Guide, Shenandoah, July 4 weekend

Hello - my friend and I are looking for an experienced sports climber to check on us while we climb some easy 5.9s (or lower) around Shenandoah (we are thinking Old Rag). We have all the equipment and been practicing indoors recently. We’ve also climbed with other more experienced climbers outdoors in the past, but we are not ready yet to go fully on our own.

Hi,

It’s been a while since I’ve been out to Old Rag and perhaps someone on here can tell me I’m completely wrong but it’s predominately a trad area. If there is moderate sport, I’d be interested to hear about it. Just my two cents but you might have better luck in both aspects (moderate sport and a friendly eye) at Red River Gorge.

Yeah Old Rag is definitely not a sport climbing destination. There are bolted lines there but like a lot a traditional areas that have bolts, they tend to be run out leads. Also as of March this year, if you plan to visit Old Rag you have to have a permit to visit the area which you can get  through the NPS. 

About the only thing local that has sport climbing is Buzzard Rocks and Talking Headwall at Elizabeth Furnace, they are fine if you live close by but I wouldn't go out of my way to climb there. 

Thanks, Eric and Bryan, much appreciated. We heard good things about Red River Gorge, but are driving from DC so that’s too far. Buzzard Rocks at Elizabeth Furnace looks like a good fit. How likely it is to encounter other climbers there on the weekend to guide us?

Smoke Hole Canyon (Reeds Creek) is full of bolted, easy/moderate sport climbs. It is three hours from DC. Easy approaches. Guidebook is on rakkup. Go there.

Google map link: goo.gl/maps/PtjqC6ssj8s9NGKf9

Hi Beltran, if you can afford it, I suggest you hire a professional climbing guide for a day. That way, you'll be confident knowing that you're getting competent advice and learn more much safely and quickly. If that's not an option, then please be careful about learning from strangers you meet at the crag or online. Because you don't know what you don't know, it's difficult for less experienced climbers to evaluate the safety and competency of (purportedly) more experienced climbers, especially when egos come into play. Ask a lot of questions, especially if you're not sure what to do, or why someone is telling you to do something a certain way. 

Buzzard Rocks at Elizabeth Furnace is a reasonably good spot for you. But beware that it can get very crowded on weekend mornings, hot in the afternoons, and the small parking lot fills up early. Many routes at Buzzard are mixed routes in that trad gear (cams, nuts) are required to avoid runouts. Assuming you don't have the gear or experience with trad, stick with the handful of fully bolted routes (the ones closer to the left end of the crag, left of The Bulge and Half and Half). Do you have a 70m rope? Many climbs at Buzzard require a 70m rope if you want to sling shot top rope belay, i.e., with the belayer standing on the ground. Alternative, you could belay from the top (do you know how?) and walk off. If you have some experience with leading in the gym and falling, be mindful that almost all of the climbs at Buzzard are slabs (less than vertical). If you don't already have some experience with falling on slabs, know that taking a lead fall at Buzzard could be awkward and result in road rash or worse. Be careful if you try to lead Melungian Brotherhood. Climbing from the first to the second bolt can feel hard for the grade, and a fall here could be dangerous. 

Do you know how to safely clean a sport anchor while staying on belay the whole time? Before you leave the ground, make a plan with your belayer about what's going to happen when you get to the top, and don't deviate from that plan unless both of you are 100% clear about the new plan. Check your partner's knot. Always put a knot in the end of the rope to close the system.

Smoke Hole and Reeds Creek are farther away from DC than Buzzard, but the climbing and the atmosphere are more like a gym, which may be what you're looking for. They'll also be crowded on weekends.

Like I said, my advice is to hire a professional guide. But if you can't or don't want to, then please be careful out there. 

Thanks, Justin, for recommending Smoke Hole Canyon, looks great. We will likely end up going to Smoke Hole Canyon and Buzzard Ricks at different times this summer.

Thank you, Fan, for the detailed recommendations. Much appreciated. We agree about the guide and will do our best to secure one on this trip. To answer some of your questions in case you or anybody else is curious

• Yes, we have a 70m rope
• We only have sports equipment (we are unfamiliar with trad climbing). We have the full sports climbing equipment and in good condition.
• We don’t know how to belay from the top. We use a Gri Gri. Not even sure if it can be used to belay from the top!
• Yeah, we are mostly familiar with lead climbing indoors, including cleaning.
• We’ve done outdoors lead climbing with experienced people, including cleaning ourselves, but that was several years ago.

Thank you for reading.

Hi Beltran,

Seneca Rocks Mountain Guides offers guiding at Nelson Rocks which can include single pitch sport climbs.  They also offer a course on transitioning from gym climbing to outdoor climbing which might fill in some of the skills you need to climb safely outdoors.  It's about 3 hours from DC.