RRG Conditions

Hi All!

I have a trip scheduled to head down to the RRG the weekend of March 6 and interested in what conditions are like for climbing right now down there with all the snow. Are there still some decent walls to climb or is everything mostly frozen over? Are there specific crags that you'd recommend right now? I'd be mostly looking at 5.10/11 sport climbs.

Thanks!

Beaker-

snow will be a most likely outcome for your trip, late march would be a better trip for you. if you decide to come early march, go to bruise brothers wall or anywhere at muir valley bring your helmet, and watch for ice. go see my friend colton at the rockhouse and hell help ya out

jamie cummins wrote:Beaker- snow will be a most likely outcome for your trip, late march would be a better trip for you. if you decide to come early march, go to bruise brothers wall or anywhere at muir valley bring your helmet, and watch for ice. go see my friend colton at the rockhouse and hell help ya out

Thanks, Jamie. This trip is part of my cycling team's training trip which has been scheduled for a while and isn't moving. We go down to the Red every year around this time to ride the roads in the area (We're from MI, so KY is warmer normally). A few of us are also climbers and take advantage of the trip to get in some climbing, too.

For the past 3 years, we've lucked out every time and have had amazing weather. However, this year we're not so lucky. There will be many other climbing-only trips throughout the Spring scheduled... just wondering how much we'll be able to do this weekend coming up :)

Says sunny both sat/sun but temps only 37/43. we went down this time last year maybe a week later and it was raining bombs of ice and snow all over. watch out if you go.

Solar Collector/Bright Side. Really good selection of Hard 10s and 11s at Solar to warm up on, then Bright Side has some really great mid/hard 11s. All day sun if there is sun to be had, and upper 30s will be great at both zones.

Dip wall stays dry.

jamie cummins wrote:Beaker- snow will be a most likely outcome for your trip, late march would be a better trip for you. if you decide to come early march, go to bruise brothers wall or anywhere at muir valley bring your helmet, and watch for ice. go see my friend colton at the rockhouse and hell help ya out

Since we are now a bit closer to that weekend and the big snowfall that was supposed to have happened last night has passed, do you have any more updated conditions? I checked out a webcam and there didn't seem to much in the way of accumulation and the weather for next week seems to be warm and sunny throughout...

look at torrent falls facebook page they have tons of melt. Looks brutal down there I would wait.

facebook.com/pages/Torrent-…

There's a post at redriverclimbing saying that they got ~12" last night at the Red. :(

redriverclimbing.com/viewto…

beaker wrote:There's a post at redriverclimbing saying that they got ~12" last night at the Red. :( redriverclimbing.com/viewto…

Well...shit. Thanks for the link. Do you think it'd be climbable later in the week after the warm temps?

scienceguy288 wrote: Well...shit. Thanks for the link. Do you think it'd be climbable later in the week after the warm temps?

Some walls that are directly sun facing may be climbable, but I think getting to the crags will be a challenge. Tomorrow's only mid 30s, so not much will melt by Saturday. I also know Muir Valley posted on Facebook a few days ago recommending that people don't visit this week because of the conditions of the roads due to all of the water and runoff.

Currently sitting in a coffee shop relentlessly checking updates on the weather there, does anyone at the red have the scoop? How are roads in slade? Is climbing this weekend a pipe dream?

I'm in the Red right now.. There's about 8" of snow on the ground. The main roads are mostly plowed right now. I haven't tried driving to any walls, but I expect access to be pretty limited. It's still below freezing, so no snow is really melting yet.

I'm going to drive around and do some hiking, but don't think that climbing will be feasible at all.

If you have high clearance and 4wd, it would be worth it. Otherwise go further south until more snow melts.

Beaker -

I'm hoping to head down to RRG next week. The forecast this weeks looks pretty crummy but I'm being optimistic. If its a bust we will drive further south. I'd appreciate an update on conditions if you're still down there. Is it basically a slip'n slide?

Snow melted quick this weekend apparently, and most areas are accessible. Now you'll just be contending with the standard mud and condensation issues...

aemerick wrote:Beaker - I'm hoping to head down to RRG next week. The forecast this weeks looks pretty crummy but I'm being optimistic. If its a bust we will drive further south. I'd appreciate an update on conditions if you're still down there. Is it basically a slip'n slide?

I agree with Dustin... I was able to climb both Saturday and Sunday and it turned out to be much better than I expected. Not having 4WD, I didn't attempt going to Muir or PMRP, so I can't comment on them. I ended up spending both days at Emerald City and Global Village since parking was easy off the road... and both of those walls were pretty much completely dry. Watch out for ice at the top of routes. A lot of the snow was already melted when I left on Sunday, being an awesome 58 degrees outside.

Looking at the forecast, will probably just be muddy hiking conditions after more rain this week. If it looks good again this weekend, I'm thinking of heading back down there again.

Chris get back on No Place Like Home?

Thanks for the update! I'm glad to hear the snow melted off. The rain this week isn't ideal, but I'm crossing my fingers that this Friday/Saturday will be the last rainy days.

I've been there most of the last 6 years at end of March,,the last few have been just cold, snowy and awful. This winter is the most late season snow in a long time...still have some forest service roads closed up,,and next will be plenty of roaring water with a meltout. I'm just hoping to find it dry by Easter week vacation into April by the 4th. Best of luck!

Any opinions from anyone currently in or traveling to the Red on how It will be at the beginning of next week after its done raining?(Week of March 16th)