This guide is to answer common questions and assist new members and prospective members. It assumes you are a climber, probably with little experience but maybe a lot. You’ve heard of our group, maybe attended an event, and you want to join and go climbing. How does it work? Do you need gear? What do you need to know? Will anybody climb with you? Read on and find out.
We do a lot of things.
First, you join the club, pay dues, and sign a waiver. Then you look at the calendar, emails, and meetup announcements. When you see something announced you signup, or you just show up, depending on the trip. Some trips are suitable for almost anybody, some are not. Here is a quick guide.
There are a lot of different trips to different places, and it varies a lot. Here is a quick guide. Our "beta" section on the this website has a lot more information about some of these locations.
Yeah, we do that, too. Locally the pickings are thin, but they do exist. As far as this goes you’ll find a couple of things.
If you want instruction by people who are professionally qualified to provide it, we can recommend the guide services out at Seneca, and some local folks (REI, Earthtreks, etc.). If you want to learn by doing from people with lots of experience and minimal professional qualifications, there are lots of people in the club. If your belaying skills are solid, you keep the rope untangled on the ledges, and there is a cooler of beer in your car you can probably find somebody who needs a second.
More seriously, the club does run some educational events. We usually have a New Follower’s Day (or Weekend) for people who are breaking into following multi-pitch trad. We usually have a New Leader’s Day for beginning trad leaders. There are a couple of other events with an orientation toward taking beginners out for multi-pitch. Feel free to suggest topics. Feel even more free to figure out who could teach the topic, plan the event, and set up the logistics.
We are not going to provide a complete gear list for all occasions, because there is a lot of variety around here, but here are some quick guidelines:
For Carderock: Harness, climbing shoes, and a belay device. In the summer bring some water, sunscreen, and bug spray. In the winter bring a jacket.
For places like Little Stony Man, Buzzards, other small crags: Shoes and a pack to hike in to the place, climbing shoes, harness, helmet, belay device, nut tool, clothes for the weather, water, lunch.
Seneca Rocks: If you are seconding, clothes and approach shoes for the hike in, climbing shoes, harness, helmet, belay device, a couple of locking carabiners, a couple of long slings, a prussik loop, small pack, water, food. If you are leading you’ll need a full rack and two cordelettes. There are very few sport climbs and most anchors have to be built from gear.
Here is a quick guide to popular areas. You can read more about these in our "beta" section of the web site.
Carderock (Maryland): The ever popular afterwork spot. The approach is less than five minutes from the parking lot. There is one line of cliffs, about 40 feet high. Yeah, it can be pretty hot and greasy in the summer, and it faces west, which isn’t exactly great for the afternoon in the summer, but it sure is convenient. There are climbs every few feet of the cliff. Essentially everything is top roped.
Great Falls (Virginia): Right across the river from Carderock. The cliffs of Great Falls are much more spread out. Some of them take up to 15 minutes or so to hike to, and you have to approach from the top. The variety here is a little greater than at Carderock with a number of good crack climbs mixed in. Access is a little harder, since it is down a twisty road in Northern Virginia and inside Great Falls National Park. A few people lead here, but it is not recommended (the rock is too soft and does not reliably hold gear). Everything can be top roped.
Buzzard’s Rock: Near Elizabeth Furnace, outside of Front Royal, VA. A broken cliff line a few hundred yards long and up to 100 feet high. Mostly slabby friction climbing in the 5.6-5.8 range, with a few harder and easier climbs, some requiring gear to protect mixed in. People mostly lead the routes at Buzzards, but they can mostly be top roped. The approach is a longer hike (45 minutes to an hour), but quite nice.
Crescent Rock, VA/WV border: Easy approach, if you snag one of the few good parking spaces, off the Appalachian Trail. Otherwise a solid walk in. Can do leading but everything can be top roped.
Seneca Rocks, WV: The best multi-pitch traditional climbing reasonably near to the DC area. Takes around 3 hours from DC. The approach is the infamous “Stairmaster” trail. Climbs are 1 to 3 pitches, and going to the south summit (the highest class 5 summit east of the Mississippi) is very popular. Many routes are mandatory multiple rappels off. Seneca has a well-deserved reputation for hard grades, steepness, and some loose rock, but also great views (especially in the fall) and a fun climbing community.
Old Rag, VA: A very complex set of granite cliffs around Old Rag Mountain. This is very unusual for the area, and one of the few places around to practice on granite (very useful if you plan to climb out west). The approach is long (usually two hours) and it is very helpful to have somebody along who has been before. Some of the best crack climbs in the area are at Old Rag. A mix of one and two pitch traditional routes.
New River Gorge: More than a 1000 routes on multiple cliffs above the New River. Most people stay around Fayetteville, WV and drive and hike to the cliffs. Exceptional, world famous climbing. The cliffs are mostly one pitch, and most climbs can be top roped, but it is not really a beginners area. The quality climbs mostly start at 5.9 and go up from there. Quite a few excellent crack climbs.
Little Stony Man, VA: A five minute walk off of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. Very scenic. The cliff is around 50 feet high. Everything could be top roped, but the Appalachian Trail is right at the top of the cliff and the configuration makes it hard to rig top rope anchors (don’t put ropes over the trail). As a result the area is more for leading. The routes are mostly pretty easy (5.4 to 5.7), but because of the rock and the layout it is a poor place to take leader falls.
Sugarloaf (Maryland): Multiple groups of cliffs on a hill. Wide variety of short climbs. Pretty much anything can be top roped (if you can find an anchor). Lots of leading. Mostly easier routes, but there are some hard ones as well.
Pond Bank (also called White Rocks): In Pennsylvania, so it’s a long drive from Virginia but a much easier drive if you live in the 270 corridor in Maryland. Once you get up there the approach is really short. A variety of mostly easier climbs. An unusual number of crack climbs, for the area.