Red River Gorge

Fellow Climbers,

As a college student, I am fortunate enough to go to the Red on my schools fall break. Personally, I have no idea what to expect and have just started researching the Gorge. I have printed out maps of the area and I can see there are lots of great spots to climb. I feel comfortable climbing at a 5.10 level on top rope, a 5.8 on sport, and a 5.6-5.7 trad. Since, my trip to Colorado, I have been hooked on easy 5.5-5.7 trad multi pitches. I have three days to get in as much climbing as possible. What are the best routes that fit into all my categories of climbing? I would love any beta on the area.
Also, if I were to purchase a guidebook for the area what would that be?
And, were is some good places to camp?

Thanks,

Chris Huebner

Hey Chris the better book for Red River Gorge is the "Red River Gorge - Rock Climbs 2nd Ed." By Ray Ellington. I'm not sure if you're in Lexington or where, but probably any store in that area of the U.S. that has a reasonable amount of climbing gear would probably have it, but don't take my word for it...call around or get it online.

I must say that you are heading to one of the best climbing areas in the country (best kept secret). It has been recently popularized by last years Petzl Roctober Fest, which I must say was awesome. RRG has over 1500 routes all bunched together (most everything only a few minutes from the road), so you never have to go far to find something good. There are also countless trad routes that you can choose from too. I'm sure I won't be the only one to suggest any routes to you, but if you want to do some awesome easy climbs look at Creature Feature (5.9 on the Phantasia Wall) and Bedtime for Bonzo (an easy 2 pitch trad ~5.6 on the Fortress Wall).

Ok I'm going to say it...I'm so f'in jealous. I learned to climb in the Gorge, but now I live in Utah. Not that Utah isn't a climbing Mecca, but I seriously miss the Gorge. One important note: RRG's worst enemy is wet weather. If it rains it could take days for some walls to dry out, so if that happens try to find some walls in the sun or overhang.

You should consider camping at Miguel's Pizza. They have a climbers only campground and you can even get a shower there...plus the pizza is way good. Good luck and enjoy.

Miguel's sells guidebooks as well.

Roadside Attraction is a pretty fun 2 pitch 5.7 at Roadside Crag

Chris,

Get the Ellington guide book, in advance if you can. He has two complete route indexes in the back of the book, one for sport, one for trad. Each index sorts all the routes by grade and star ratings.

There's not a lot of explicit top roping at the Gorge. Your best bet is to have someone else climb a sport route first and lower off draws hung from the anchors so you can top rope the route.

As far as sport climbing, the pickings are thinner for climbs under 5.10. If you're looking for moderate sport climbing check out Roadside Crag and Bruise Brothers Wall in Muir Valley. But be aware that those areas tend to see a lot of traffic just because of the number of moderate climbs you can find.

Miguels has cheap camping - $2/night, showers are extra. They also have good food, sell gear, and have a great climber scene. There are other campgrounds that will run you $5/night or so around there and the other option is to check into camping in the National Forest around there.

i also learned how to climb in the gorge, have moved out west (ft. collins, co), and have been missing it. everyone's beta here is really good. miguel's is a fun, super easy, well-located place to camp and it's three dollars per person per night. the National Forest camping is cheaper, but not quite as centrally located in the valley. the National Forest also doesn't sell awesome pizza and climbing gear.

check out this website - redriverclimbing.com for beta. rather than asking specifically what routes people might recommend through a website, i would highly encourage you to peruse the conprehensive online guidebook through rrc.com, and would definitely suggest you to buy ellington's guidebook. you can get it online through REI, the aforementioned website, or a good gear store. The Mountain Shop here in Fort Collins sells it, and I'm sure Neptune in Boulder has it too. It's without a doubt one of the best guidebooks I've ever used - knocks the socks off all the Falcon Guides to any Colorado crag, that's for sure. I used to sit in my room in South Bend, IN when I was in undergrad just reading it, picking out to-dos for upcoming trips to the Red.

Bruise Brothers is one good starting point, but if you go on redriverclimbing.com/RRGGuide you'll be able to find a lot of other Muir Valley crags with lots of moderates/soft 10s that aren't in the guidebook as the area is currently being developed. Check out Animal Crackers and Tectontic/Johnny's Wall. Phantasia is also a good place to go, it's got a couple good moderates and is close to Fortress Wall and Long Wall, two areas of the Red with pretty awesome trad climbing. get on Party Time (5.7, trad) at Fortress.

the best way to really get a feel for the Red is to climb the 10's. Push yourself while you can before you go so you feel comfortable getting on some, even if you have to hang-dog a bit. once you hit 10a or so, you'll be able to really access the overhanging, pocket-y routes that the Red is famous for.