Red River Gorge

[STeveA]

PJ and I are heading to the Red River Gorge in August. Anyone have any Beta on the climbs or the area? Anyone want to join us? We are leaving on Aug 3rd and return on Aug 12th.

[Climbing4life]

hey steve

wheres red river gorg located?

cheers
seanb

[STeveA]

Kentuky. 22 hour drive. Hundreds of climbs.

http://kywilderness.com/climb.htm

[Climbing4life]

Kentuky. 22 hour drive. Hundreds of climbs.

http://kywilderness.com/climb.htm

thats freakin awesome !! man i wish i could go , u guys driven straight down ??

[martha]

Fred has been. He'll likely get you some beta this evening.

[Fred]

Hey Steve. You guys will love Red River. Bring sport and trad gear since there is an abundance of equally good routes for both. The camping where all climbers stay is Miguell's Pizza. It's very cheap (1$/person/night), a nice friendly environment, central to all the great climbing and showers on site. Plus they have amazing Pizza. Check out http://www.redriverclimbing.com for some good beta. It is also a good idea to read up on that site for recent closures. They have countless access issues with the gas industry down there. I think you can buy the new guidebook from MEC. Here is a short list of great routes not to be missed:

RoShampo 5.12a
Fuzzy Undercling 5.11b
Sunshine 5.9+
Moonbeam 5.9
Rock Wars 5.10a
Another Doug Read Route 5.11b
Twinkie 5.12a


Note: keep in mind that a 5.12a overhanging route has no moves harder than 5.10 for most routes. Grades are bassed on pump factor on alot of the steep routes.

[granite_grrl]

The Red in August? Are you guys a sucker for punishment?

While I do question your judgment on the time of year you're headed down I will say that it is awesome down there. Miguel's is actually $2/night, and has awesome pizza, highly recomended. There are a bunch of other places you can stay too, but I'm a big supporter of Miguel. He does have a toilet, clean running water and a pay shower in the back for climbers to use.

The latest guide book is pretty user friendly, allowing you to target the grade range and style you wish to climb for any cliffs.

Fred is right that many of the routes are just power endurance fests, but keep in mind the problems of getting back on the wall if you fall off. Something like Twinkie is hella steep and takes A LOT of effort to get back on the wall. Most aren't too bad until you get into the 5.12 range I think.

Lots of classics, the trad climbing there is fantastic too.

[STeveA]

Thanks for the ino and keep it coming. I downloaded the online guide since there have been some posts about the guidebook being unavailable pending the release of a new guide this fall.

I suspect it may be hot down there in early August, but there are many other areas along the way if plans have to change. We always stay flexible depending on mother nature.

[Fred]

Steve,

I'm pretty sure MEC has the new guidebook.