Indian Creek Recommendations

Hello everyone,

I will be heading to Indian Creek in August and am looking for some recommendations of climbs. I just started trad climbing a few months ago and have been leading in the 5.4-5.7 range. I am currently living in the New River Gorge and plan on trad climbing a lot here to gain more of a skill at it. If anyone has any recommendations for easier climbs in the 5.6-5.9 range maybe 5.10a that would be awesome. I know a lot of the creek are pretty much 10s and above, but if you do know of any easier climbs please let me know. 

THANKS!!

Is the Creek tolerable in August?  That sounds...painful.  The climbing is also very different from NRG...get on as many crack climbs as you can.  As a first "destination" trad area, I don't know if the Creek is a great choice, as you have to be ready for long, sustained crack climbs with little to no holds, and there isn't much below 5.10.  It's not so much a matter of grade as it is a very specific technique.  Being able to climb 5.10 at NRG doesn't mean you're ready for 5.10 at the Creek (or vice versa).  Get used to pure crack climbing.

https://www.mountainproject.com/scripts/Search.php?searchType=routeFinder&minVotes=0&selectedIds=%27105716763%27&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&is_sport_climb=1&is_top_rope=1&stars=0&pitches=0&sort1=rating&sort2=area

Gotta agree here - August is gonna be HOT. The creek really hands you your ass the first few times - be humble. That being said a lot of crack climbing grades are subjective because of hand size. One mans 5.10 is anothers 5.11. Maybe you'll be some crack climbing genie - but if youre not consider asking others in the area to set you up a TR (on your gear of course) and have at it. Climbers in the creek are cool - have often shared gear, retrieved gear, setup TR's etc.

1. The Creek is intolerable in August. Even in the shade. 

2. There are only a handful of climbs under 5.10 there.

3. Unless you have three of every size camming unit, you don't have enough gear to climb there. 

Save yourself a self-spanking waste of time and go find a more user friendly "crag" elsewhere. 

I agree with what has already been said here.  I would NOT recommend The Creek for a new trad leader, and most certainly not in the hottest month of the year.  It can be done but be ready to be humbled and stay safe.  If you are going there anyway here is my advice:

1) Remember that few people come to The Creek to climb less than 5.10.  That means easier routes outside of the popular cliffs see little traffic and non-existent hardware upgrades.  Make sure you can see the anchors or at least verify on this site that they aren't old rusty pins with sun-baked tat.

2) Avoid long routes (>100').  These can turn into mini-epics quickly just trying to get to the anchors given a small rack and a lack of endurance on cracks.

3) Stay away from the Friction Slab.  Those routes have antique anchors that are incredibly sketchy, and a lot of the holds have eroded away making them several # grades harder.

4) 5.9/5.9+ is a really mis-leading grade at The Creek (although with trad where isn't it).  It can be anywhere from 5.7+ to 5.10+.

5) The biggest problem with <.10- is route density.  Yeah, maybe 6 routes are listed on a cliff easier than .10-, but one is a choss slog, one is offwidth and requires 4x #6s, one is 110' and you don't have 9x #2's, and one is only 5.9 if you have the hands of a 12-yr old girl (looking at you Chocolate Corner).  So you end up with one to three routes on a cliff that are actually in your range.  If you want to do more than 3 routes in a day you're looking at hitting at least two different cliffs.