Red River Gorge, Climbs for Cold/Light Rain

Hi everyone!

Some friends and I are spending all of next week in the Red for the first time, can't be more excited. The weather, however, looks a bit cold and rainy for the early part of the week, so I wanted to see if anyone had some favorite routes in areas that stay dry and get morning/all day sun!

Oh and if you have any can't miss routes (5.11s/maybe a 5.12a or 5.12b or two), let me know!

Thanks in advance!

Red has lots of options that stay dry, but mannnn the rock is going to be cold.

Best places that come to mind are the Solarium in Muir Valley and the Military Wall.

If you have a 4WD vehicle, Drive By Crag would be a good bet too.

Here's a pretty good list of sport climbs that at least to some extent stay dry. redriverclimbing.com/RRCGui…

Another vote for Solarium. Air Ride Equipped is a good warm up for the other routes at Solarium.

If you want to warm up on something easier Johnny's Wall and Tectonic Wall are really close and full of 10's. They may not stay dry though.

On sunny days I would definitely scout out the guidebook to see which crags get morning sun, because like mentioned before, that rock will be chilly. Chase sun on the days that you can.

Have fun.

I know from experience that Twinkie stays dry no matter how hard it's raining. The crux will be clipping the chains from all the water pouring from the top... right onto the finishing jugs and right into your eyes as you're trying to look up and clip.

You aren't going to get sunny when it's raining. Weather looks pretty bad for long endurance routes. Pretty much every cliff in the red that isn't slab stays dry.

Chase the sun, stay away from cracks and put a hand warmer or two in your chalkbag. Also, wear warm under garments. If your core gets cold, your body will take the heat from the extremities to compensate. That means cold hands!

But don't worry the weather doesn't look that bad. I'm also going next week and can't wait. I'm just sick of all the snow we have been getting on the East Coast of Canada. Another foot in the forecast today yey...