|
WILD GUYde Adventures, LLC
1047 Stuart St.
Harrisonburg, VA
22802
(540)
433-1637
lester@wildguyde.com
|
Rock
Climbing and Rappelling Adventures
“Summits
are a place between heaven and earth” (Gaston Rebuffat)
“From
death in the valleys, O deliver us, good Lord” (Vincent O’Conner)
Top-Roping at Hidden Rocks, Virginia: This is the rock climbing trip for the adventurous
beginner – you don’t have much experience, but you want a great outdoor day
with your family or special friends.
Thirty minutes west of Harrisonburg,
we’ll park just inside George
Washington National
Forest, gear up, and hike a scenic 20 minutes
through rhododendron and hemlocks and across some mountain streams to a
secluded sandstone cliff. There will
be pink and white mountain laurel in June, and wild huckleberries in
August. You’ll be introduced to
harnesses, knots, helmets, and the belay
system; then we’ll try some easy warm-up climbs to remind you that the
kid inside you still likes to clamber on things. We can go on to some harder climbing that
invites you to try new skills and movements.
And we’ll finish the day with a rappel – backing over the edge, with
nothing between you and the ground below but 60 feet of air and a great
view! Closer to Luray or Northern Virginia?
We’ll visit Waterfall
Mountain in the Massanutten
range, or Little Stoney Man on the
Blue Ridge for TALL climbing and spectacular Shenandoah
Valley panoramas!
 ($150 for 1-3
people; $35 for each additional)
 Beginner Climbing At Seneca Rocks, West
Virginia: After 90 minutes of
curving mountain highway (okay, country
two-lane), you’ll gasp to see a spectacular blade of Tuscarora Sandstone,
whose summit sits almost 1000 feet above its North Fork Valley floor. Seneca Rocks is a scenic place for the
beginner or family to learn the rock climbing basics, top-roping and
rappelling to an awesome West
Virginia backdrop.
Easy routes guarantee early success, but more challenging climbs also
wait to test your skills. Seneca Rocks
is an awesome place to climb, just beyond the sign that reads: “Here ends the realm of the hiker!”
($175 for 1-3 people; $35 for each additional)
Multi-Pitch at Seneca Rocks, WV: A little more experienced
in climbing? Maybe you tried it at
camp or the local rock gym? Ready for
the next step? Join me for the
multi-pitch experience, seconding the route as we lead-climb to the top of
the fabled South Summit! This is the only technical summit in the U.S. east of the Mississippi. Seneca has routes at all ranges of
difficulty, from starters like Old Ladies Route
(5.2) to mid-range classics (West Pole
5.7) to old school hardman routes like Crack
of Dawn and Madmen Only
(5.10). Every one of them will give
you a new appreciation for the expression “high and vertical.”
Register your accomplishment and ruminations in the summit journal,
wave to tourists way down in the valley, and then head down to terra firma via the three-pitch
rappel. Finish the day with a splash
in the North Fork River swimming hole at “Gravel
Beach”; then pick up a cold drink
and a West Virginia memento at Harpers
General Store before sleeping the ride back to Virginia and “the Burg.”
(1/2-day: $125 1st person; $95
each for 2nd and 3rd/ Full-day: $200 1st
person; $125 each addl.)
Instructional Climbing: This is a
tutorial for those who have a little exposure to climbing, and want to gain
eventual autonomy. Lots of instruction
in current best practice and hands-on practice for you in rigging top
anchors, belaying skills and equipment alternatives, movement coaching, and
rappel setup and protection. There
will be individualized attention and repetitive practice, as well as some
exploration of the historical evolution of climbing equipment and
protocol. You will finish the day with
a lot more confidence in your basic skills.
($125
1st person; $95 each for 2nd and 3rd)
Design Your Own Adventure: Numerous other options
exist, including hiking and climbing guiding along Virginia’s Blue Ridge,
rock climbing and the amazing Via
Ferrata at the Nelson Rock
Preserve (WV), group orienteering challenges in the National Forest, and
flatwater paddling instruction for beginners and children. We can customize to meet the interests of
your family, scout troop, or youth group.
Call to talk about your needs.
(540-433-1637 or Lester@wildguyde.com
).
“To
those who have struggled with them, the mountains reveal beauties that they
will not disclose to those who make no effort. That is the reward the mountains give to
effort. And it is because they have so
much to give and give it so lavishly to those who will wrestle with them that
men love the mountains, and go back to them again and again. The mountains reserve their choice gifts
for those who stand upon their summits.”
(Sir Francis Younghusband)
|
