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East Coast Winter Destinations?
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I know it's very early but I'm trying to plan a climbing trip of some kind in between Thanksgiving and Christmas. (Long story but I kind of need to have this figured out asap.) The only issue is I can't fly which means I'm basically confined to the east coast (driving from Boston). I'm thinking it would make the most sense to spend a month in Chattanooga... but how would the Red or the New be that time of year? Or if anyone has any other suggestions let me know! |
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Obviously it is always a risk with the weather on the east coast, especially in the winter north of Florida. However, we once spent a week based at a friends in Atlanta in early December, traveling to different climbing areas within roughly a 2 hour radius ( some much less) and had great conditions most of the time. The problem with Atlanta as a base was those daily drives, especially with the shorter days at that time of year. Basing yourself in Chattanooga would definitely mean less driving to more climbing. |
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Making specific plans this far out is hit/miss. Mountain Project gives an idea of temps, precipitation amounts, and days of precipitation for each area, but you can still get pretty snookered for a month (like this summer in New England...). El Nino will make a hash of many climbing area weather averages this year. If you drove to Chattanooga and the weather was pissy, could you continue on your road trip to Red Rocks/Joshua Tree? Are there other things you'd want to do in the Chattanooga vicinity if it is cold and wet for a week at a time (hiking, trail running, eating pancakes at Waffle House, etc)? NOAA's crystal ball: https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/seasonal.php?lead=5 Above average precipitation in the desert SW can be lots less than average precipitation on the east coast. No climbing destinations look especially good to me 5 months out; if I were feeling optimistic, the outlook for Indian Creek would inspire hope. If I had 5 full weeks or more, I'd plan to drive to Indian Creek/Red Rocks/Joshua Tree; with less than 4 weeks, I'd plan to stay in New England and jump south if the weather looks good for 2 weeks--and otherwise put up with less than optimal rock climbing & hiking and hope for unusually good early season ice climbing. With the 4.5 weeks from Thanksgiving=>Xmas I'd pretend to flip a coin and then plan to drive to Red Rocks regardless of the heads/tails outcome... As Al notes, the days will be short anywhere you drive to in the US in Dec, so look into south facing crags and plan things to do while it's dark for 14 hours a day and perhaps for another hour or two in the morning while the rock warms up. |
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In my experience, Chattanooga is awesome in winter. There are the usual East Coast drawbacks of wet weather but if you live here you're used to that. I mean, there's like total two weeks per year of great weather on this side of the country, so fuck it, just go climbing. Layer up, have warm gloves, bring some hot bevies, maybe a Mr. Heater Buddy and climb in the sun when it's out. Even if it's overcast the south facing walls are generally still climbable. Personally, I think the climbing can be great during that time of year in the South. Your hands might kill you from the temps on the first climb of the day warming up but after that it's all gravy. In Chattanooga there's T wall if you climb gear. I'm not familiar with the sport but I'm sure someone else can fill you in about that. For the Red you have Eastern Sky, Left Flank and the Solarium to name a few. The New has Endless Wall, which for sure will occupy you for a month. Plus there's the Summersville Lake in which the water levels may be down by that time of year. There's also Old Rag in VA and the western NC crags. In short, the camping will be cold and the nights long, the friction will really be in and for sure there's less crowds. Except for T wall, that's pretty crowded on the weekends. |
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Why stay in one place for the entire month? I would think the good of driving for this, is that you would have flexibility to move around. Just a thought...but when it comes to centralized climbing locations in the Southeast, Chattanooga would not be at the top of my list in terms of having flexibility to chase better weather at multiple locations and doesn't have the multitude of varieties of climbing to access: I would be thinking of top locations being: Asheville NC or Boone NC, Johnson City TN Me personally...I might would even consider staying more in the piedmont of NC region (partly because that's my hometown region), which still gives very flexible access to multiple day trip options or weekend/overnight too, basically, anywhere in the Southeast. |
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The higher elevations in NC are going to be less climbing friendly in the winter. There's a reason why spruce and fir trees exist that far south - within spitting distance of the GA border (generally around 4k ft. and higher). There are some decent places in NC like Rumbling Bald, which is a little lower and gets some sun, that can be plenty warm. You should be able to find things to climb in TAG that are south-facing. I'd initially base out of the Chattanooga area if I were you. |
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This past December was pretty bad in chatt, but I managed to get plenty of climbing days in. Buffet wall was the best bet for dry rock, plus it bakes in the sun. The boulders at stone fort dried pretty fast and seem to be less prone to condensing than other areas. Little river canyon is a great little area with a few good rainy day crags, and of course the Obed is great for wet weather, although south clear tends to condense a little more than the other big roof areas. The red can be a bit colder and less consistent, but it’s great when the sun is out. The new has tons of bouldering and the endless wall bakes, but there’s very little dry options since it’s more vert/slab there. The best part about the southeast is everything is so close so it’s easy to go from one area to another depending on what the weather is doing. |
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As others have said, you cannot predict weather this far out in advance. However, I noticed last year that temps in the New river gorge were on between 40-60 in November and December. |
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Yeah just to clarify I'm not asking anyone to predict the weather, obviously it's impossible to tell exactly what things will look like this far out. I'm just trying to get a general idea of what options would be worth considering based on temps, sun, etc. since I've only been to the southeast in the fall/spring before. |
Olivia Pendas wrote: Yeah that makes sense. Based on past experience, I’m sure most places in the South east will be fine. Based on this past year, “winter temps” are from January- late march. |
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Anything south-facing in 40 degree temps or above with relatively low winds is prime winter climbing. I've climbed at Stone Mtn NC Thanksgiving weekend in 40 degree temps in a tshirt. If the winds increase, then 40 is a little bit too cold for me if I'm up high, but on the ground where I can easily add/remove layers, it's great. This will give you tons of bouldering, multi-pitch and single pitch areas to climb at. The TN crags have been mentioned, WV and NC are good options as well. Personally, winter bouldering is my fav. You can easily bring extra layers with you, a small stove, etc. Not that you can't do these things roped climbing, but you're already carrying lots of gear. The key is the weather. Shouldn't be that bad if you can take a month off, then just head from Boston to the first spot that gets southern exposure most of the day and isn't raining or frigid, then just track the weather from there. You may get lucky and be able to hit the Gunks first, make a pit stop in WV (pit stop at Seneca choss, err, I mean, Rocks) NRG, Chatt area, then pop over to NC for some sweet south-facing multi pitch and a little bouldering. It could be done chasing good weather, but it is a lot of driving, but not that bad if you have a companion and the $$ resources for gas. You also may get lucky and hit a 2 week dry spell somewhere good like Chatt or the NRG. The Red also has tons of options. On balmy but wet winter days, you can find lots of walls and routes that stay dry in all but a blowing rain. The downside is it does put you a few hours west/north of everything else in that region but IMO totally worth it. If it was me planning this trip, I'd make a list of 4 star destinations, then some sub destinations, plan a route that allows for contingencies, make sure my car is tuned up and budget is in order and take off for an adventure. Sounds like a great time. Good luck and be safe. |
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Best time for Seneca is winter imo |
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Winter temps are optimal for friction slab, chase the sun and step up to “east coast yosemite” Chatt has the “cool climber scene” and sandstone but WNC has the majority of rock in the SE. never been too impressed with chatt as a city but others are hyped on it so its probably just me.
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Chatt - nearly infinite climbing. T-wall in full sun can be a comfortable day in a long sleeve shirt. Climbed in a t-shirt there with snow flurries, but the sun was out (belayed in a jacket...) NC - Many options (bald, ship, pilot, etc.), but obviously Looking Glass is the perfect winter destination (if you want to climb at looking glass). The New - lots of sun soaked routes but more likely to be cold The Red - sometimes perfect conditions. If you get any sun and climb south facing you'll have a good time. Seneca - maybe.... Gunks - if you get realllll lucky (or are just bouldering) HCR - often very wet and cold in december, but can be perfect |
Olivia Pendas wrote: If you're in Pendleton County, WV, skip the choss... Reed's Creek (71 routes) bathes in sun all winter, as does the Guide Wall of Smoke Hole Canyon (51routes). Swilled Dog Cider is literally walking distance from Reed's parking, and Franklin, WV is just 12 miles south of the Canyon, with a newly renovated motel and plenty of dining choices. Get the Rakkup guides for beta from the route setters... Your purchase supports trail work and bolt replacement. If you visit, please share your pics to @smokeholecanyon on IG! |
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The South. NC, SC, Tn, AL, and SW Va are all good options. |
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Lots of good ideas up here already but I think the thing nobody is asking is what sort of climbing you want to do? If you're into climbing on gear, Western NC is going to have a fair number of options that time of year. Rumbling Bald in particular is a great winter climbing spot as the whole cliff band bakes in the sun and is a bit lower elevation. Rumbling Bald also is home to endless boulders. RRG has gear routes obviously but it seems like people go there mostly to clip draws on steep sport routes, so the same climber might not be into both. I climbed every week all winter in NC and I think that has less to do with what sort of year we're having and more to do with having some flexibility to climb when it's nice out. |
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Some additional ideas if you want to stretch out the trip: Smokehole canyon Reeds creek |
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Throwing in some additional areas Southern Illinois is a dream in December Southern Missouri (if you're looking to boulder has world-class gems) Arkansas can be a hit or miss. Can either be covered in snow, drenched from rain, or perfect conditions. |
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I think the red is a great choice for that time period. I feel like it used to be that September/October were prime conditions there, but the window seems to be shifting later with climate change. I was there last November and had good pretty good conditions though there were some wild swings from like from 80 down to mid forties in a day. One nice thing about the red is that there's a ton of crags which stay dry, and in the east its often the rain that gets ya. |
