Friday, May 20

RED FEVER

Me working on The Force, .13a
(photo courtesy of Lily Cornett)

First off, I apologize to the five loyal followers of this blog, holding their breath for the next post, lol. Second, the Red River Gorge in Slade, KY kicks butt! I now know what all the hype about Red River Gorge rock climbing is... and it's a well-deserved reputation.

I was fortunate to tag along on a ride to the Red with my friends Lily and Scott for a whopping 1o day road trip, April 22nd - May 2nd. It was definitely not a planned trip; I was definitely pushing it- cutting into my finals reading period- but I'm so thankful that I made the spontaneous decision to make my inaugural visit to this climbing mecca.

The Red is probably the single best sport climbing destination in the nation, and one of the best on Earth. Although Smith Rocks and Little Si will forever hold special significance to my rock climbing, I cannot deny the quality, great selection, and consistency of rock climbs at the Red River Gorge. Seriously, most climbs are atleast 3-4 star classics! Oh, yeah, the community around there is tight too, which is awesome (thanks Miguel & co. for the hospitality).

One goal that I'm in the process of accomplishing is visiting every major rock climbing destination in North America. The Red River Gorge is one such destination. Before venturing to more distant climbing locales, I want to explore all that we've got "in our backyard." Our home here offers SO many fine climbing destinations, of all disciplines and rock types- granite, sandstone, volcanic tuff, limestone, quartzite, gneiss, rhinorock (yeah Little Si!), etc.

Enough of me blabbering, I'll let the pictures/video (i.e. top one in video bar ) do the talking...

40 ounces of Justice, .13a @ Motherlode


the ancient creation of textures, colors, and formations are intriguing to look at and hold


Scott on the 1st crux of Table of Colors, .13a ... next time I go I want to do the direct start

One I'll be back for ... Golden Touch, .13b


My favorite wood sculpture of Miguel's


Twinkie, .12a -this line never gets old- steep, big holds all the way to the top



God bless.

NM