What’s it like to be a rope gun (aka the strongest climber in your climbing crew)? I never knew until one rock climbing trip where I got to see what it feels like to be a rope gun. It never would have happened if I hadn’t left my fiancé behind.
Now my fiancé and I go on at least a dozen New River Gorge climbing trips a year. This rock climbing trip is so familiar, you would think I’m well-versed in all things climbing NRG. And I am, kind of. For instance, I am a take-charge kind of gal when it comes to finding coffee, a beer, burger, burrito, pizza or ice cream in Fayetteville, WV. All the “après-climbing” activities.
However, I couldn’t tell you where to park or how to find Endless Wall (possibly the most iconic climbing area at the New). When it comes to the non-eating and drinking part of a climbing trip, I’m not super independent. I’ll bet I’m not the only climber like this, who’s always been dependent on others to navigate trips!
Happily, this all changed July 2020, but we’re not quite to that part of the story yet.
To all the rope guns out there: Thank You!
During rock climbing trips I always depended on my fiancé and our few friends who know the New River Gorge really well. I never had to pick an area, find the right parking lot, navigate the trails to the crag, pick warm up climbs, figure out what climb is what on a wall — and I only rarely set up climbs!
Seeing this in writing, I feel like a bit of a wuss. However, in my defense, our friends are super knowledgeable about the New! Plus, I do contribute in the form of cleaning routes, even the ones that suck to clean. I will get your gear.
Anyway, metaphorically and literally, I rode shotgun on rock climbing trips. Consequently, I learned little. I mean, I tried to learn some, but I’m being real here. Maybe it’s just me, but I bet some of you can relate to just being along on climbing trips?
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Rock Climbing Trip Sans Rope Guns. Is that possible?!
Then along comes one of my best friends, Michelle. Michelle and I have an introvert/extrovert kind of relationship. Back in 2014, she, the extrovert, saw in me the potential for a great climbing buddy and adopted me. I, the introvert, was happy to be adopted. The rest is history.
Jump to July 2020. Michelle had been quarantining for the past 115+ days with her husband and 3-year-old son. She needed to climb some rocks and to flex her extrovert muscle, which had begun to slowly drive her mad. She tells me she’s going to the New, and I ask if I can join her.
Now July in West Virginia doesn’t exactly spell sending temps, so my fiancé was definitely not interested in going with us. I didn’t really care about sending, honestly. I just wanted to go and climb real rock.
So, we loaded up my Element and hit the road! Me, on a climbing trip. Sans rope gun! Sans fiancé!
CLIMBING GUIDE TO SENECA ROCKS, WEST VIRGINIA
Of course it’s possible
The whole trip felt different, starting with the 7 hour car ride from Delaware to West Virginia. It was empowering to get behind the steering wheel and drive away without my rope gun, the number one person to whom I looked for security. I drove for s-e-v-e-n-h-o-u-r-s and didn’t get tired once. The difference was real.
We climbed for 3 days. It was no send fest. We’re talking the “117th of March”, 2020; no one is sending anything hard. But for me, I took on the roles in a climbing trip I never had before. I picked climbing areas, found parking lots, navigated trails, deciphered what is what on the walls, and hung more draws. I did it all!
Of course, none of these are difficult things to do. But when you usually climb with rope guns who’ve been to a climbing area 4 times as often, they tend to have the details already worked out.
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You can plan a rock climbing trip without a rope gun
So, the main moral of the story is to put yourself in new situations. Which is really what climbing is all about anyway. Recognizing what you can gain from enduring some time outside of your comfort zone and going after it is the heart of climbing. For me on this trip, the new situation was leaving the comfort zone of my knowledgeable-rope-gun-fiancé for a climbing trip. I learned that I, too, could be a rope gun.
Picking areas, navigating trails, and whatnot are all things I was 100% capable of doing; I had just never actually done them. The independence felt good, and it definitely carried over into our fall climbing season. I actually planned out climbs I wanted to get on and proposed some walls to go to, rather than just seeing what area we ended up at.
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Rock climbing trips strictly for fun are awesome
The second moral of the story is related to the actual reason we wanted to go to the New. Aside from just wanting to get out of the house after 117 days of quarantine, Michelle and I wanted to do some easy climbing and feel some real rock. We wanted to conquer a little fear on the sharp end of the rope.
Usually when we go on rock climbing trips the question is: What hard climb are you going to send? What is the newest project? This trip was different. We didn’t even get on anything harder than a 10b. We hung up 6s, 7s, 8s. All low key climbing.100% just for funsies, and it was awesome.
I’m looking forward to another summer of “just for fun” New River Gorge rock climbing trip this year. To feel the rock again, get some mileage, ignore hard climbs, and clip a bunch of draws. Really, I think this low key trip was good for my climbing. It got my head in shape for my fall projects. What climber can’t benefit from some outdoor mileage to get their head in shape?
In short, for your next rock climbing trip consider venturing out without the security of your rope gun and just go climb.
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About the Author
Amanda Smith lives in Delaware, the climbing mecca of the mid-Atlantic. Lucky for her, she also surfs and snowboards. She believes that age shouldn’t be a barrier to learning and enjoying rad sports out in nature and loves seeing older athletes, especially women, outside. In May 2020, she began her own blog, FairlyExtreme, as a quarantine project and writes about everything from healthy recipe hacks to monthly updates on her goal of climbing 5.12 before turning 40. Professionally, she has been a high school English teacher for 14 years.
