Bridge Day at the New - better to avoid?

I'm planning on spending the second half of Oct and first half of November climbing at the Red and New and packrafting sections of the New River. I'm curious, is it better to avoid Bridge Day at the New or is it an event worth attending? Will the area be packed or is it a chill event? Looks like commercial raft trip are virtually over after that event, which would give me the solitude on the river I enjoy, so I'm thinking to show up just after Bridge Day.

I've been climbing a couple of times during bridge day. It wasn't a problem at all. Just keep in mind that you won't be crossing the bridge that day and that there might be some cliffs under the bridge that are either hard to get to or off-limits. Plan accordingly. I never thought that the climbing crowds were any worse, you just need to keep some of the logistics in mind.

Bridge Day is all about the base jumping and rafting... which means there are surprisingly fewer climbers out than a lot of other weekends. You can usually get on the routes you want with minimal wait.

Agreed, climbing wise its pretty quiet. However, getting to and from crags could be a nightmare. Also, you are mostly trapped on one-side of the bridge or the other for the day, unless you take the big detour. But go take a raft adventure that day on the new, and watch the base jumpers launch from the bridge from below.

I attended BD last year. The area is a mad house but I'm sure the crags are pretty chill. The event is just on that Saturday. A injury is allowing me not to jump for a year or I would be up there. My 2 cents is that Friday evening and Sat the roads will be slammed and Sunday will be good to go.

Also, keep in mind that the restaurants and bars in town will obviously be slammed on Saturday night. But yeah, stick to the north side of the bridge, don't have a reason to go into town, and you're fine. That's where all the best climbjng is anyway.

Thanks for the advice. I'll probably just wait til the event is over and avoid the madhouse.

Brandon Gottung wrote:Thanks for the advice. I'll probably just wait til the event is over and avoid the madhouse.