I heard some rumors about the ice climbing at the New River Gorge, but hadn’t had a chance to actually get up there this winter. With the arrival of March and the warmer weather, it looks like I’ll have to wait until next season to get some ice climbing in locally.
It’s really not that hard to figure out which areas at the New to explore to find possible ice climbing though. If you climb there enough, you’re quite familiar with the various small waterfalls and areas that stay perpetually wet from drippage. All make excellent potential ice climbing areas.
I saw an article in the Charleston Gazette with some great pictures of the ice climbing this past season at the New.
This February provided a string of subzero mornings followed by afternoons in which temperatures failed to venture above the freezing point, making small watercourses plunging into the New River Gorge and the cliffs surrounding nearby Summersville Lake solid enough to climb.
Ah, next year I’ll unpack my ice tools, screws, and crampons…
Technorati Tags: climbing, ice climbing, west virginia
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Awesome photo. Ice climbing looks like it would be a lot of fun. I have done a little bit of rock climbing, but climbing is something I would love to do more of. Thanks for keeping me updated!