Me dropping from the top of a 30ft line

Photo by Caleb Izdepski

So this past labor Day weekend a rather large group of friends went on a deep water soloing trip to Tennessee. It would turn out to be ominous weather over the course of the weekend, but deep water soloing on steep rock in the rain, is just fine.

A few of us left on Friday morning and headed straight to Little River Canyon. LRC is a great place for steep climbing. See previous post. We went to the classic Grey Wall area. Will and Bobby lead up the wall on some 11s. They both loved the roofs at the top. Very tough but very fun. We wound up with three ropes and three leaders. It was the first time that I had climbed with Blair outside. She seemed to be enjoying herself. We climbed about four routes and had to head out due to our late arrival. We headed to what would turn out to be our three night camp site, Shellmound Campground. Shellmound is very close to the DWS spot and to Foster Falls. Dave had secured us a pontoon boat for the next day in advance so all we had to do was pick it up the next day. We stayed up late that night partying and getting shwasted!!! Great fun.

The next day with 14 people on hand we set out for a day of DWS. My buddy Sam brought his Jet ski along which was really fun. We had a canoe to ferry people to and fro from das boat. The weather was not very good, but we were deep water soloing. It didn't matter if there was a little rain. But it did suck when you would get out of the luke warm water and the wind would kick up.
Bobby was blown away by the quality of Limestone that is there. Chris was ready to push it on some great lines. I was overdue for some airy finishes. We warmed up on a 10a one move wonder through some pockets. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. Some of us climbed the roofs and many tufas that the wall has to offer. Chris had the best performance of the day sending what appeared to be a tough 11 or 12 that kept spitting him off at about 30ft. He really was making it happen on that line. Great job Chris!!!

Part of the reason I was out was to test the new Mountain Khakis synthetic shorts from the Snake River collection. I wore them the entire weekend and was very pleased with the way that they performed. I was really interested in how they performed on the rock. It turns out that they are just as sweet as all of my other MKs. I thought that they might be tight and restricting once they were wet. This was not the case at all. They are very light weight and dried a bit between each climb on the boat. I have to say that these are definitely my go to short now for back country activity. After three days of climbing in them there was barely a hint of body odor. I do have to add that having the zippered pockets was clutch for putting my shades, cards and keys in. Great product yet again MKs!!!!

That night we yet again made our holistic journey to Lupis'. We love Lupis' pizza. Not only do we love the pizza there, but they offer an excellent selection of beers too. Not to mention the Fat Tire on tap!!!!

The next day we woke up to very dismal weather. We decided to go into Chatta-Vegas and check out the new climbing gym, Urban Rocks Gym. URG is a wonderful gym made by Rock Works. They did an great job. They have an excellent mix of top rope, lead areas, kids corner, and bouldering. I do not have any photos from the gym but trust me, it is well worth checking out when your in town. After the gym we went to see a movie. We headed back to the camp in the rain and had a few more beers and a gin n juice.

We were only able to climb outside two days and once indoors, but we were able to hang out as a group. We do not get to spend a ton of time together as a whole. So when we can it's great. I love to hang out with friends at the crag just as much as climbing at the crag. That's what cragging is for me.

Anyway, Star and I are prepping for our trip to climb in the Dacks and the Gunks. We will be leaving on the 19th to fly into Albany. Our first stop will be the Gunks. I am working hard on my endurance to be as fit as I can for this trad-stravaganza!!!! On the way to the Dacks we are planning to hang with the g-rents for a few.

Stay tuned for more photos from the Labor Day trip and my past trip to Wyoming. Thanks again to Mountain Khakis, Massey's, and Nebula Multimedia for making all of these trips that much better!!!!

Go Climb Something!!!!

This past weekend a buddy and I decided to go check out some new areas that we had not climbed yet too. We wanted to see what the concave was all about. I had never been to Unshackled so I really wanted to check that out. On Thursday night we stayed at the T.A.S. campground right on the LRC. Friday we drove down to Unshackled and climbed a few of the routes. The 10d and a couple of 11s. Tommy wanted to climb the 13 next to Unshackled so we walked over and he made it through the first crux and fell at the second. He finished the route no problem and left his draws, he had some unfinished business with this route.

Next we went to the Concave, RAD!!!!!!! Very nice. I found this spicy 11 that I worked a few times and was very close to redpointing. Tommy on the other had worked Word a few times and finally redpointed it on Saturday. Good work Tommy!!! Word!!!

The next day I had to leave early so we walked down to the Ninja Wall and we were underwhelmed. We walked down to what we thought was the lizard wall and it turned out to be Crazy House. Very impressive area!!! We climbed an 11b and another buddy of ours met up us., Mike I had to roll and mike and Tommy were left to crush it in the not so hot, not so cool LRC.

I only have one good shot. It is of Tommy when we first walked up the the Concave. Enjoy!!!