Discover the Secret Season & Hidden Crags of the New River Gorge
Prime time sending conditions have finally arrived.
This
fall and winter, while you're in the gym pulling on plastic dreaming of
warm and sunny climbing locations, keep the New in mind. You don't have to book a ticket to Mexico or Thailand to get your winter climbing fix. It's a little
known fact that the fall and winter seasons offer some of the best
climbing conditions here at the New.
Most climbers tend to
visit the Gorge during the hot and sticky summer months, but the local
beta is that November through April offer some of the best sending
conditions all year. The cool crispy temps make for great friction and you feel like your hands will stick to almost anything.
Not only that, there's tons of new rock that's
only accessible in the winter months. For example, Summersville Lake is drained every winter revealing tons of boulders that litter the exposed shoreline. The low water level also allows you to walk right up to walls that during the summer months are underwater or only accessible by boat. Whipperwill has the easiest access and a whole line-up of routes ranging from 5.6-5.13. This south facing wall gets sun all afternoon, and it's not obscured by trees so on a 40 degree day you can climb in a t-shirt and bake in the sunshine like a lizard on a rock.
Bouldering abounds in the winter time. There are tons of boulders strewn through the woods that are normally guarded by an ocean of poison ivy. When it's too chilly to sit at the end of the rope belaying your partner, bouldering is where it's at. The locals here are constantly discovering new bouldering zones, just stop by our headquarters Water Stone Outdoors for the beta.
Come February when it gets really chilly, there's tons of ice climbing to sample along Summersville Lake and the crags New River Gorge. Most of you are familiar with the classic trad lines of the Junkyard Wall. But did you know the cave there ices up and forms a freestanding curtain of ice a couple of feet thick? You've got to see it to believe it.
New River Mountain Guides has guides on staff year round, so if you're hankering for a rock fix give us a call and we can get you out on the rock in no time. The winter is a great time to brush up on self-rescue skills, bouldering technique and to try out ice climbing. So watch the weather patterns, and the next time you see a high pressure system sitting over the east coast, you can count on the New to have perfect climbing conditions with none of the crowds.
