Back in the fall I visited the Red River Gorge in Kentucky to check out the world famous sport climbing I’ve been hearing about forever. I didn’t get let down — the place lived up to its reputation. What a place! We camped at the Land of Arches and met some really great people, including Joel Unema, a climber for Mad Rock and the brains behind GrassRoutesClimbing, and photographer Blake McCord. The two of them just got back from an amazing trip to Venezuela, where they put up a huge new route on one of the tepuis.
I can’t believe how huge America is, and I sat in my car and drove in a straight line for two whole days. Cruise control on, music blaring, and barely ever turning the wheel.
The Red is a magical place, and fall colors were in full effect. Every day we wandered through the forest of fiery oranges and reds and arrived at these majestic cliffs peeking through the leaves. The climbing isn’t just long overhung pumpfests (though there certainly is a lot of that) — there are impossibly thin faces, splitter cracks, and super techy slabs. The variety is huge, though I was drawn to the endless overhung jug hauls in the Madness Cave, and the absolutely crazy looking Thug Life at Drive By Crag. I’m spending my winter training hard so I can go back and redpoint some of my projects in the spring.
Here’s a look at the life at the Red.
Gorgeous photos by Nathan Welton and Blake McCord
