Looking Glass Accessibility, Rack, and Rappel questions

Taking my brother out to go multi pitch in NC and I really want to take him up some Looking Glass routes. We are super excited to explore this region and looking glass just looks so sick. I saw that an access road could be closed and was wondering if anyone local knew when it closed / if it already is?

I only have one 70m rope, a single rack of cams up to BD#3, and a set of nuts. I'm confident on moderate runouts under 5.8. Can we do anything out there? I'm trying to scrounge up more gear.

 My back up is to go clip bolts at stone depot if this just won't happen. I would really appreciate any advice/insight y'all have to offer!

Thank you so much

Charlie

The road is all the way open now. If 5.8 is your ceiling for runouts, maybe try some climbs at the South Side first, like Second Coming 5.7, or others. I would say most people bring more than a single rack and two ropes to rappel. If 5.8 was well below your limit, you could climb the nose with a single rack, but I recommend more small cams for eyebrows. Stone depot is fun as well, you may need double ropes there too depending on what routes you’re climbing, but I would just read descriptions of whichever route you plan to do for rappel info and take it all with a grain of salt. 

Tanner Hwrote:

The road is all the way open now. If 5.8 is your ceiling for runouts, maybe try some climbs at the South Side first, like Second Coming 5.7, or others. I would say most people bring more than a single rack and two ropes to rappel. If 5.8 was well below your limit, you could climb the nose with a single rack, but I recommend more small cams for eyebrows. Stone depot is fun as well, you may need double ropes there too depending on what routes you’re climbing, but I would just read descriptions of whichever route you plan to do for rappel info and take it all with a grain of salt. 

Thank you for this info! Im grabbing a second rope, it seems non negotiable. I'd really love to make the nose work. What size small cams? My rack goes down to .4. Would getting .3 and doubles of .4 and .5 be good?

I haven’t been on the Nose specifically in quite a long time. You could get tricams, lots of people like them. I would personally double up on .3-.5 I guess. Maybe someone who has been on the Nose more recently could share what a specific rack would look like. 

For the nose, I usually take doubles from .3-1 and a single 2 and 3. I also take about 10 alpine draws. This may be more than some take, but this is what works for me. 

I would second the idea of lots of alpine draws; the eyebrows you'll use for gear are staggered and you might go left or right 2-3 feet per placement. 

Doubles on .3 to .5 or .75 is probably smart. 

Also, not to assume you won't be comfortable with this but bear in mind, The Nose is 5.8 friction- I wouldn't say its sandbagged or anything but it's not at all related to climbing 5.8 in styles where you can grab or stand on things with an edge, ha.

I would go to Shortoff and do Maginot Line, and there are others.   Super fun multi pitching, with a gorgeous hike and fun drop down to the base.   You climb out to the top!   No need for double ropes, or tons of gear.   You can make it work with a more limited rack if need be.  The quartzite in Shortoff is impeccable.

I really appreciate all the beta on this thread. I grabbed some extra black friday discounted cams to have doubles in the recommended sizes and got my hands on an extra rope. Seems like the weather window for this weekend is closing but i'm hoping it clears up!

looks like you bought a 2nd rope, I was gonna suggest just bring a tag line so you dont have to carry another heavy rope

Don't forget 12 pink tricams 🩷

Not sure if this was mentioned, but I remember hearing years ago that the only thing you need for a rack in NC is 2 QuickDraws and a Xanax 

greg kozwrote:

Not sure if this was mentioned, but I remember hearing years ago that the only thing you need for a rack in NC is 2 QuickDraws and a Xanax 

I can certainly think of at least a few pitches where that is true. 

The eyebrows can be tricky if you've never placed gear in them before. The first time I climbed Sundial Crack, I looked up at the eyebrows and thought, 'Oh, wow, it looks like there is gear everywhere.' I then proceeded to run it out from 15 feet to 50 feet without finding another piece of gear and risked a groundfall. Some of the eyebrows take gear, and others are flaring and will not take cams. I later found a perfect horizontal .75 that I had missed on the way up. Point being, if you are climbing at Looking Glass, I recommend bringing doubles and taking the time to look around for gear. Have fun!