Alpinfox Posted April 5, 2004 Posted April 5, 2004 (edited) Howdy ya'll, I'll be in Asheville, NC for a cousin's wedding from Apr.22-27 (I think those are the dates) and if there is climbing to be had around there, I wanna "had" me some. Recommendations? Is it worth stinking up my nice wedding clothes by throwing the rock shoes in my luggage? Anybody in that area, or gonna be in that area, that might wanna show a Cascade climber how cool appalachian climbing can be? I don't know what kind of transportation options I will have and I'm not sure of my exact schedule, but I'm sure I could squeeze a two or three day trip in there somewhere. Cheers. p.s. If you read this and want to contact me, but don't want to register on cc.com (I don't blame you, everyone here is a bunch o' wankers and whiners anyway ) then email me at alpinfox(at)yahoo(dot)com. I check that account periodically. Edited April 5, 2004 by Alpinfox Quote
tele_nut Posted April 5, 2004 Posted April 5, 2004 How far are you willing to go? There is alot of good climbing and bouldering in the south. I spent about 3 months there a few years ago just travelling around and checking out the ice climbing, skiing and rock climbing in some unlikely locations. Tennessee Wall and Rocktown are pretty cool options. Moores wall and some areas up near Boone are good options for shorter trips. Quote
Alpinfox Posted April 5, 2004 Author Posted April 5, 2004 How far are you willing to go? I don't know if I will be able to borrow a car yet. If I can get wheels, I'll drive a few hours (up to 4 say?) for good climbing. I'd prefer to do roped climbs, but if I can't find partners, I'll do some bouldering. ...ice climbing... Really!?!??! Surely not in April, but I'm surprised there is any at all in Appaliachia! Quote
ken4ord Posted April 5, 2004 Posted April 5, 2004 How far are you willing to go? I don't know if I will be able to borrow a car yet. If I can get wheels, I'll drive a few hours (up to 4 say?) for good climbing. I'd prefer to do roped climbs, but if I can't find partners, I'll do some bouldering. ...ice climbing... Really!?!??! Surely not in April, but I'm surprised there is any at all in Appaliachia! There is ice down there at times, but not in April, and not every year. Quote
sobo Posted April 5, 2004 Posted April 5, 2004 Whitesides, near Brevard, NC (big wall) Stone Mountain, NC (bolted multi-pitch sport) Looking Glass, also near Brevard, NC (just too awesome! trad, sport, and aid) Moore's Wall, NC (been mentioned) Search the net for Tim Toula's Rock-n-Road on-line guide to get the driving beta and route info, or buy it here. Have fun, ya bastard. I started climbing on those crags when I was at school at VA Tech. First big wall was Whitesides Original Route. Yummmmmmm. Quote
sobo Posted April 5, 2004 Posted April 5, 2004 And yes, there is incredible ice climbing in VA and WVA as well as in NC. It's where I started that shizzle, too. And it's not THAT far of a drive to Pinkham Notch, NH, for a Christmas Break trip. Quote
ken4ord Posted April 5, 2004 Posted April 5, 2004 Yo Alpinfox, if you got a car you should check out Rocktown north of Atlanta about 2 hours from Asheville. There is a ton of good sandstone bouldering. HP40 south in Alabama is suppose to be good bouldering too. In North Carolina, Looking Glass has long multi-pitch granite climbing. From easy slab to Steep free aid lines. In Tenn. check out the T-Wall for single pitch stout trad lines. If you were into mountain biking, I'd say leave the climbing shit behind an bring a mountain bike, Asheville is one of the new hotspots for mountain biking, I believe Outward Bound bases there mountain biking program out Asheville. Quote
sobo Posted April 5, 2004 Posted April 5, 2004 Hey alpinfox, You should PM RobBob for a partner. I think he's living out there in NC somewhere. Quote
willstrickland Posted April 5, 2004 Posted April 5, 2004 Shit AlpinFox, is there any climbing near Asheville...are you kidding? And yeah, there's rad ice in the SE too, not in late April, but there's a reliable season down there. I'd check out one of these in order of preference for a first timer: Looking Glass Rock: Close to Asheville, right by Brevard (maybe 30 minutes to the rock from A-ville). Multi-pitch trad routes on bomber granite with the trademark funky "eyebrow" features. About 500ft routes to the top of the dome. Take plenty of small tcus, a normal selection of cams and wires, good smearing shoes, and calm nerves. Also big wall style aid routes on the north side with some full value A4+. This place is great, be aware that the approach to different sides start in different places. Recommended routes: The Nose 5.8, Tits and Beer 5.9, Cornflake Crack 5.11a (highly recommended), Glass Menagerie IV 5.11 A2 or 5.13 (all three star routes in anyone's book). All these are about 4-5 pitches. Glass Menagerie's 3rd belay Whitesides: About 45 min west of Brevard. THE hardman cliff of the SE. 600ft, notorious for hard, runout, scary climbing. Original Route - Checks in at about .11- or .10c A1. The first pitch, runout 5.7 friction...about 1 piece of gear in the pitch, will wake you up for what's to come. Looking up the first pitch of the Original Route I believe cc.com poster johnny is down there near Winston Salem?, RobBob is somewhere over there too. Check out http://www.southeastclimbing.com for good beta on routes, directions, etc. There is tons of good stuff in the Linville Gorge area, but it's a little ways from Asheville and has Peregrine closures at some cliffs too. Have fun, and drink some sweet tea...or better yet some shine. Quote
Fromage Posted April 5, 2004 Posted April 5, 2004 I used to work near Asheville. If I hadn't moved to Seattle I would have stayed there. Tips for stuff to do in Asheville: Eat at Salsa's, an excellent Caribbean restaurant right downtown. Their food is SO GOOD!!! Another place worth visiting is Barlee's, a brewpub with giant calzones and, uh, 20(?) beers on tap. Damn good. I recommend Looking Glass, as well. Spent a lot of time there, the routes are spectacular. My climbing mentor still lives in Asheville. The guy is 60+ years old and still putting up new routes! He put up The Nose on LGR in 1966. Pretty cool guy. Email him (Steve Longenecker) and tell him Jimbo from Falling Creek sent you. He may not have the time to rope up with you, but he knows the area and the scene like nobody else, so he can at least give you some good current suggestions. His address is sfl(at)ioa(dot)com Have fun! Quote
EWolfe Posted April 5, 2004 Posted April 5, 2004 I'll lend ya my climbers guide to NC if ya remind me before we meet up next time. Quote
Alpinfox Posted April 6, 2004 Author Posted April 6, 2004 WOW! Thanks a lot everybody! Assuming I can smuggle my biohazardous climbing shoes onto the plane, it looks like I will have some climbing options. MisterE has warned me about sketchy protection in those "eyebrow" features at LGR, so if I go there I think I'll start with a non-challenging route. Can anyone recommend any hot 4th class routes? Thanks again for the suggestions and I'll pursue some of the contact info you guys provided when I have a better idea of what my schedule and transportation situation is going to be. Cheers. Quote
willstrickland Posted April 6, 2004 Posted April 6, 2004 For sure check out Barley's Taproom as Fromage suggests. It's downtown in Asheville, on Biltmore St. They had 40+ ales on tap last time I was there. And they have nice pool tables/darts/hottie granola chicks upstairs. The current on-tap list: Beers in the downstairs bar: Amstel Light - Holland Anchor Liberty Ale - CA, USA Anchor Porter - CA, USA Anderson Valley Belk's E.S.B. - CA, USA Bass Ale - England Brooklyn Lager - NY, USA Catawba Valley Brown Bear Ale - NC, USA Catawba Valley Firewater IPA - NC, USA Cottonwood Almond Stout - NC, USA Dogwood Bock Lager - GA, USA Fosters Lager - Australia Franziskaner Hefe-Weiss - Germany French Broad 13 Rebels E.S.B. - NC, USA French Broad Goldenrod Pilsner - NC, USA Grolsch - Holland Guinness - Ireland Hardcore Cider - OH, USA Harp Lager - Ireland Highland Gaelic Ale - NC, USA Highland Oatmeal Porter - NC, USA Hoegaarden White - Belgium Horniblow's Tavern American Ale - NC, USA Joseph Hewes Revolutionary Ale - NC, USA Kaliber N/A - England Lindemans Framboise Lambic - Belgium Lindemans Kriek Lambic - Belgium Lindemans Peche Lambic - Belgium Lost Coast 8-Ball Stout - CA, USA Lost Coast Raspberry Brown - CA, USA Negra Modelo - Mexico Newcastle Brown Ale - England Old Speckled Hen - England Pilsner Urquell - Czech Republic Pyramid Apricot Ale - WA, USA Pyramid Coastline Pilsner - WA, USA Pyramid Hefeweizen Ale - WA, USA Red Stripe Lager - Jamaica Rhinebecker Extra (low carb) - Germany Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar - OR, USA Rogue Saint Red - OR, USA Sam Adams Boston Lager - MA, USA Sam Adams Light - MA, USA Sam Smith's Nut Brown Ale - England Shiner Bock - TX, USA Sierra Nevada Pale Ale - CA, USA Sierra Nevada Porter - CA, USA Sweetwater 420 Extra Pale Ale - GA, USA Tilburg's Dutch Brown Ale - Holland Weihenstephaner Dark Hefe-Weissbier - Germany Beers in the upstairs bar: Abita Purple Haze - LA, USA Abita Turbo Dog Dark Lager - LA, USA Carolina Blonde - NC, USA Catawba Valley Firewater IPA - NC, USA Catawba Valley Honest Injun Stout - NC, USA Catawba Valley Indian Head Red - ND, USA Dogwood Bock Lager - GA, USA French Broad Wee-Heavy Scotch Ale - NC, USA Guinness - Ireland Hardcore Cider - OH, USA Helles Angel Golden Lager - NC, USA Highland Mocha Stout - NC, USA Highland St. Terese's Pale Ale - NC, USA Left Hand Black Jack Porter - CO, USA Rogue Brutal Bitter - OR, USA Rogue Dead Guy Ale - OR, USA Sierra Nevada Pale Ale - CA, USA Thomas Creek Pilsner - SC, USA Uncle Nut's Nut Brown Ale - NC, USA Weihenstephaner Hefe-weiss - Germany Weinstephaner Original Lager - Germany Yuengling Traditional Lager - PA, USA Quote
bremerton_john Posted April 6, 2004 Posted April 6, 2004 Rocktown is pretty damn cool. A climbing oasis set in a nice southern pine forest. House sized boulders strewn about with amazing features and holds. Some are big enough to take a half-rope along. Foster Falls, TN is another great place for tough sport routes. Its not far from the border of NC and GA. But Looking Glass is definitely your best option for bumming around Asheville. Mmmm, springtime in the south... sweet tea, sweet southern belles... Quote
arlen Posted April 6, 2004 Posted April 6, 2004 I'll just add this: if you like paddling and climbing equally, the water is better than the rock in that area. Have a preemptive mint julep for me Quote
sobo Posted April 7, 2004 Posted April 7, 2004 And I'll add this: Get yersef some of that Yuengling brew. Good stuff! Quote
Alpinfox Posted April 16, 2004 Author Posted April 16, 2004 Thanks again for info everybody. The date is approaching, any partners out there? Quote
Alpinfox Posted April 28, 2004 Author Posted April 28, 2004 Thanks for the beta everybody. Salsa's Barley's Yuengling (or similarly spelled beer) Climbing Unfortunately I didn't get to do any climbing because there were too many wedding/family activites and I didn't have my own wheels. However, I got in lots of quality Asheville is a very cool town with one of the best art scenes I have seen anywhere. I'd like to go back sometime and check out some of the climbing/rafting/kayaking/mtn biking, but I'm glad to be back in the PNW now. Quote
ken4ord Posted April 28, 2004 Posted April 28, 2004 Welcome Holmes. Sunday Sunday Sunday. Index Index Index???????? Quote
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