Team Tuesday Climbing: Red River Gorge

Planning climbing trips to the midwest is always a dicey proposition, especially in the springtime. Rain falls hard and frequent, leaving any plans at the mercy of the weather - especially concerning since there were about 15 of us planning on travelling to the Red. Most were making a six hour drive from St. Louis, but with three heading down from Boston, myself from Tucson, and two coming all the way from France, we were really rolling the dice with this trip. 10 Day Forecasts looked good, then bad, then good again. Hoping for the best, I loaded up my brand new (and free!) Osprey backpack, and headed to the heartland.

Then the worst happened - Eyjafjallajökull! With consequences as terrible as its name, the Icelandic volcano shut down European airways, making it impossible for Team France (Sophie's newphew and his wife) to make the trip to the States. We were down two already, but they remained with us in spirit, and also in cardboard.

Fabrice and Manon peering through the window of Miguels Pizza

The rest of us arrived safely, but with with a growing sense of concern about the trip. The forecast was getting worse and worse. I arrived late Wednesday night with Angie and Calvin, set up my tent and tried to get some sleep. Restless from the time in the car and anticipating all the sandstone goodness to come, sleep did not come easy.

I awoke the next morning and happily greeted everyone who was sleeping when we arrived the night before. Our posse rolled deep - Sophie (the remaining member of Team France), Capt. Burke, Calvin, Angie, Tall Tim, Yusuf, Dane, Little John, Yoli, Christian, Josh, Catherine, Woody, Thom, Kristin, baby Carrig and myself. A unique and diverse group including 2 doctors, a pilot, a lawyer, 3 math nerds, a lizard killing scientist, a waiter, a couple students and a few other random professions. These are the fools of Team Saucisson, and a truly incredible group of people to share 4 days in Kentucky with. We climbed hard, and laughed harder.

The first day we were blessed with perfect weather - blue skies and cool breezes. Perfect spring climbing weather. We headed down to the North 40 area and used this day to get reacquainted with the sandstone of the Red, and shake off the sluggishness from travelling. The following three days were not quite as nice - we were faced with off and on rain, and the looming threat of torrential downpours. We had laptops and iPhones all checking different weather forecasts, looking for one to be hopeful about.

The good news never came, but not to worry, as we had two things on our side. First, the Steepness. We knew that as long as conditions were good enough to make the approach to a crag, we would be able to find dry rock. The Red has numerous crags that stay dry in just about any condition. Secondly, we avoided staying at the classic Red campground, Miguels Pizza, and instead stayed at Lago Linda Hideaway. When the rains came, instead of our tents becoming islands in a pond (which is what happnes at Miguels), our tents stayed nice and dry underneath the sweet pavillions we could camp under. With an adjoining pavillion with picnic tables for cooking and hanging out, we only had to venture into the rain if we wanted to use the excellent bathroom facilities or head over for morning pancakes cooked by Linda. Delicious!

Over the next three days we sought out dry crags and classic climbs, all to great success. We climbed at Roadside, Drive By, Curbside, Bruise Brothers, Boneyard and Midnight Surf, each having many high quality climbs that stay dry in the rain. We threw ourselves at many fantastic climbs, including AWOL (10a), Breakfast Burrito (10c), Pocket Puller (10d), Fire and Brimstone (10d), Amarillo Sunset (11a), The Return of Chris Snyder (11d), Check Your Grip (12a), Ro Shampo (12a), Tic Tac Toe (12b), Iniquity (12b) and Beer Belly (13a). We had many successes, including Dane sending Ro Shampo, Krisitin crushing a 10c 3 months after having a baby, Sophie climbing strong after a recent injury, Burke going hard just a couple weeks after a bad fall....and many, many more. I climbed four days in a row (and did 30 routes in 4 days), and I can't remember the last time I did that. It was a blast climbing so much, but a week later I am still feeling it in my arms.

One of the best things about climbing is getting to test yourself on the unique climbing styles at different areas. Coming from Tucson, the climbing is a huge contrast from the technical granite we typically climb. The climbing here tends to be on gently overhanging rock, with juggy huecos and pockets, horizontal ledges, and iron plates. The routes are usually straight forward with easy to read sequences, except for on some climbs which are so featured and pocketed that you waste all your energy searching for the best holds. Fancy footwork isn't required too often, but you better be ready to face the pump factor, which sneaks up on you and hits hard. This style of climbing is more my style and preference over the vertical, crimpy granite of Mt. Lemmon. I really do enjoy the problem solving aspect of our more technical routes, though, and have learned to appreciate that more after four days of straight pulling.

Fortunately, we had many cameras to capture the action, including a couple high quality cameras and a couple of great photographers. Here are some of the best photos from the trip, blatantly stolen from Yusuf, Sophie, Yoli and Calvin. Thanks guys!