Ah, the New River Gorge... Thank God I forgot my rain jacket, I would have had no use for the porch roof I snapped this photo from. I finished a 6mile trail run just before the heavens dumped their day ending contents. Classic weather for the Rendezvous, or that is what I was told. This was the first year that I attended. What a show! I have never really been to anything like the Rendezvous. In its 10th year now, the NRR is a hybrid comp, fundraiser, festival style event that raises money for NRAC. This year was capped at 600ish participants or something and spaces filled up fast.
I got into town tuesday prior to the event and managed to do a little boulder climbing before dark. Man was it hot but still climbable. I didnt really climb much after that. I wanted to be fresh for the event on saturday. My personal goal was to compete in the Sport and Boulder comp. It turned out that most of the boulders were wet when saturday rolled around and I managed to squander all morning away by looking for dry boulders. Everywhere I went was wet except two lines at Fayetstation and the Hawks nest boulders. sooooo, I ended up climbing at the nest for the afternoon and didnt have a chance to compete in the sport comp. Logistical failure but I had a lot of fun. I apologize for not having all the results for mens and woman but here is what I know went down in the Mens open categories, Matt Wilder won the Open Trad category, Nick Duttle won the Open Sport category and I won Open Boulder category.. Later at the Petzl and Five Ten booths we managed to have a strong showing for the Shake weight comp which combined skill and prowess to determine who would walk away with a new grigri or pair of shoes.. In the end two victors arose managing to take their spoils but not before chugging two full beers.
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| photo: Greg Kerzhner, The Crouch |
After the event was over Sunday, I decided to stay for an additional week to do a little sport climbing as the first week of my trip was spent working or bouldering. The weather went from bad to great over a two day period with jacket weather dominating the weekend after the Vous. My main objective was volume and to fire the Crouch. The Crouch (seen on the cover of Mikey's Guide) was an old Doug Reed project that Chris Linder did a few years ago. The route revolves around two huge dynos. The first dyno to a bad sloper and the second, a giant dyno to a jug... Well if you are short its a dyno. I was told by a disproportionately oversized Mikey Williams that he can just stand up.. Gross! I am glad I am not that tall. Anyways, It hasn't seen many ascents.. maybe less than 5?? for good reason. Its really low percentage moves make it a mental challenge more than anything else. I spent a few short sessions on it before it went. Its for sure one of the best, really fun dynamic climbing. Beyond that one line I really just wanted to see more, so thats what I did. The New has so much rock its hard to see every area and try all the classics. I plan on changing that this fall / winter.
So, I am back in MD for a minute getting ready to head west for the summer. Psyched to get fit in CO!!
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