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Solar System area Climbing

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Elevation:	1,420 ft	433 m
GPS:	39.67042, -78.77938 Google Map · Climbing Area Map
Page Views:	760 total · 12/month
Shared By:	David Carrier on Sep 26, 2020 · Updates
Admins:	Frances Fierst, C S Page Updates (admin only)

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Access Issue: This area is closed to public use, each year, during February 15 - July 31 to protect nesting Peregrine Falcons. Details

The closure area includes all cliffs and trails south of the abandoned Artmore Plastics building.
Peregrine Falcons are a state and federally protected bird.
Human disturbance can cause nest abandonment and the loss of eggs and chicks.
Viewing the Peregrines is possible from along the Great Allegheny Passage Trail as it passes through The Cumberland Narrows.

See this photo for details:

Description

Solar System refers to the entire climbing area north of Artmore Plastics and Sunshine buttress. This area is north of the falcon closure area and open for climbing year-round. The area was originally developed 2004-06 primarily by Mark "Indy" Kochte, and is described in his online climbing guide-

http://indy-adventures.net/climbing/climb-maryland/TheNarrows.html

https://indy-adventures.net/climbing/guide.html#TheNarrows

When the Covid-19 pandemic struck in spring of 2020, it was a great opportunity to further develop the climbing here, and we added about 40 new routes. To make routes easier to find, we named buttresses after planets in the Solar System and marked GPS waypoints at the top of each buttress. Routes are named with reference to their location on the buttress. The largest of Indy's walls are also listed here for convenience of adding descriptions of those routes in the future. For GPS coordinates and photos of each buttress, please visit-

https://www.gaiagps.com/public/4Ud22t3eLyD2byaswBRH9zYO/?fbclid=IwAR3evEZkMJk7Jc87zEfGMO-QwpEqox347aIb1z7lIC17XfHFQMUxMmn6nlM&layer=GaiaTopoRasterFeet&slideshow=false

A few precautionary notes:

1. Always wear a helmet. On a normal day here you will break a few holds and drop several big rocks.

2. Always test holds before you weight them. I climbed on to a toaster-sized ledge that broke off once my full weight was on it.

3. Your belay partner should stand at least 10 feet off to the side of your rock fall zone. Both climber and belayer should wear helmets at all times.

4. Brush and thorns were cleared from all the routes and ledges in the spring and summer of 2020, but they grow back quickly. Long pants are advised.

Getting There

Park near the intersection of Piedmont Ave. and Wills Mtn. road and hike up the road to the first switchback. Follow the trail from here to the vacant Artmore Plastics building. Walk a couple hundred yards past the building to the iron gate and go left on the trail just beyond the gate. Follow the trail up to the small meadow at the edge of the cliff. This overlook is "Moonshine buttress" The rest of the Solar System buttresses are located to the right (north) along this clifftop trail. Alternatively, you can continue up the road to the last switchback and look for the trail that heads uphill toward the cliff. Follow this trail to the clearing above Moonshine Buttress, or follow other trails to various points along the clifftop.

Most of the climbs are accessed by anchoring to trees with a static line, dropping a top rope and then rappelling down to ledges at the base. To access Mercury through Mars buttresses, you can downclimb two easy 5.0 routes to the base with a fixed handline. Chewy's Chimney at the north end of Venus buttress is the easiest to find. Wookie's Wormhole at the south end of Mercury buttress is harder to find but a little easier to downclimb. As of November 2021 three of the buttresses have bolted anchors. The climbs range from 90' at Moonshine buttress to 50' at Pluto buttress.