Next thing you know, we're on a 5.7 with 6 bolts, and I'm doing lead.  I'm very excited about our progress.  We also did another one where Andrew lead.

Aside from the biggest highlight of the weekend we also did some bouldering in river bed by the damn.  I didn't take any pictures because I was so caught up with climbing, but that place is phenomenal.

The American Alpine Club just purchased some land next to the climbing areas and is setting up a new camp space (near Junkyard).  We camped there over the weekend.  It's a nice location, and when they get facilities there it will be even nicer, ie. bathrooms, showers, etc.

Here are the routes we did.

Friday

Bridge Buttress

• Chockstone (TR) 5.9+ onsighted

• Zag (TR) 5.8 onsighted

Junkyard

• Jumping Jack Flash (TR) onsighted

• Four Sheets to the Wind (TR) 5.9+ [did not send]

Saturday

Hawk's Nest - various boulders including a V2 (flashed)
Cotton Top - various boulders

Sunday

Sandstonia (aka Tattoo Wall)

• Shady Lady 5.7 (SP) onsighted

• Bobby D's Bunny 5.6 (SP) flashed