Driest winter climbing in the South?

Obed? The Red? Fosters? Help me out here, before my wife makes me drive to Arizona to climb slabs all winter.

It's kind of a crapshoot but usually Chatty is the most consistent. If it's raining though, it's probably raining nearly everywhere. Likewise, when it's nice, it's really nice at most places.

But seriously... The Stronghold kicks ass. One of the best places I've climbed and it's definitely not all slab.

In my experience, the cumberland sandstone seeps pretty awfully. It can leave routes wet several days after a hard rain. Pretty much all of Tennessee will suffer from this problem. Therefore, if its raining, or has been raining, most those crags will be wet. The Red is the only southern crag I'm aware of that doesnt seep. The problem with the Red is that its a "southern" crag in name only. You won't get great weather there in January and February, and you can get a lot of snow that makes it hard to get around on the muddy roads...problems you won't have in the Chatt area.

The good thing about Chatt is that once it stops raining, the crags might seep for awhile, but the boulders will dry quickly, and the bouldering is truly world class.

If you are adamant about roped climbing and dont mind the cold, go to the Red.

If you are flexible about what you climb, and want nicer weather, go to Chatt.

BTW, the steepest crags around Chatt are Foster Falls and Deep creek, so they are good if its raining, but both will seep. T wall gets a lot of sun and has less above the cliff, so it sems to dry out the most quickly after a rain, but is not good if its actually raining.

Steep spots in Chatty.
Big South Fork.
Little River Canyon.
Some other stuff in Alabama.
Southwest Corner of Whitesides Mountain.
All good.

Hey Rob,

I agree with Ben. The Big South Fork offers tons of steep rock that stays dry in the rain. If you trad climb, check out O&W wall, and Pine Creek. Both offer multi pitch climbing you can do in a full downpour. O&W will get more sun, Pine Creek gets sun in the afternoon. There is cheap camping down at the O&W bridge, just make sure to get a $5.00 permit. Also, tons of bouldering in the area.

What about the New? I'd like to go for a little vaca late Feb/early March, but not sure if the weather would be worth it. I'm assuming sunny cliffs are warm enough, but not sure how spring seepage will impact wetness of climbs. Any info would be helpful. Thanks much!

The New is pretty much out for long trips unless your local for that time of year. March is getting there, February not so much.

I spent the first week of this year climbing in the south and it was overall great.

Climbed at T-wall for about 5 days and the weather was beautiful during the day and the rock was mostly dry. It was quite cold at night though.

I was planning on spending more time at the Obed after, but the day we went it was an unusually cool and damp day. Tried getting on Rage in the Stephen King Library and couldn't even get up the 5.11 vertical part because the rock was literally sweating beads of water (stick clipped my way up and the roof was the same).

After being frustrated at the Obed, started to head home and made a stop at the Red and surprisingly the weather was awesome for the day we were there. But, make sure you climb at a south facing crag. (climbed at Bob Marley and Drive By and climbed with my shirt off during the middle of the day).

A lot of the good winter sport areas in the Deep South seep pretty badly. Whereas in spring and fall, you often go to caves for dry rock, in the winter those same caves are often unclimbable (Deep Creek is an obvious example). The places that stay the driest would be those that are sunny, south facing, and high on ridgelines so that they air-dry quickly after rain. Also, the higher on a ridgeline the crag is, the less chance there is that land on top of it is seeping down accumulated rain and snowmelt like a sponge onto the rock.

Best:
Tierany Wall at the Obed: pure south facing, high up for wind drying, and not a lot of seepage. Also stays dry in the rain.

T-wall: dries quickly, south-facing, but not as much shelter from rain.

The Cirque, Endless Wall, NRG. Gets tons of sun, sheltered in rain storms, not too much seepage, but, as mentioned above, given the elevation and northern latitude of the NRG, I wouldn't recommend a trip there in the winter. Locals are getting a lot of good days there this season, though.

Little Rock City/HP40: obviously you're screwed in a rain/snowstorm, but these boulder fields dry super quick after rainstorms.

Mike Anderson wrote:The problem with the Red is that its a "southern" crag in name only. You won't get great weather there in January and February, and you can get a lot of snow that makes it hard to get around on the muddy roads..

Lies!!! You seem like you know what you're talking about but you are definitely off base with your weather comments lately, I think you are just trying to keep the red to yourself :)

Its true January and February aren't known for great climbing weather but you actually can get some great weather there. It was 55 and sunny there today and supposed to be low 60s and sunny again tomorrow. No great weather in January?.... hmmm dont believe that.

And where are all these muddy roads you speak of? The steep road to the motherload is the only one I would not want to drive in snow.... Other than that most climbing is 5 minutes from a paved road. Stick to posts on training.

dorseyec wrote: Lies!!! You seem like you know what you're talking about but you are definitely off base with your weather comments lately, I think you are just trying to keep the red to yourself :) Its true January and February aren't known for great climbing weather but you actually can get some great weather there. It was 55 and sunny there today and supposed to be low 60s and sunny again tomorrow. No great weather in January?.... hmmm dont believe that. And where are all these muddy roads you speak of? The steep road to the motherload is the only one I would not want to drive in snow.... Other than that most climbing is 5 minutes from a paved road. Stick to posts on training.

This season is an anomaly; I don't think that you would be all psyched and extolling the winter virtues of the RRG if we were having this discussion a year ago.

Above all, the Red is not a destination in the middle of the winter; I'm not sure where the OP is from, but I definitely would not advise him to make a long trip to the Red just to climb there in the winter. Of course, if he drove to the Red from, say, Minnesota or something, it would not be a big deal for him to head four more hours south for better weather.

camhead wrote: This season is an anomaly

I have lived here for over 20 years, I am well aware of the weather patterns. Point is to say "you wont get great weather in January and February" is not true. Yeah most years there are only a handful of great climbing days in January/February but 50 degrees in Jan/Feb is really not that unusual... Happens every winter multiple times. But yes I would not plan a trip to the red in January. But if you live close there are tons of awesome winter days to be had climbing in the red.

Dont let the muddy roads stop ya :)