RRG in late march

From what I've been gathering, the "spring" season at the RRG can vary tremendously. I've heard it can either be two full weeks of rain, or two full weeks of sun. Anyway, I'm trying to gather as much beta as possible for the conditions around late march. Since predicting the weather 2.5 months down the road is impossible, I am curious if anyone out there has any experience there around that time of year, and what their thoughts might be.

Thanks!

Yes, I have experience there this time of year. Sometimes it can be two full weeks of rain, and sometimes two weeks of sun.

Naw, to add a bit more info, I will say that the RRG has a lot of rainy day options that are so overhung that they'll stay dry. The only time it gets truly unclimbable is when the night is really cold, and the day warm, so that condensation causes the rock to literally "sweat." In my experience, this is most common in the spring.

Pnelson wrote:Yes, I have experience there this time of year. Sometimes it can be two full weeks of rain, and sometimes two weeks of sun. Naw, to add a bit more info, I will say that the RRG has a lot of rainy day options that are so overhung that they'll stay dry. The only time it gets truly unclimbable is when the night is really cold, and the day warm, so that condensation causes the rock to literally "sweat." In my experience, this is most common in the spring.

I was at the Red during their rainiest April on record, more than 11 inches, and 22 days of rain. Had a blast! Sure there were climbs I couldn't get on, but still, there is always dry rock to be found.

I live in Lexington now so the Red has been my new home crag for the last year and a half. I had friends from the west coast visiting for a climbing trip for the 3rd and 4th week of March last year (2015). We started with climbing trip with snow and ice on the ground after a late snowstorm. There were multiple days of rain. That being said out of the 12 attempted climbing days during the trip only 2 did we get shut down due to a dense fog condensing on all the rock faces regardless of angle or aspect.

Bottom line, conditions may not be ideal but you can make it work. Also of note, not all overhanging climbs are necessarily protected from the rain. If there is significant precip and the soil gets saturated then there are characteristic sections of the overhung walls that will drain, so a specific knowledge of these drainage patterns at each crag goes a long way in predicting what climbs you'll be able to get on and which ones you won't.

David Mehr wrote:I live in Lexington now so the Red has been my new home crag for the last year and a half. I had friends from the west coast visiting for a climbing trip for the 3rd and 4th week of March last year (2015). We started with climbing trip with snow and ice on the ground after a late snowstorm. There were multiple days of rain. That being said out of the 12 attempted climbing days during the trip only 2 did we get shut down due to a dense fog condensing on all the rock faces regardless of angle or aspect. Bottom line, conditions may not be ideal but you can make it work. Also of note, not all overhanging climbs are necessarily protected from the rain. If there is significant precip and the soil gets saturated then there are characteristic sections of the overhung walls that will drain, so a specific knowledge of these drainage patterns at each crag goes a long way in predicting what climbs you'll be able to get on and which ones you won't.

I went to RRG for spring break in 2014. This was in late March. The temps were perfect and the sun was shinning for 2.5 days....and then all hell broke loose and we had to leave because of rain that wasn't supposed to let up for 5 days. Those 2.5 days when the sun was out was perfect though! If you get lucky with weather it can be a great time because its not as busy as usual that time of year. You can always bail and drive a couple more hours down to Chattanooga if you have to if weather gets bad. Thats what we almost did.

right on. Thanks for the info everyone!