Ice climbing North Carolina

I'm trying to get into some ice climbing this winter and wanted to see if there are any ice climbers in the south. North Carolina (or the south) is probably not the best place to cut your teeth, but it's better than nothing! Does anyone have any good beta for a newbie ice climber looking to climb at White sides or near Mount Mitchell? Or better yet, are there any ice climbers out there willing to share knowledge for good belays and beer?

Since you are newer to ice climbing in the carolinas I would recommend checking out Hwy 215 just south of the BRP. Its consistently good roadside climbing when the temps are cold enough. Easy topropes are had using trees at the top of the roadcut.

Once you have that dialed there are quite a few easyish gullies at whitesides that start right off the hiking trail.

Another good area to checkout near Linville is Upper creek falls. 15 min hike. Its not normally cold enough for the entire falls to freeze but some good WI2-3 can be had on the sides of the falls.

The problem in NC with the ice is that the temps are rarely consistent enough to facilitate long lasting conditions so you have to be flexible and strike when the mercury drops.

Happy Hunting.

Check out Southeastern Ice Climbing Conditions page on Facebook for current conditions: facebook.com/SEICECONDITIONS/

If you're not already plugged into the Western Carolina Climbing Association group, that can be a good place to look for partners. Pretty sure there were some old tools on there for sale recently.

Michael Crowder's Southern Fried Ice guidebook is the best available print beta, if you can find a copy.

Otherwise, there's a bit of ice beta scattered about on mountain project.

The practice slabs at Whiteside might also be good top roping. Check out the MP page for beta and an area topo: mountainproject.com/v/white…

Awesome! Thanks for the beta guys, much appreciated!