Julian Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Trip: North Carolina - Various NC Ice Climbs Date: 12/30/2010 Trip Report: As a transplanted cascade climber, I figured I'd stump for my new home base of the southeast and give a report on my first taste of Carolina ice climbing. My friend Stephen took me on a fun three day adventure into North Carolina. We left Columbia SC on the 28th and drove straight to the Highway 215 roadcut outside of Brevard, aka Zoo 215, for an afternoon of cragging. Contrary to its nickname, only two other teams were in the same general area as us, and we all had fun running laps on each other's topropes. Stephen put up the hardest line of the day, a WI4 route with some complex climbing on lead. He later top-roped a direct variation that climbed some extremely thin ground. Taking a fall that left one of his tools a good distance above him, he amusingly climbed back up to it partially by hand-jamming between icicles. Day 2 saw us hooking up with his friends Chris and Greg for a nice multi-pitch route on Sam's Knob. A quick (by Cascade standards) approach brought us to the base of a nice gully system, with easy soloing between three steeper sections. Stephen soloed the first step (about WI2) and I quickly followed on top-rope, before giving him a belay on the crux 2nd pitch. Looking up the crux pitch. Stephen later soloed some of the hanging ice on the right. The stuff on the left also apparently goes. Stephen midway through the crux. I took the lead for the final stretch, which featured an easier slabby section up to a short WI3 pillar (no photos unfortunately). This was my first proper waterfall ice lead, and somewhat counter-intuitively didn't really feel scary at all, even compared to leading a sport climb. The hardest thing was dealing with the rope drag that resulted from running together two pitches where usually an intermediate belay off a tree is used. We cut a trail down beside the route, choosing to deal with some obnoxious bushwacking en lieu of setting up rappels with other teams climbing behind us. That night we were just settling down to sleep when Stephen got a text message from a friend of his that the elusive route Silent Symphony in the Cullasaja Gorge was "in", that resulted in a flurry of phone calls and text messages to try and verify the information and find out if the approach (a Tyrolean over Class 4 rapid) was already set up. In the end we couldn't get enough hard information to justify giving up the climb we had just driven 2 hours for in order to drive 2 hours in the other direction in search of the proverbial white whale. Day 3 was the most exciting, featuring another multi-pitch climb (the Brown's Creek Falls route on Celo Knob) in a more active environment (i.e. with tons of water flowing around and behind the ice) that lead to a cool spot. The climbing here was mostly WI2-3, with plenty of harder variations possible. Between the 2nd and 3rd pitches is a large shelf that features a nice belay cave. The lip of the roof is adorned with huge free-hangers, and on the right-hand side is a massive pillar of gorgeous blue ice. Stephen leading the moderate but fun 1st pitch. Me following on the 1st pitch. Stephen firing the hard (WI4+) free-standing pillar. I declined to try this on top-rope, leaving it as an objective to work up to. Some of North Carolina's mixed climbing potential: the roof of the belay cave. On the left is an M7 project that Stephen has bolted and looks damn hard. On the right is a very featured section of steep roof with lots of ledges and incuts, that could be a nice hard mixed line. The North Carolina backcountry - I'm officially impressed and a lot more psyched about the possibility of staying here long-term than I was before. Big thanks to my new friends Chris, Greg, and especially Stephen for showing me the ropes and for a great time. Also thanks to Dane for doing the mods to my Aztars that allowed me to run them leashless, which makes for much better climbing. Gear Notes: Petzl Aztars - modified by Dane to be run leashless with Peztl's Quark griprest Black Diamond Cyborgs We climbed on a single twin rope the 2nd day, and on a single double rope the 3rd day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Nice. Only time you'll see ice that fat in NC for the next 20 years... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genepires Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Nice! Who wudda thunk there was ice in NC? or even ice climbers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian Posted January 4, 2011 Author Share Posted January 4, 2011 Nice. Only time you'll see ice that fat in NC for the next 20 years... You should see the photos from last season. Makes some of this look thin by comparison: SE Ice Conditions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genepires Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Holy bat turds! N Carolina has got some good looking ice! Looks even better than the stuff around here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plaidman Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 That's it. I am moving east! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taluscat Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 hey there julian, im a southeren fried ice climber originally and nevermind the neysayers theres great ice in them thar hills like whitesides in cashiers n.c has a classic 3 pitch route called starshine that deserves your attention and is a right of passage per say,also check out winding stair gap.. if you need any 411 or contacts let me know ill be happy to help you out.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnkelley Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 That's where I learned to ice climb. It's better then you think. Solid Liquid Gas, Star Shine, Mother Russia, Xanadu, Bemeni Blues, etc... in the mid 90's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainsloth Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 yea, its tough being an ice climber in the NW. I grew up in NH and have a hard time getting psyched for the stuff out here. East coast just seems to have better freeze/thaw cycles. Its like growing up in Yosemite and moving to Minnesota. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamatz Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Is this the one and only stephen scoff by any chance. If so I know him pretty well. We should connect if you are still in the Seattle area.--Josh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genepires Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 nevermind the neysayers theres great ice in them thar hills I can't speak for all but I was serious about the quality looking lines in that online guide you linked. it is surprisingly good if it is regular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoffster Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 (edited) Nice report Julian--Thanks! Check out the mother ships we climbed on 1/16! http://www.flickr.com/photos/30133037@N03/ Here's a good SE ice vid. (The ice behind Shannon during the narrative is another wall not too far from Starshine that comes in every year--1/2 dozen routes WI 3-5). SS Edited January 19, 2011 by Scoffster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete_H Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 A single twin and a single double? Kind of hardcore for ice cragging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NC Transplant Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 As obvious as it may seem, I am a native of NC and Western NC (Asheville, Brevard, Banner Elk, Boone) in the winter is a great place. Heck Misty Mtn is based out of Banner Elk/Boone, NC. Great post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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