Bouldering In The Red River Gorge

Bouldering In The Red River Gorge

by Chris Chaney

Publication Date: October 1999

The Red River Gorge...I know what you're thinking. Steep sandstone, forearms failing, big air, aggro sheen, and curiously friendly natives. Well, now you can add a growing bouldering scene to that list.

For years the boulders in the Red have been mostly ignored as huge choss piles. The bouldering has been limited to traverses and eliminates near established climbing areas. In the last year or so, however, the locals in the Red have been discovering that underneath the choss are some real gems. Don't get me wrong, the good stuff is GOOD. There's just so much junk to wade through to locate the classics, that it takes quite a bit of determination to find, clean and spray about the bouldering here.

The winter of 1998 saw a marked increase in interest and development of bouldering in and around the Red. A few different groups of local climbers labored long and hard to find, clean and document close to 300 problems. Local boulderer Chris Redmond is currently working on a guidebook to a few of the better areas.

I've been bouldering for all of the five years that I've been climbing in the Red. The lack of partners and conflicting schedules of the few I could find made it hard for me to climb routes. I sought out bouldering to get better. I've traversed thousands of feet to get my fix but have been left a little unsatisfied and disappointed. With the discovery of the Emerald City boulders, The Junkyard, and further development of Tower Rock and Sky Bridge Ridge, I have found that the Red River Gorge does have good boulders. Everyone agrees that there are sure to be more out there waiting to be found. The winter of '00 is sure to be packed with more tales of hidden chunks of stone.

Chris Redmond's forthcoming guide will include the Cove (made famous by the blurb of Dave Hume's sandbag V10 in Climbing Magazine), The Junkyard, the Coffee Shop and a few other areas. I've chosen to describe here some of the more moderate (V0- to V4) areas that cater to the average climber. After all, there are more of us than there are Sharmas and Humes and Boone Speeds, and we all need easier routes to get better on anyway.

Emerald City has the best concentration of moderate boulders with easy access in the Red. Emerald City is a sport and trad crag along Hwy 11, between Miguel's Pizza and the ever popular Roadside Crag. From the Slade rest area (exit 33 Mountain Parkway), you drive 4.8 miles south on Hwy 11. There will be a grassy pull-off on the right just before a guardrail. Park in the grass and cross the road. There will be a steep trail just before the guardrail.

The map above gives you a general idea where everything is. Here's a route description boulder-by-boulder. All descriptions start at 12 O'Clock (north) on the boulder and continue clockwise around the boulder.

Toto Boulder

1-Toto V0- ** South face stemming problem. Beware the poison ivy! FA: C. Chaney

Witch's Castle (main boulder)

1- Stemulator V0 ** North face with right and left variations. FA: Unknown

2- Project ? *** Highball southeast arete

3- Knobs Etc. V0 ** Small boulder downhill to the southwest. Low angle arete. FA: C. Chaney

4- My Sexy Cranberry V0 *** Starts at the top of Knobs Etc. and tops out on main boulder. Very serious landing. FA: C. Chaney

5- Sonsphere V1 ** Locate a round iron oxide formation on the west face. Start directly under and climb through it. FA: Dustin Boyd

6- Green Piece V0- * Descent route for the boulder. FA: Unknown

Witch's Castle (Monkeys' Lair)

1- Iron Boy V0 ** This problem starts at the high end of the east face. Locate iron jug. FA: Unknown

2- Hollow Threat V4 ** Sit down start left of Iron Boy (separate problem). Angle right on sharp crimps to a fun top out. Bad landing. FA: Unknown

3- Traverse Problem ? ** Start left of Hollow Threat and traverse out prow. FA: Unknown

4- Jump Start ? *** Start on small boulder below the end of the prow and jump. FA: Unknown

5- Broomstick Cowboy ? ** This is the left hand prow on the south side of the boulder. FA: Unknown

Fictitious Egg Boulder

1- The Fictitious Egg V2 ** Very obvious trailside problem. Start on two small crimps and slap the sloped ledge. Mantel up without using the good hold out left. FA: C. Chaney

Wookie Boulder

1- Let the Wookie Win V1 *** Follow the trail toward Global Village and keep your eye out for this blocky traverse below the trail. Start on a sloped shelf left of the tree and traverse left to a contrived top out or step off in the trail. Classic! FA: C. Chaney

2- Damn Vandals V0 * Start on LTWW initial holds and climb straight up to the top.

Wolverine Boulder

1- Callandor V5 ** On the NE face of the pointed Wolverine Boulder is this desperate power problem. Locate the overhanging and sloped flake. Notice the lack of footholds. One move wonder to the casual top out. Let me know what you think about the grade on this one. FA: Tony Reynaldo

2- Wolverine V1 *** South face classic. Climb up the center of the boulder. FA:D. Boyd

Shelf Life Boulder

1- Shelf Life V0 (V0+) ** Find the big shelf on the north (uphill) side of the boulder. Traverse in from about the middle of the face and top out above the shelf. Originally done without the crimp just below the lip. FA: D. Boyd

2- Gotta Want It (Shelf Life Dyno) V2 ** Start at the left end of the shelf and dyno for an egg shaped hold at the top. FA: D. Boyd

Ripple Boulder

1- Ripple V0- * Looks like water ripples from top. Near the Bulge 5.12b FA:C Chaney

Yellow Brick Toad

1- Generic Layback V0 ** Lieback the right edge of the flake or climb it straight on. FA: Unknown

2- Futuroso Traverse ? ** Climb the previous problem and traverse the lip and top out at the left end of the boulder. Very bad landing. (undone?)

2- Futuroso (project) *** Up the center of the boulder. Let me dream...

3- Yellow Brick Toad V0+ *** Lieback up the left edge of the flake and top out. Feet on slab to the left. Variation: Vertigo Alliance V0+ Top out and balance along the top to the right side of the boulder. FA: C.Chaney

Black Magic Boulder

1- So What V0- * NW arete in corridor. Easy. FA: Unknown

2- Whisper V1 ** Contrived line up the center of the face of the boulder in the corridor. FA: C. Chaney

3- Gymkata V0 ** Stand on the ground in the corridor and get up to the summit holds on the boulder without using your hands before the jugs. Hint? Stem... FA:C.Chaney

4- Black Magic V0+ *** This is the striking arete closest to Yellow Brick Toad. Bad landing. FA: Unknown

5- Baby Steps V- Descent for boulder on backside. FA: Unknown

Solitaire Boulder

1- Constellation V0+ ** Locate the "frowning jug". Sit down start and figure out a way to the top. FA: C. Chaney

2- Solitaire V0 ** Sit down start on the left side of the boulder. Lieback the fin and top out the horseback arete. FA: C. Chaney

Skittles Boulder

1- Skittles V1 *** Across the trail and downhill a few yards is a steep arching face on the uphill side of a long boulder. Traverse right to left, the lip, starting and ending low (or topping out). FA: C. Chaney

2- Gimme One Reason V1 * This awkward problem is on the opposite end of the boulder from Skittles. Persevere through the top out. FA: C. Chaney

West Kansas Boulder

1- West Kansas V0+ * Small boulder to the west of Toto Boulder with one problem. FA: C. Chaney

Misc

1- Ain't Skeered V0 *** Near Friable 5.9R. Obtuse featured arete. Terminal landing. Traverse off right. FA: C. Chaney

2- Remorseful Arete V0- ** Right of Ain't Skeered. Blunt highball arete with a very round hueco 2/3 of the way up. Beware! You must downclimb to get down. FA: Unknown

3-The Other Steve's Traverse ? ** Left to right highball traverse between YBR and the Shining. FA: Steve Smith

4- Steve's Traverse ? ** Traverse left from the corner to the Shining. FA: Steve Freas

5- Super Steve Traverse (project) ** Traverse from the corner to the left of the Shining all the way to Yellow Brick Road. FA: Some Steve will come along and do it.

We've guessed at some of the grades though a few are confirmed. The history of the routes with question marks is unknown to me. I'm trying to find others that have been involved in developing Emerald City. If you have any route information, please contact me.

All the route names are of my own choosing. Where the history is unknown, I've just filled in my own names. I apologize to anyone that has FAed any of these routes.

Check out Global Village under the new sport route (Eureka 5.6) if you're spending the day bouldering. Near Emerald City are two satellite areas: West Kansas and Sinking Fork. Both have a handful of established problems (V0- up to V4) with potential for more. They're on the opposite side of Middle Fork Valley from EC.

Torrent Falls is a great area for bouldering. The 5.11 wall has some problems at its base. Most notable is the dyno problem Flight Simulator V0+ under the bolted route Recoil. The ledge under Seek the Truth has a few three star problems including a great V3 traverse called So Long And Thanks For All The Fish.

Keep your eyes open for Chris Redmond's bouldering guide that should be out soon.

Let me know if you find anything else in the area you'd like to share, or if you'd like more info on bouldering in the Red River Gorge. You can contact me at (606)663-9701 (work) or (606)663-5966 (home) or by e-mail: headstonesurfer@yahoo.com