Red river Gorge

[tinker]

Ice is melting, Rock is still to cold.  So I just booked a flight to the Red.   First time down there, I only have a week does anyone have any suggestions our must do routes/areas?

[sneoh]

You are in for a treat, tinker, assuming you are going to do mostly sport routes.

What difficulty range are you looking for?

[tinker]

Oh I will get up and flail on most anything under 12. I am more of a trad guy but the older I get the more I like those shiny bolts. 

[sneoh]

the older I get the more I like those shiny bolts. 

I hear ya ...

Get either the hardcopy guide by Ray Ellington or the electronic iPad/iPhone version by same.
Also redriverclimbing.com is sometimes useful.

My fav crag at RRG at the moment is Drive-By.  Lots of good stuff, Breakfast Burrito and Whipstocking both highly recommended.
Drive-By is in PMRP which is my favorite region at The Red for highest concentration of quality routes.

Muir Valley might be the most user friendly crag but no dogs are allowed in it and is privately owned.  It has many quality routes but they are scattered among the crags.  Hiking between crags is easy and well sign posted.  We usually hit two or three crags in a day at Muir.

Of the older crags, my fav is Roadside (trad & sport) but it can get very crowded.  Avoid going there on weekends if you can.

There are quality routes to be found at almost every crag so just have fun!!

Let us know how the trip goes.

[strandman]

S- ya'll keep hangin' at the  Red and yu gonna start talkin' funny

Da na na na......................

[tinker]

There will be 12 of us Mainers down there I bet we are going to be the ones regarded as talking funny.  Ayuh

[sneoh]

There will be 12 of us Mainers down there. 

In that case, tinker, you may not want to all go to Drive-By at the same time. Split up to Bob Marley or further down the rutty dirt road to crags around the Sore Heel parking lot. 
Speaking of rutty road, get one or two 4-wheel or all-wheel drive vehicles if possible.  The section of dirt road between Drive-By and Sore Heel can be pretty bad.  I almost got stuck coming out of Sore Heel last October in a rental car (when the road was dry but rutty).

[tinker]

Thanks for the beta.  We will have a couple 4wd vehicles and definitely plan to "Spread out" nobody likes a super high impact group of people.  Now I just have to train harder.... where did I put that Guinness?

[sneoh]

Now I just have to train harder.

If you can, work on endurance and/or power-endurance.  Good open-hand strength also generally useful.
But do not forget to enjoy the climbs and have a good time exploring brand-new rock and crags.

where did I put that Guinness?

Guinness curls?

[RagingTurk]

Since you have 4wd vehicles, PMRP is definitely THE place to go.

Make sure to check out the Chocolate Factory, Drive-By (must), Bob Marley, and the Gallery / Volunteer Wall.
Also make the trip to Solar Collector one day. Awesome climbing.
Another 5 star route is Amarillo Sunset at North 40 (PMRP)

If you can stop yourself from going back to the PMRP every day...visit Muir Valley and the Military Wall at least once.

Finally, I would also recommend the 'Zoo' right across from Roadside and usually no crowds with a great selection of 11s/12s.

Have fun.

[tinker]

Maybe I should have booked a longer trip!  Although I am still in disbelief I got the go ahead from the head office(the home office that is)She even jumped online and booked my flight.  Should I be worried?   And yes Guinness curls are an essential part of training.  I learned this on my honeymoon/climbing trip too Scotland, those boys take their training very seriously.  As a climbing buddy of mine once said "we train for the whole experience not just the climbing". 

[strandman]

You guys are gonna climb at Bob Marley- BUT are you bringing comedian Bob Marley ?

[eyebolter]

I'm going down in April, good thing i've been climbing plastic all winter.  It sucks to be on a  5.12 and fall off a 5.9 move but that is what happens to those of us up here with no endurance routes.

[sneoh]

Glad you liked the Red, tinker.  Some details would be nice when you get a chance to write them down.

Ward, friends of mine met you down there.  Congrats on many fronts are in order!!  And all the best to Mrs. Smith!
Now I am totally intimidated by Amarillo Sunset (had been hoping for an on-sight send, with shoes on ).

Plenty of SS equipment down at the Red, Ward, incl PMRP, especially at Muir.  Toker might be the odd route out with rusty fixed gear.  They were already rusty back in 2006 when I was on the route.

Welcome back you both.

[tinker]

I got in a couple days later then the rest of the group.  They were all in the mood for a "rest day so we went to tower rock for some trad.  I go to the red to do a little sport climbing and day one I find myself trutching up some off width with nothing bigger than a #3 bd cam on my rack Arachnid and Africa are both standout crack climbs.  Bruise brothers wall in the Muir valley had three stellar 10s that were as good as any pitch Ive done anywhere.  The gallery and volunteer wall were awesome.  We had two days of rain and were able to climb in a complete downpours so that's a plus in my book.  Of course this forces you to get on some harder stuff ;)Tectonic and johnny's wall in the Muir had some nice routes.  So much to do there!  I will definitely going back.  Only one snake sighting and one douche bag sighting, all and all a good trip.  next time I just need to remember some large gear and I will be all right.