Fox Mountain Guides reports some ice coming in around the area…Hwy 215, Whitesides and Linville Gorge…all are seeing some extended cold…

From www.foxmountainguides.com on January 21st:

Karsten Delap Reports: At Hwy 215 today the ice was the best it has been. The high got to around 30 while we were up there. I think the next few days will be great even though temps are rising a little the rock has had time to cool. Daniel Counsel Reports: John’s Rock was still running with water (Ripp Off). Josh Whitmore Reports: Led Starshine at Whitesides today early. Good ice top to bottom. 16cm screws going all the way in. Steep section on 2nd pitch very drippy, with 2-3 inches of that fine little wet icicle crap on the surface. Had to chop through to more solid ice underneath. Passed another party as we were on our way out (they were on their way to Starshine) and saw another party in the parking lot who had been climbing the gullies above the main Whitesides trail. Stuff will probably be good thru tomorrow but warmer temps expected on Wed. I went down to Linville Gorge with Kyle, parked at the bottom of the hill and hiked into the Amphitheater. Even though the temps were around 13° and went down to 4° on the drive over RT 181 there was not much ice to speak of, very wet and partly formed at the back of the Amphitheater. Climbed out the Prow and found a nice 50ft overhanging mixed section at the top and left of The Prow. A good morning but as Kyle put it “basically we drove and hiked all the way out here to climb The Prow on the coldest day of the year!“

2008 Peregrine Falcon Closures

The long anticipated Rumbling Bald Guide is here!

Everything you want in a guide…route beta, photo/topos, maps…etc. Author Chris Dorrity has taken his time and produced a must have resource for The Bald…

Thanks to the Carolina Climbers Coalition for tireless work in securing access to this classic bouldering area.

to donate: www.carolinaclimbers.org

Run in the Smokies

Chris Brown and I decided to find a “back way” into the Smokies this weekend. After staying the night at a family cabin in Maggie Valley, we drove up some of the new development roads west of the Cataloochee ski area…and hit a gate on an unmarked dirt road far below our goal…Not to be deterred, we parked and started running up in hopes of finding a connecting trail into the park…After about an hour, a few wrong turns and an extra 1500 feet of climbing, we found the park border and the Hemhill Bald Trail…The original plan was a long loop encompassing the Rough Fork Trail…But, with wives and kids waiting at home, we settled for a 3 hour out and back over Hemphill Bald and past Calswell Fork & McKee Branch…Fun day in the hills though…Click the pic for a short slideshow…

Not too many things go so well together!

King of the Road Cycle Tours, based out of the mountains of Asheville NC, features personalized and intimate bike tours of the British Isles…

There is likely no better way to see the Emerald Isle…homeland to the great Sean Kelly…than from the saddle of a bike…with a pint of stout waiting for you at road’s end…

Check out www.kingoftheroadbiketours.com