The Red

The Red River Gorge will always hold a special place for me. It was there that I climbed outside for the first time, it was there that I went on my first climbing trip and it was there that I decided that I wanted to be a climber.

The routes are so much fun and the commitment level is so minimal. The climbing there is easy -- not in the sense that the rock climbing is easy or soft, but in that the approaches are short, the climbs are obvious, there are usually tick marks on the important holds, the steep stuff there often has fixed draws and the anchors are safe and sound. In a sense it's gym climbing outside.

I've been to the Red every year except one since 2007 and each year I've been I've had different eyes and ideas. My first trip there I was in awe of everything. My slogan for the trip was "Rocks!! Siiiiick!!" and I was just flabbergasted by everything rock climbing. My second trip down I met up with the St. Lawrence student trip (which I had been a part of the previous year) and I felt like I was the seasoned pro, having climbed for a year in the Gunks. "Sport climbing is way easier than trad climbing, I'll get on anything!" Last year I went down with Margaret and Matt and Rich and we all met up with our friend Al. That was probably my favorite of the trips I've been on. It was just pure fun. I had relaxed a bit since 2008 in terms of being show-offey to the SLU kids and just climbed on things that looked good.

This most recent trip, I've had several thoughts about the climbing down there. First, it seems like there is endless potential for route development. There are so many routes, waiting to be equipped. I wasn't looking at the cool, pre-existing climbs. Rather, I was looking at the cool, future lines.

But I also felt a major gym-climbing vibe this time around. Not to say that gym climbing is inherently bad. I learned how to climb in a gym, and the gym was where I first fell in love with climbing. Maybe it's that I'm turning into a crusty trad climber, or maybe it was my experience developing climbs in the Adirondacks, but climbing in the Red doesn't seem to have that same sense of adventure that I've come to love most about climbing.

For example: Climbing at Silver Lake would be something like, find the appropriate place to park having no real beta other than being able to see the cliffs. Then wander around on old logging roads, sometimes for hours at a time, until you find the cliff. Then walk the base of the cliff until you a probable line. Battle your way up it any way you can, often with scrub brush in hand. Fix a line at the top. Spend a day or two cleaning the route, try to get all the lichen out of your socks and hair, come back later and send. Climbing in the Red is something like, battle other climbers for a parking spot, follow the obvious trail for 5 minutes to the cliff. Put your shoes on, tie in, climb a route, lower off the top, move five feet left, rinse, and repeat.

I still love the Red and can't wait to go back, so don't think this is a striaght up bash-and-slander. I guess my goals as I climber have evolved since my virgin fingers first touched rock. The Red seems to be a great place to hone your technical abilities as a gymnastic climber and it can be really fun. Just try not to get the stink-eye from some dirt-bag-holier-than-though Red-resident who has been waiting 24 days for the perfect conditions to send her most recent proji but when that day comes she decides to slack-line instead because her calluses on her fingers aren't were they need to be and her new shoes aren't broken in yet.