I really had a great time up at Crowder's this Saturday! 5 of us went. The place is really different from the other 2 places I've climbed. Anchoring a top rope is easily accessible. The approaches weren't bad. There was fun scrambling on huge boulders there. The view there was great!
The main approach is a gravel road that leads you uphill to some wooden stairs. There's a ton of these stairs going up to the top! It was a great cardio work-out and a great work-out on my abs and quads on the way back down! :)There's nothing better than a true outdoors work-out!
Anyways, this place would be so cool just to hang out...even if you weren't a climber! Romantic too...you could have a nice picnic date on top of all the huge boulders there! I really liked it a lot.
After scrambling around, you can easily go ahead and get your top ropes hung, etc. This place is really great for top roping. There were sport climbs there too...a lot of bolts. The view in this pic is amazing...you can see Charlotte, NC off in the distance.
The group that went to Crowder's consisted of me and my new friend, Mark; Louie; Dana and Brian. I met Dana, Brian and Louie from the climbing gym here in Columbia. I climbed with Mark at Looking Glass the other weekend.
It was a good group. I really had a good time with all these folks. :)
I don't climb as hard as they do though, and I got scared on one of the routes...:(
My first route was a 5.5 called The Nose at David's Castle.
It was a fun climb. A lot of the beginner walls 5.7 to 5.8 were taken. Crowder's is called Crowder's for a reason! haha Anyways, this wall was kinda hard actually. It had a tough spot on it. No falls on this one! Yay! But still, I find it strange when i get out of the gym...
A lot of the climbs were tough climbs...out of my league. I just watched them climb most of the day and took some pics. I still learned a lot though by watching. I got to belay some too, so that helped me out a lot!!! :)
Anyways, I had a great time and I learned a lot. It was cool just hanging out with climbers! hehe We went out for mexican afterwards too! Yum! We talked for a long time just getting to know each other, etc. It was a pretty cool day, and it was awesome to meet and hang with some really nice folks too.
By the way, I love Mark's dog! He is so cool!
I don't really feel good about my climbing on Saturday. I was a wimp and came down from that 5.9. I could've done better! I should feel good that I tried a 5.9, but I don't know...I was afraid to go for the hand-hold I wanted b/c I was afraid to fall.
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