Red river gorge trad

In a month or so we are making a trip to rrg.. we are mainly going to sport climb but I do wanna trad a few routes while there.. just wondering your favorite trad routes I'd prefer them to 5.9 n lower (want to try attack of the sand shark) and even tho they are super easy I love to cruise 5.6-5.7s all day , and what gear should I bring I have a set and half of nuts. Set of hexes and tricams C4s .3-#4 a few mastercams between the c4 .75-2 range and x4s.. also which guide book do you guys suggest. Also while I'm asking what's your favorite sport routes..and of course the must dos and must nots...... thanks in advance guys

I don't trad but I've toproped Attack of the Sandshark. It was fun. Definitely a good crack climb.. my first. I have heard that Indian Creek at the RRG is a must do for trad but I have never personally been. I don't have a favorite sport route, they are all good. Find something overhanging and pumpy if you want the unique RRG experience. Also call ahead to see if the restaurants are open. They are seasonal but may open on a nice saturday. If they aren't open, Dickies BBQ in Winchester isn't a bad option.

Also be aware, I was down there a week or two ago.. it is wet if the sun isn't out. Cold air will sink into the valleys and chill the air 5-10 degrees less than ambient. All that whiskey making kentucky groundwater will be seeping out of the cliffs if the sun isn't out to dry out the walls.

Guidebooks: both north and south. North has more trad, south has more sport. Or just pick an area and figure out which book covers it.

Trad favs:
Attack of the sand shark
Cheaper than a movie (better to bring up the second rather than TR)
Vision
Father and son
Diamond in the crack (fun, easy multi pitch tower)
Bedtime for bonzo

The Long Wall and the Fortress Wall are two of the premiere trad destinations in the Red. Lots of moderates at both of these locations.

Autumn (5.9-), at the Long Wall, is one of the most popular trad routes at the Red and it is wonderful. If you are willing to up the ante to 5.10a, Rock Wars is nearby and it is even better.

Where Lizards Dare is a spectacular 5.9++ at the Fortress Wall.

https://www.mountainproject.com/v/roadside-attraction/105860741

Your best bet is to hit crags with both sport and trad.
Convince your friends to go to Roadside Crag...it's worth the trip for this and there's great sport there as well. Chica Bonita in PMRP is great for that as well. You can run up Cheaper while they play on the sport routes.

Yeah, it's good. I don't know if it's worth making the drive just for trad, though...if I'm gonna drive that far for single pitch trad I'd head to T-Wall.

If you're looking for a fun adventure style route check out Cavers Route. It's basically 3 pitches of free soloing easy chimneys with 1 bolt at the "crux", gear for anchors. One of the most fun routes easy routes at the Red!

BCarver wrote: Even though I think Bedtime for Bonzo is extremely overrated, I remember that area seemed to have a good bit of moderates that we ticked off. In my opinion, RRG trad is one of the hidden gems of climbing in this country.

Party Time, around the other side of Fortress Wall is longer, better, and less crowded. Take a couple of fist+ sized pieces and enjoy that one instead. It also tops out.

The crowded spots for Trad are definitely Fortress, Military Wall, and Long Wall.

If you do go to Fortress, don't forget about Phantasia just up the road.

There's a lot of good stuff off the beaten path too. To name a few:

Tower Rock - Caver's Route (5.3R), Arachnid (5.8)

Jewel Pinnacle - Diamond in the Crack (2 pitch 5.6, great top out)

Wall of Denial - Strick 9 (5.9)

Eagle Point Buttress - Foxfire (5.7 4 pitch (although one is a short traverse) great top out, but also an unofficial trail hiker destination)

Pistol Ridge - Ride 'em Cowboy (short 5.7), Bitchmobile (5.8), Refridgerator (5.8-), and if you like it a little wide: X-files (5.6)

Global Village - Vision, Casual Viewing (5.7) (this crag will be popular with sport climbers, but the Trad is usually free)

Roadside - Roadside Attraction (5.7 "2 pitch" (can be done in one)), Andromeda Strain (5.9+) (again, popular sport destination, Roadside Attraction can be popular, but the whole left side of the crag down to Andromeda Strain is usually empty)

You can easily make a day out of all the crags in the Minas Tirith area (MT, Willies, Brighton, Symphony, Jazz)

...

Brian L. wrote: You can easily make a day out of all the crags in the Minas Tirith area (MT, Willies, Brighton, Symphony, Jazz) ...

Funny those come up. Are they getting any traffic to speak of? Obviously back in my day they did not!

Purple Valley has Into the Purple Valley, right next to Hot Licks and Rhetoric, both good climbs.

Awesome I'm getting all giddy over this... :)

Hmmm...
And NOBODY mentions The Underling?

Nearby, there are other good Trad routes called "Good Times" and "Nor Return" that also do not suck.

But if you really want consensus, there is a better way to do this:

mountainproject.com/scripts…;minVotes=0&selectedIds=105841134&type=rock&diffMinrock=1600&diffMinboulder=20000&diffMinaid=70000&diffMinice=30000&diffMinmixed=50000&diffMaxrock=2500&diffMaxboulder=21400&diffMaxaid=75260&diffMaxice=38500&diffMaxmixed=60000&is_trad_climb=1&stars=3.8&pitches=0&sort1=quality_stars+desc&sort2=rating

Advanced search of RRG is easy to use.

Well my favs are a little higher than you might like but pretty close.

Brontosaurus

Crack attack

Autumn and rock wars

Underling

Jungle beat

Central scrutinizer

Tony B wrote: Funny those come up. Are they getting any traffic to speak of? Obviously back in my day they did not!

Since the stream project out there finished the main trail out looked like it was starting to come back, but I'd still say it's a lower traffic area. Nice if you want to get away from people. I could easily see setting up camp and spending a weekend at those crags.

Brian L. wrote: Since the stream project out there finished the main trail out looked like it was starting to come back, but I'd still say it's a lower traffic area. Nice if you want to get away from people. I could easily see setting up camp and spending a weekend at those crags.

When we did the FA's of all that stuff we were outright shocked that it was all just sitting there. FYI. Jazz Rock is actually Jas' rock (Jerry Bargo, Willie's Wall is Willie Hunt, and I named Symphany Wall to pay off of 'Jazz' Rock's name.

Some of the routes there are very good, but the best lines fail the < 5.9 test. Long Live Trad was going to be named 'And Now For Something Completely Different' (Monty Python theme) because of the continuous switch-up of styles on it, and it is good, but is solid 5.10, I think.

Boogered is the coolest line out there, but goes 5.11...

Try WhiteOut at Emerald City

mountainproject.com/v/white…

Whiteout, the underling, Arachnid, Autumn, up Swift creek without a paddle, blue biner.

If you are willing to go a little higher Funk Rock City has a lot of options for trad and sport, and offers full sun for chilly days.
Cruising Lane and Rite of Passage are good, and Headstone Surfer is classic. redriverclimbing.com/RRCGui…;id=53

Another vote for Global Village and Emerald City, Whiteout is not to be missed, I prefer to climb the first pitch sport route which is more direct than traversing in via the original route. Can be done as a single pitch if desired and can be easily top roped with a 70M rope. I don't think you will find a much higher quality collection of sport and trad routes with a large range of grades as these two crags.

For Muir Valley I would recommend the Hideout, which has Shock and Awe and Call of the Wild for Trad and Boltergeist et al, for sport. As well as close proximity to the great wall which has lots of 5.10's including Little T Bone, a mixed climb which is marked as 5.10b on the tag but might as well be a 5.8 and is like climbing a sport route with a crack for gear.

Which guide book would you all suggest... I'm thinking we are staying more north but online all I found was the RRG north 5th edition volume1 is there a volume 2 for the north area? Or worse of the volume 1 be sufficient enough thanks guys also how many draws are on the average climb out there I believe we have plenty but better to be safe than sorry

CRAG-list-KILLA wrote:Which guide book would you all suggest... I'm thinking we are staying more north but online all I found was the RRG north 5th edition volume1 is there a volume 2 for the north area? Or worse of the volume 1 be sufficient enough thanks guys also how many draws are on the average climb out there I believe we have plenty but better to be safe than sorry

Volume 1 is the North Region. Volume 2 is the South Region - which is currently out of print due to a pending update (I heard March availability).

The south is MOSTLY sport, although there are some gems like Cheaper than a Movie, the majority of Trad will be in the North book. Use the online guide to supplement. It's been posted a few time already, but once more can't hurt: redriverclimbing.com/RRCGuide/

Bhahahaha here I am scanning the web for something that doesn't even exist!! Jokes on me thanks man!!!!