Rumbling Bald Fire

There is a fire burning in Chimney Rock State Park and at the moment it is spreading. All of the climbing areas in the park are closed as is the climber parking lot. There are multiple agencies working to contain the fire, but it looks like evacuations may be needed for some areas of town. Please stay out of the areas and let the fire crew work. The CCC is in touch with the park and we'll keep folks updated on when climbing might reopen. Many thanks to all the crews working the fire!

The local media is posting updates as the are released, here's a site to keep updated. aroundlakelure.com/party-ro…

The bald is burning. The fire is on both sides of the mountain now, stretching from the Solitude gully around to well below the Desperado Wall.

Everything has burned.

Crazy, smoke has been quite thick up here in Montreat with this unusual wind pattern. Shame it didn't rain much today as its looking quite dry for the next few weeks.

It rained in N Ga for a while today - did the bald get any?
I'm pretty bummed about this and some other things too!o

So I'm thinking that Rumbling Bald is a disaster area. Setting aside my sadness just based on love of that forest alone, and the tremendous beauty of walking around over there through the woods, aside from climbing... which is a great deal of sadness trust me --- setting that aside and talking about the climbing. Are we screwed for the foreseeable future now? As in closed until further notice?

I know a lot of rappels were off trees... these are gone. Also, is hardware singed and ruined? This fire has my imagination going wild, in relation to my favorite climbing area.

Thanks,
Russ

Looks like the fire burned pretty intensely. Fire is good for the ecology in most cases, but this looks like it might take some major recovery time. I would expect that its going to be pretty dangerous up there for a while. A lot of burnt out snags just waiting for a gust of wind plus any rain on the newly hydrophobic soil is going to dislodge rocks, trees and/or anything else loosely attached to the ground.

I'm not trying to be a downer for you all out there in the east, I work as a resource advisor for wildland fires. Just trying to give you an idea of what to expect. Things are going to be different for a while. It will recover!!!!

Wait so I've never been here so I don't know how stuff is laid out but I was gonna just go bouldering, how is that affected?

caesar.salad wrote:Wait so I've never been here so I don't know how stuff is laid out but I was gonna just go bouldering, how is that affected?

Good to know, thanks.

The climbing areas are still closed. This includes the bouldering. Please do not go to Rumbling Bald until the park reopens the area. As noted, snags will likely be the biggest hazard the fire likely was not hot enough or big enough to reach any fixed hardware. As of now we don't have a date when the climbing will reopen, but the CCC is in contact with the park and we will share the news as soon as we have it.

I talked to park staff last weekend and it seems like there's a chance of the bald being opened up this coming weekend, just please be careful especially in the sharper elevation changes of the east side. Soil could be loose and I'm picturing multiple areas of trail which were basically held together by roots and stumps on the edges of huge drops. Remember to report any unsafe trail conditions to the park and inspect all fixed hardware well before trusting it, especially in the farther off areas which may not see traffic for some time

^Good to hear! Any idea if the park will release a statement indicating such?

Just keep an eye on the NC state parks webpage for chimney rock. It currently has a bulletin up stating the rumbling bald climbing access closure, once that's gone I'm assuming it's open

We'll post the info the the CCC Facebook and web page as soon as we have it. Rangers are checking trails this week, but still no firm date for opening.

The Rumbling Bald Climbing Area will reopen on Thursday, December 8. This area had been closed from November 5 - December 7 due to a wildfire that burned Rumbling Bald Mountain.

Hazardous effects from the wildfire may include dislodged, loose rocks; tree bases weakened by the fire; fallen trees hung up in other trees; and deep holes from burned out stumps. Other hazards may exist in these areas as well. Some hot spots may remain, both near the containment lines and deeper within the fire area. Windy conditions may cause some still smoldering embers to flare up, fueled in part by more leaves falling. Be aware of your surroundings as you enjoy the access area.

The access will start its usual winter schedule on December 8 with hours from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm, seven days a week.

Woohoo, thanks Brian!

Does anyone know what walls/areas are least likely to have been effected?

There was fire pretty much all over the mountain either from the original fire or back burning to control the fire. I would expect burned soil, brush, etc. anywhere in the climbing areas.