redriverclimbing.com: red river gorge guide

This was my first route on a rope.

definately a ultra classic route - I love the huge plate at the chains. you can shove your entire arm behind it. now that's a jug!

This route is easy, but looks very impressive from the ground.

This was the very first route I climbed at the Gorge and it was at 1am!! It was so much fun though. I think you should try climbing it at night, a blast!

Great Jug haul. well bolted and very safe with a fun start.

This wall is so user friendly that it actually grabs your hands for you. If you have an issue with the beginning, keep going, it will be worth it.

super fun easy climb

Finally Pulled the roof. Sometimes technique doesn't get you there, brute force/strength does.

Never having climbed before I took this route on my first weekend out. I agree that it has a tricky start (for a beginner, at least) but I too gained more confidence and would love to go back now and try it again.

Caribe, you will learn to have faith. I don't know how many times, climbing in the Red, I've reached blindly only to find a good hold just within reach. It's quite astounding. Anymore, when in doubt, I bring up feet, then look for handholds. It usually works.

Climbed this on 08/29/08 and found 2 pieces of gear left at the anchor. I'll gladly get this back to the owner. PM me with description of what they are.

Even universal laws evolve when they don't make no sense no more (see: Newtonian physics for an astounding example), and it makes no sense for me to keep 2 brand name pieces of gear that cost an arm and a leg to replace, perfectly functioning for the owners, that I'll never ever use (because I have plenty of the same exact gear, hence I know how much they cost) etc. etc. you know where I'm getting at. Universal law or not, I'm getting them gears back to them owners if PMed with the right descriptions. You rock jocks don't never want to climb with me anyways and so, I'm not afraid of provoking your wrath. :-)

Someone once told me that the reason why there are hardly any easy sport routes in the RRG is because people bolt for their own climbing, ie. it is not a conscious collective elitist effort to keep gumbies from climbing outside. I'm not sure I agree. Either way, gumbies have no choice but to get in over their heads and "get there" through sheer persistence. This also generates a lot of gumby-boasting/lying-to-get-respect behavior, which is really pathetic. I just think that we should all be more compasionate (but we are not), which would make the climbing scene a lot nicer.

Creature Feature beat me the first day I tried it, only to come back another day and tame the beast.

Great start, should of pulled the rope to make it a clean lead

Pulling the roof was fun to do and fun to watch. Insanely easy but enjoyable after that.

First few bolts made me think a bit. Pulling over that roof...whoo-eee that was awesome. What a reward after you get over the lip...all the way to the anchors!

not trying to trash the route (as if that would matter -- "look dude, no feet!!!")...but, pogue ethics is just down the way! seriously, though, you climb a bit of slab/vert to a ledge, reach up above your head to pull a roof, and then walk up a ladder to the anchors. also, if it's wet and dripping up top don't let it deter you...so easy up there that it won't matter.

Agreed on the anchor rings - they are worn half through in 2 places from people top roping / lowering off. Make sure to bring a couple of longer draws and clip direct to the bolts at the anchor (not the rings). Threading your rope through the quick links above the rap rings and rappelling when you clean would be a good idea.

True, unless perhaps they don't know how to do it safely?

Doesn't matter where you buy the quicklinks if they are rated appropriately. I recommend 3/8" or 1/2" for the rope end on a route this popular, stainless if you really wanna do it right.

Totally true and I agree, a lot of bolts are from the hardware store, but that doesn't mean we should keep replacing them with the same thing. A lot of replacement bolting is being done with stainless glue ins (like Pogue Ethics around the corner)designed for climbing, or stainless power bolts. On routes that get heaps of traffic, the idea is to upgrade to better materials so they last. A fixe stainless rap ring is rated to 50kN and only costs 6 bucks - given that lowering off is pretty common at the red I am just suggesting it might be worth the extra safety margin...

Yes, you are right about using better gear such as the stainless bolts Patrick Miller and I put on Pogue and many other routes. However, a Fixe rap ring does not stand up well to the abuse of routes that get toproped to death like this one. The standard for exceedingly popular routes like this (as well as the new anchors I just put on King Me, Left Flank, and several popular moderate routes at Muir on Saturday's trail day) should be 1/2" quicklinks due to the material thickness--more than double a steel ring. You should also keep in mind that you use a quicklink regardless to attach the ring to the hanger, so you are not eliminating quicklinks from the system by using a ring. Ultimately, tensile strength is not as important as bulk material thickness when it comes to sandy ropes repeatedly grinding through a skinny ring under body weight. That said, it is important to use rate PE-rated quicklinks, 3/8" or above.

Thanks dustonian, good to know, and thank you for your work maintaining so many routes! So is the standard to thread the rope through the thicker quicklink on routes and not replace or use the worn rap rings at all? Just go for the thickest rated stainless links you can find and remove a potential additional point of failure by leaving off the rap ring?

I would have to say, the slippery slopes of the beginning out-crux the roof. Pulling the roof may require a few tries to master, but the great holds allow you to use your momentum to get those feet up for some sweet heel hooks. If you're not a midget like me, be smart, reach out and clip into the bolt directly above the roof. Otherwise, accept your shortcomings, nut up, pull the roof, and skip said bolt. Don't worry though, it's 5.6 climbing from here. More awesome holds than you could ever think was possible.