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Climbing areas with easy overhanging routes
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Me and my girlfriend both love climbing overhangs but we are not very strong climbers in general. Boulders/routes we enjoy the most are physical overhang climbs with good holds and lots of heel/toe hooking. In gyms these are easy to come by in the lower grades but non existant in the climbing areas we visited. Any cave we looked at would be plastered with routes 7c and above, so we would always end up climbing slabs/vertical walls. Is there any climbing area with lots of easy overhanging routes? Or even just singular interesting "easy" overhanging routes/boulders you can recommend? At our limit we climb about 6B-6C (V4-5) in bouldering and 6b-6c (~5.10d) sport. Preferably in Europe but any suggestions are welcome. |
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Not in Europe, but the Red River Gorge in Kentucky, USA is one of the best places in the world for steep climbs with big holds |
Noah Betz wrote: Plenty of routes there within your grade range, though not much bouldering. There are also numerous other southern climbing areas on sandstone or quartzite that have plenty of this type of climb—though most of those on quartzite, especially in North Carolina, are traditional ( placing your own protection) climbs. Further north, the Shawangunks in New York ( about 1.5 hours from NY City) are famous for having even very easy climbs involving quite impressive overhangs, but, again, all traditional climbing. |
seola lee wrote: |
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Greece, but the easy overhangs were mostly tufa stemming |
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As has already been said you need to make the pilgrimage to the Red, home to the biggest jugs you'll ever fall off of. The area is known throughout the world for its overhung faces and caves filled with bullet hard sandstone jugs and pockets. Some of the steepest routes with the lowest grades include: Air Ride Equipped- 5.11a/6c - the first crux will be the 3 hour wait to get on it, the second crux will be the first 10 ft which leads to easier climbing on steep hero jugs above https://www.mountainproject.com/route/106586504/air-ride-equipped Tesseract- 5.10d/6b+ - normally you don't find routes this steep coming in at grades easier than mid 5.11 or low 5.12. Luckily you also don't usually find holds consistently this big on climbs harder than 5.8. The combination leads to a fun overhanging romp up the left side of an arch https://www.mountainproject.com/route/110969192/tesseract If you're coming from Europe why not make the trip extra memorable by trying to push the grades a bit? Starry Night looks quite intimidating at first sight, but comes in at an approachable grade of 5.11d/7a. Heel hooks, toe hooks, knee bars, and multiple hands free rests will hopefully get you to the chains. https://www.mountainproject.com/route/112289818/starry-night All of the routes listed above are fully equipped with permadraws and muzzy hooks or lowering biners due to their steepness (except for the first bolt, please use your own draw on the first bolt even if your stick clip can reach the perma at the 2nd to reduce wear on fixed gear). |
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Matt Robinson did a great overview of the easier super-overhanging routes at the Red River Gorge! Most of the routes at the Red in those grades wouldn’t be very overhanging, more of a gentle 10-15 degree overhung. If you are willing to try gentle overhangs, I found a good number of really fun gently overhanging routes with big juggy holds in the 6b-6c range in Margalef and Montsant (Spain, Tarragona region), and also in Leonidio (Greece). Not much heelhooking there though… |
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Maple fits the bill also. |
seola lee wrote: |
Frank Stein wrote: El Rito too along the same lines |
Josh Z wrote: El Rito can be climbed out in a weekend by a competent 5.12 climber. Misja Pec next to Osp has some candidate routes if we are sticking to Europe. Rodeo (7a) in particular goes out the belly of the amphitheater. Also, the left side of Osp Cave proper has three fantastic routes that fit the bill at 7a, 7a+ and 7b+. |
Frank Stein wrote: Sure, but OP isn't a competent 5.12 climber, they're pushing 5.10d. Anyway, neither Maple or El Rito are in Europe. |
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I am quoting this to keep the thread more centered around Europe Lena chita wrote: |
