Hidden Valley, VA Access....again

As of yesterday!! Still sounds like it's not %100 open, but soon....oh so soon!

accessfund.org/site/apps/nl…

Carolina Climbers Coalition

mustardtiger wrote:The problem arises when you have a property that is closed to climbing and there is not a chance of it opening again. That's when climbers take matters into their own hands. After ten years they have good reason to doubt it will ever open again. The same issue is about to start happening with roadside at the red. Except at the red they are making people pay a guide to climb. In my opinion this is a proper case of landowners behind dicks. I understand landowners getting mad because of disrespect but when you have hoards of climbers willing to help clean it up and improve it then take advantage of that. If you say it's because of disrespect but don't allow others to help you then your a dick.

You should check your attitude. It's private property, they can do whatever they want with it. You and the climbing community aren't entitled to anything. Your attitude is a lot of what is wrong with this country.

You sound like a whiny kid. Grow up and realize the world is not about you and what feel you are entitled to.

climbing culture has had its growing pains and we may squabble amongst ourselves a bit too much, but i'm rather proud of climbing culture. this re-opening of climbing access at Hidden Valley is a fine example of what climbers do best: Lead.
elsewhere when folks run into a wall, they default to punt. climbers see opportunity and put their shoulder to the wheel. chapeau CCC!

It's open

It's open, but it's not paid for. Please help us pay off the loan and the purchase price by contributing at the Carolina Climbers Coalition website: carolinaclimbers.org/hidden…

Pretty cool of the CCC to invest in an area up here in VA. Much appreciated, thank you guys.

I am in the local area and am interested in helping with trail work, rebolting efforts etc. Is there someone at the CCC who would be best to contact?

Is anyone going to start a MP location for Hidden Valley? The information about routes is rather limited until a guidebook is put together. It would be great if people with knowledge of the place could put it up here.

I'll second Ryan, thanks to Brian and everyone else involved in getting this accomplished. I'd also like to help with the trail work and rebolting efforts.

There was a paper guide book floating around years ago. If anyone still has one, it would be great to at least scan it and put it up here.

Ryanb. wrote:Pretty cool of the CCC to invest in an area up here in VA. M

This is really awesome... as someone who works on access its impressive to see an organization step out of their area and make HUGE impacts! Congrads to all involved for their hard work!

Wow, amazing work from the CCC. Thanks so much for opening up this awesome area once again. I live in Abingdon and if anyone wants to get out there and climb and possibly start re-bolting some routes, let me know.

Edit: I just got a friend to send me an awesome 8 page, handwritten guide to HV with lots of info, including: FA info, and hand-drawn topos. If anyone wants it, let me know. Also, if someone wants to start an "area" on MP, I'd be glad to post some routes on here.

Thanks for the kind words, let's not forget the Access Fund, who worked on this for a long time as well. It was a good partnership (as they always are with the AF) that got it done.

The bolts at Hidden Valley need work and we're working on putting together an organized effort with some experienced bolt replacement folks so we can do that in the best way possible. Ideally we'll reuse the holes if we can, but there are a lot of wedge bolts that will up the challenge. Please keep an eye on our web site ( carolinaclimbers.org) and Facebook page (if you're a facebook user) facebook.com/carolinaclimbe… where we'll announce work days.

In the interim, please hold off on bolting at the cliff. It needs to be done in an organized way and we need to make sure it's done right with stainless hardware, etc.

Because the parking area is limited at the moment (we're involved in conversations with the state about expanding it) we'd like to ask that HV not be added to mountain project at this time. Once we have a better understanding of if and when the parking can be expanded we'd be happy to see it added here. In the interim, keeping it to locals will hopefully help prevent parking from becoming an issue. Please carpool if you go and don't park in a way that blocks the road or the gate across from the parking area. Parking tips and other access info is on our site: carolinaclimbers.org/hidden…

I understand a guide is in the works from one of the developers of the area, but I don't have a timeline on that yet.

anybody got pictures of HV?

There are a few here on our web site

carolinaclimbers.org/hidden…

Anyone been out there since it opened? I am curious as to the condition of the bolts, what the climbing is like, etc. It would be nice to know if all the bolts are so sketchy that it's a better idea to just bring a trad rack, or if some of the bolts are still in relatively good shape.

Yes, I have been there. It's hard to say without pulling some bolts to check. I suspect a number of the bolts are carbon steel with stainless hangers. They do look to be appropriately sized for the rock. It's a mix of wedge and 5 piece bolts. A number of the anchors I could see were cold shuts, not the best choice. So, as our web page with the info about the cliff says - use your own best judgement and back them up as needed until we can get an organized re-bolting effort together, which should be soon.

Brian Payst
President, Carolina Climbers Coalition

There is a mix. There is some super solid, SS hardware. But there is a lot of older steel with SS hangers. The anchors are generally cold shuts or hangers with smaller quick-links. Lots of rust.

They claim that they have pulled several and they have never found anything notable. Nothing has even pulled out or sheared to my knowledge.

The bolting frequency is like Rumney. Super safe. There are not to many unsafe falls. But that means there are a lot of bolts to replace.

Thanks for the responses, glad to hear not every bolt is a deathtrap. I have made the contributions to the CCC that my budget allows, but would love to help out in other ways when trail days or rebolting days happen. I'm sure I'll hear about those days through the pipeline, but I also wanted to just throw it out there.

Good job CCC!!! While I don't always agree with everything they do, I have immense respect for the CCC and the good work they do with access issues. The CCC gets stuff done, and is a model for what a local climbing organization should be. Even though I live in AZ now, I still send them a few bucks every so often because they deserve it. If you climb in the SE, you should think about supporting the CCC too!