Trying to decide if its worth it to make the drive from Baltimore to the New this weekend, given the rainy forecast. Any advice on finding dry spots even in the rain? Looking to sport climb in the mid-11 range. It'll only be my second time there (moved recently to this part of the country).
The meadow river crags are often capped by huge roofs and stay dry. I think the new guidebook highlights climbs that stay dry in the rain in each area as well.
First Buttress at the Meadow is probably the last place at the New to get wet. There are several very good climbs there in the .10d to mid .11 range, as well as a few harder. A cam or two can come in handy protecting the lower sections where the climbing is easy. Otherwise Rico Buttress is usually dry, and there's even an .11 or two in the Cirque that should stay dry as well.
Okay so here it goes. Yes, there are plenty of places here to climb when it's wet. List is below, a lot of other people have already mentioned some, but I will list them all.
Rico stays dry. The hole stays dry but seeps (12a is the easiest and is a jug haul, plus it's all fixed)
Endless drys super quick, and the party routes are the first to dry along with diamond point, but they are almost all gear. The cirque stays completely dry and gets a bad reputation for being hard as shit. There are 3 5.11s that stay dry, and graffiti (5.12a) is short and stays completely dry.
Bridge cave stays dry but is gear except for a short and hard 5.12a and mean old mr gravity which is 11b to first set of jugs. Mr gravity seeps quickly though.
First buttress at meadow stays dry, however a lot of the routes on the right side get wet, (except push 5.12a), because of the crack line and the dripping. The left side can stay dry, but can get wet from it dripping. It's a long walk and might not be worth it unless it's the last place.
The coliseum stays dry except some of the tops, but it's all hard.
Also don't forget about ALL of the RIDICULOUSLY GOOD bouldering here. There are two main caves here that are easy to access and stay dry, Ali Bubba at beauty and the Junkyard cave. Both have good lines but can be hard to find if you don't know what you are looking for. If it rains on Sunday and you want to boulder then go to WaterStone and ask for Stella. She's writing the bouldering guidebook for the area and can explain everything to you.
Either way you should come here. The weather is looking splitter, so come climb. Even if it rains, go get drunk and hang with the locals.