The CragBaby

I spent 4 weeks of my vacation in the Red River Gorge, Kentucky. I would have spent more time there as the climbing is superb, but after the accident I was in desperate need of a break from rope climbing.

Yet, even with the traumatic climbing accident, I noticed that when I drove away from the Red I had nothing but good memories. And though I am really glad I am taking some time off from the rope for a bit, I am excited to return to the Red to climb many more of its abundant classic routes at some later date.

The Red River Gorge icon is of course Miguel’s Pizza. It is well known in the climbing community and rightfully so. The camping is open only to climbers, drawing in crowds of 50+ climbers each weekend during main season. The food is fabulous and the location superb for climbing access. As a solo traveler it is the place to hang out to find climbing partners.

The mornings were especially beautiful with the brightly covered tents glistening in the frost. There were three areas for tents, all of which would be packed on the weekend. I was in the main area and the neighboring tents were literally inches away.

I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Ginley prior to hitting the RRG. He was extremely kind and showed me a good number of highlights of the Red while introducing me to a crew of folks. Here he is climbing at The Gallery.

The Red houses the largest number of strong climbers I have ever seen in one location. It was not uncommon to see Chris Sharma, Lisa Rands, Alex Puccio, etc hanging around, plus all the locals were incredibly strong, It truly seemed like the average RRG climber was crushing 5.13. At home I am stoked if I hop on one 5.12 a week, but at the Red 5.12a is a warm-up. I tried to keep up to pace, one week ending up working on 10 5.12’s, but the result was me just being worked all the time. Pictured above is my friend Nick, who currently resides in Montreal, climbing at the MotherLode.

One of the numerous classics is Buddha Hole, a climb divided into three sections by two large huecos. Pictured is me coming out of the first hueco and into the crux section.

This climb is so fun and harder than it looks as those plate-like features aren’t as good as one would hope. The moves are big and dynamic and it is just plain out enjoyable. Pictured is Eva-Lyn.

One of my favorite days climbing was at the La Bibliotech wall. The wall consists of all 5.11s with a couple 12’s and one 10. I went with a crew to focus on getting in some mileage and working on onsighting. It was one of the few days that I felt quite comfortable on the rope and got in 7 really fun pitches. Thanks to Elliot who took this picture. I wish I would have actually worn matching clothes that day. Oh, the life of living on the road. =)

As I previously mentioned, the falls are BIG in the RRG. One friend had to cut his rope after a day of climbing because he had taken so many big falls that day. This video is Zach taking a practice fall off Kaleidoscope. On this climb it is common to skip the last draw as it is impossible to clip, but the run to the anchors is still a good 10+ feet.

Part of climbing at the RRG is constantly being on the lookout for snakes. Within my first three weeks of being at Miguels, three dogs were bit by copperheads. This one bit a friend’s dog and was sitting under a climb we had all been working. I was especially nervous of the copperheads because I doubt CB could survive a bite.

I usually just worked on my rest days as I am fortunate to have a job I can work from the road. But on occasion went to check out many of the local sites. This day was particularly fun as Lynn, Gary and I went to see the Wild Turkey distillery in Lexington. It was one of the coolest tours I had experienced as nothing about it was tailored towards the tourist. They simply gave you a tour of their facilities, in its rough and rugged nature. Plus hanging out with Lynn and Gary, both currently Utah residents, was hilarious and exactly what I needed on this rest day.

I lingered in the Red one additional day so that I could check out the Keeneland horse races. I am so glad I did because the experience was one of my favorites. Everything from the diverse crowd to the classy nature of the event to the races themselves was intriguing. I attended the day’s races with a fun crew consisting of Andy from the Czech Republic, Lena from Russia and Tom from Germany. Tom is literally a traveling carpenter with his carpentry apprecenticeship requiring him to travel three years away from home prior to going back to school. On this day, he had worn his attire that distinguished him with his trade.

The best thing about the Red River Gorge was the community of climbers. I became friends with a group of French speakers, some from Canada and others from France, and hung out with them quite a bit, especially my last week. Sandra was one of my favorite people I met. Just seeing her made me smile.

I hung out with David, from France, quite a bit my last week. He was a great friend to me after the accident and I greatly appreciated his support. He did, however, strongly dislike my dog.

Last but not least, is the tradition of adding in a photo of my little one. My friend Elliot took this picture and it might be my favorite picture of CB.

Overall, my time in the Red was superb. I met lots of great people, I climbed many real fun routes, I saw some of the local sites, I had lots of time to think and of course I enjoyed some of the best pizza in the world at Miguels.  Surprisingly one great take-away from my time there occurred the day of the accident. I cut ties with my family a year ago and this past year I have always believed it to be one of the best decision of my life.  After the traumatic accident my initial reaction was that I needed to call someone close to me while also analyzing the relationships in my life, immediately knowing which broken relationships needed mending and which did not. I thought about my family, and I immediately still felt vindicated with my previous year’s decision. This confirmation was actually quite nice.  So when I went back to Miguel’s I instead called my good friend Shaft, who was the perfect listening ear to my sobs.

Overall, great times in the RRG.