KFox

I just moved here from NC in april !!!! North carolina is posibly the greatest TRAD stronghold in the east if not the country as far as states are concerned. For four years I climbed once to three times a week and only spent 1 afternoon only climbing "sport". While there are a few sport climbs they are usually in the middle of mostly traditional aread, and they are frequently at the harder grades. Go get your NC map and I can take you on a little Tour. As someone said, fayetville is a bit to the east side of the state but a little driving will pay off. First find Winston-Salem on !-40 Head north and a little east and you'll see Hanging rock state park the home of Moores Wall. Mores is Steep Quartzite. Some of the sweetest, and most sandbagged, routes in the state. This should be your first stop from where you're located. If you head west from here you will eventually see stone mountain state park. This is the place to get your Slab game on. The "mountain" is really a big granite dome. There are close to 100 routes, only one follows a continuous crack system, and all but one were all put up on lead. Needless to say it's very traditional even though you spend a great deal of your time clipping bolts. It is somewhat reminiscent of the slab routes on the apron in Squamish, with much less gear. Find I-40 again and head west to Marrion. If you follow hwy 221 north Linville Gorge is to the East. Linville, one of the deepest gorges in the east, is full of spetacular climbing areas. More steep quartzite appears and from north to south you find, Hawksbill, Table Rock, The NC Wall, The Amphitheatre and the crown jewl Shortoff. Linville is and always will be my fav place in the state to climb. If you look back at the map and follow 40 west to Asheville Then look south west and find the town of Brevard. Outside Brevard is Looking glass. The rock has 3 distinct personalities. The south side had moderate crack/face routes on the sunny slabs. The sun wall and nose areas follow pure slabs or water groves (one 4 pitch route is named for the 20 or so feet of crack found on it). But the north side is different. Steep aid and yosemite like layback cracks Some of the best routes in the state are found here. For our Last stop keep following the road through Brevard, south a litle but mostly west on 64 to a town just north of the State line named Cashiers (when you pronounce it pretend the "i " doesn't exist) Just south of Cashers is whitesides mountain, the biggest stone in the South. Routes of 10 pitches exist here on some seriously funky granite. Try the Original Route your first time and go from there. This one route, in my opinion, would be worth the drive all the way from fayetville. Climbing in NC is awesome, can you tell I miss it? The mentioned guidebook, NC Select, is new and is suposed to be pretty good. The climbers guide to North carolina, 3rd edition, is also very good. What I have given is by no means a complete list of places. Keep looking and you'll find loads of great stuff. If you have any other questions or want any route recommendations feel free to drop me an email kfoxwnc@yahoo.com Enjoy Nc, Kfox

Crowded on west ridge on Saturday? By my count (and I was on the ridge) there were only two parties. Same as on the East Ridge. It did, however, look like it was going to be crowded on sunday with a few parties camping in B-Basin. A Word to the Wise, Because the snow coulor is melted out you have to use the gullies to the left. DON"T GET IN THE GULLIES WITH ANYONE ABOVE YOU. My partner were on one of the last raps when a party above us launched a storm of rocks on us. It was scary and we were lucky we didn't get hit. In my opinion Unless you do it on a day with no crowds, ie. weekday, you're beter off waiting untill next year. -Kevin

From what I have seen of that peak, ( I did the standard route up this spring) it is nothing more than rocks stacked on top of other rocks. I wouldn't trust protection up there. Also 100 feet between climbers gives loose ricks a lot of time to build up speed. Just my $.02 -Kevin

Did this route solo today, still in great shape! Wonderful plunge-stepping down the north side. Went car to car in a little over six hours. Taking a mtn. bike makes the descent speedy. Thnks to whom ever posted directions to the route on this page last february. Much Help! Feel free to email me with directions/ route info questions. kfoxwnc@yahoo.com -Kevin

I was up on Safe Sex last sunday. The aproach only has snow at the last steep part, and the 3 of us did it with one trekking pole a piece in approach shoes. Although boots are not required they might have been a little nice. If I were you I would just Rap the route. There are rap stations all over the place on the face. The likelyhood of snow in the Descent gully is what would worry me most at this point in the year! Good luck, and if a guy on the road tries to give you beta on the route for 2 hours, Don't Listen!

I have the next week off and am looking for midweek climbing partners. Preferably east side for more reliable weather, but anywhere will do. Email me if you are available. -Kfox

I'm new to the area and looking for someone to climb with this sunday. Thinking either Leavenworth or Vantage areas. Will climb any type but prefer trad. I'm living north of Seattle so I can meet you there or we can drive. If you're free email me kfoxroad@hotmail.com and we'll work something out. -Kevin