MISSOURI climbing anyone??

I'm looking for someone to do some climbing with in Missouri. I can travel pretty much any where to get er done and am free most of the time. I have sport climbing equipment. I have not done any lead climbs yet and have top roped up to a couple of 5-9's. I have also top roped a couple of trad climbs... also can clean but not lead. If U will be climbing in Missouri and are looking for someone to climb with... a day trip or a weekend. I have a ton of camping gear, also a canoe, which u need to get to one of the climbs i was looking at. I don't care what the temperature is as long as we can climb something. Trappers camp looks cool to me - lots of climbing.. but i'm up for any where you want to go. (719) 440-7652 Darrell

I lived in Missouri for two years. If you want to do some serious climbing, find a better state.

Im from colorado and i know theres better climbing els where. But there is also climbing in Missouri. I havent done any of it yet. But it does exist.....

Aww... Missouri limestone! It can be a lot of fun. Be careful out there! Try finding a partner indoors at a local gym first. Then head outside! Good luck!
Oh, and a day/weekend trip to Arkansas is always worth it too.

+1 koreo

I pretty much forgot how to climb while I lived there.

As it turns out there is only one camp ground around Trappers camp and it does not open till March 7. So.... anyone know where there is a place to go with good camping this time a year?

I lived in MO for a couple years and there are a few places to climb. There isnt too much this time of year unless you go on a random nice weekend. Depending where you are in MO(I lived in Columbia), the best places to go are actually in Arkansas or southern Illinois. Horseshoe in Arkansas has tons of sport climbing and its about 4 to 5 hour drive from Columbia. Jackson falls is about 4 hours from Columbia in So. Ill. and its has quite a bit of good sport climbing. Both horseshoe and Jackson are sandstone. If you are looking for somewhere closer, one of the nicer places I climbed in MO was Warsaw and its in a park so there is camping. However, it is sometimes difficult to get to the rock since the area on top of the cliff closes for hunting season. But if you have a canoe, the cliff is right on the water and you can take that route. There are other small climbing areas near Columbia including Capan park that has about 10 sport climbs and 10 top ropes. There is another somewhat abandoned area on the Katy Trail near Columbia called Andromeda. There is camping about 2mi away from there on the Katy. Hope this helps.

That's awesome Riggs, thanks a lot. I'll be putting that knowledge to use. :)

You have two guidebooks:
Missouri Limestone Select
A Guide to Midwest Metamorphic Forms

Where are you at? Much of the climbing around Columbia requires a more covert access (don't have climbing equipment visible when walking on the Katy trail, try and avoid high use times...) Access to places such as Wilton and Andromeda is sketchy.

Arkansas has much unrestricted access climbing. Not only that but it is top quality single pitch. Way better than anything in MO. Fixed Pin just came out with an awesome combined Arkansas climbing guidebook which includes HCR, Sams Throne, Mount Magazine, etc.

Have not done any serious climbing since moving from back germany looking for some cool people to climb with this spring and summer have ropes slings and an extra harness will travel w/ in 3 to 4 hours. My name is jason and # is 314-221-0368

Yep, I just moved here and am looking for partners. Drop me a line if you're interested. Rock, ice, or plastic I don't care...

Matt

M. Steen wrote:Yep, I just moved here and am looking for partners. Drop me a line if you're interested. Rock, ice, or plastic I don't care... Matt

What's up with the hate, people. I grew up in MO and there are alot of good quality limestone sport routes up to 12d-13a. In fact, a few of the best such climbs I've ever done were right on the river at Trapper's and Warsaw (Turn Your Head & Cough and Phantom Fugitives). Personally, I think even climbing the chossier lines there contributed to my growth as a climber. You know, some people actually call Eldo 'chossy'!? I say go to a gym if you are afraid of pulling off a little rock.

Summary: MO = good

I don't mean to bash MO (also a native), but for those that live in St Louis, Jackson Falls and southern IL in general is a better bet. Shorter drive, solid rock, and tons of classic lines.

Growing up (alledgedly)in St Louis, we had a number of regular haunts; Elephant Rocks St Park has scads of bouldering on incredible pink Granite, nearby Johnson Shut Ins St Park has some short, but high quality granite cliffs, (took some of my first lead falls there); I suspect that in this less enlightened age, climbing may be verboten in those spots. Anyone here know? There was also a pretty cool granite gorge way out in BFE, called Prairie Hollow, (maybe near Eminence MO?); we ignored the sound of banjoes long enough to put up a few lines, and we noticed an old pin in a roof. Also, Jackson Falls is not the only place in S Illinois, (admittedly, it is the best), but Drapers Bluff is closer, also Fern Cliff and Giant City St Parks. In the county west of St Louis is (was?) a place known as Rockwoods Reservation, we climbed there a ton on the numerous quarried cliffs (Limestone); I imagine the Man has banned it, but it seems to me that a concerted effort by a group could reopen it. It's chossy, sure, but not as bad as it could be, and who cares about extreme cleaning on a quarry?

Erik is right, there is good climbing if you're in MO. While maybe not as glamorous as ColoRADo, the routes around are worth doing. Especially when you consider the alternatives: throwing horseshoes, tractor pulls, eating pork steak (yeah, pork STEAK), float trips. No wait, floats are good.

Choose whether you want to spend your time complaining about where you live or deal with it and find ways to enjoy yourself. You may not like the climbing because seems too chossy but if you actually climb the stuff you'd find that much of it is better quality than you think. I wish I had done more of the stuff around Columbia and the SW part of the state. Plus you'll apprectiate the really good areas when you get there. I'm still surprised at how stiff many of the routes are. Get on some of the Karpowitz routes (Katy's Trail) put up in the 70's and 80's to get a real run for your money. Sport routes at Sheuler Ferry will put your tail between your legs.

I grew up near STL and enjoyed the variety of climbing within a weekend's distance. Illinois has Jackson Falls (great sport), Cedar's, Draper's (now closed), N. AR is a terrific place with tons of great sandstone, and the Red and Chattanooga are pretty close. For something a bit closer try the bouldering at Elephant Rocks SP, about 1.5 hrs south of STL. Great Vedawoo style granite bouldering.

All riiight, there's some love!