And Then There Were None

I've borrowed the title for this post from Agatha Christie's great book of the same name (or Ten Little Indians, depending on which edition you read).  The title refers to my completion of a long time goal, redpointing all of the routes on the Undertow Wall at the Motherlode in the Red River Gorge.  This was one of the year's goals that I described here and I'm pleased to get it done this early in the season.


The Undertow is perhaps my favorite chunk of rock to climb on, anywhere in the world.  Ranging from 50 to 90 feet tall and from slightly overhanging to pretty darn steep, it's packed with great lines and I've enjoyed many days climbing there.  The climbing style is endurance oriented with a wide variety of holds: jugs, pinches, pockets, slopers, and lots of the Undertow Special: open handed mini-jugs.

The Left Side of the Undertow and the Madness Cave Farther Left

Is sending all the routes on the Undertow a big deal?  Not really.  Lots of people have done it before, most in a lot shorter time than it took me.  I've heard that the wall has been done in a day, an impressive feat of endurance that would be pretty darn impressive to watch.

For me, this was a personal goal, showing progression physically and mentally as a rock climber.  Looking back with 20/20 hindsight, I was definitely a gumbie on my first trip to the Red.  That was more than 10 years ago and I remember hiking in to the Motherlode just to gawk at all the steep routes.  They represented a level of climbing that was then inconceivable.  Over many years and many trips to the Red, I slowly gained strength and endurance and was able to climb the easy routes at the 'Lode.  Then I was on to the next level, projecting Resurrection (12c) over many goes.  A few more years of climbing and more specific training yielded better results and quicker ascents.  My last two routes were ones that I had avoided, Team Wilson (12d) and Convicted (13a).  Team Wilson consists of amazing endurance climbing with few rests and is often considered the hardest 12d in the Red.  Convicted, the last on the wall for me, is quite the opposite, featuring more bouldery climbing and good rests.  Both are amazing.

I have to admit that finishing Convicted was bittersweet.  On one hand a major goal, years in the making, was complete.  On the other hand I no longer have any projects on my favorite wall.  The next step is to move left into the Madness Cave where several hard routes lurk.  I'm sure these will keep my occupied for a long time to come.

The Undertow Breakdown:
13a: 3
12d: 7
12c: 1
12b: 5
12a: 3
11d: 2


My favorites on the wall:
Convicted (13a)  Very cool bouldery climbing with all manner of holds.
Team Wilson (12d)  The best endurance route I've ever done.
Tuna Town (12d)  Very easy for the grade but so fun.
Resurrection (12c) Fun power climbing down low with nice endurance climbing up high.

A Good Few Days

A quick glance at the calendar shows the Fall Equinox occurred on September 22, heralding in the autumn season.  Autumn, the time that all rock climbers eagerly await, bringing cool temperatures, low humidity, and hopefully big sends.  The weather apparently lost its calendar as the high on Sunday was 88 with a maximum humidity of 86%.  Maybe it's just being ready for the good weather but conditions lately haven't felt as bad as the numbers may have looked.  I've  managed to climb outside 3 days lately with some pretty good results. 

Theresa and I spent a nice weekend outside, climbing at a newer area that's not fully ready to be publicized near Chattanooga.  On Saturday I managed to climb a project that's probably about 13a and very, very good.  It was my goal of the trip and was psyched to get it done.  Stephen had bolted it last year and very graciously opened it up to the public.  His routes are almost universally good, he's got a great eye for quality and does a conscientious job equipping them.  Later in the day I also did an existing 12d, with the crux at the very end climbing on technical New River-ish stone.  This route was bolted by my friend Dave who originally showed my the area and is another of the classic routes at the crag.

A boring photo showing some of the wall

Another boring photo

We camped that night with the girls, enjoying sitting by the campfire, eating fajitas, and listening to football on the radio.  In the morning we had a very adult breakfast of Fruity Pebbles (with bananas!) and then packed up camp.  We headed back to the same crag and had another great, if less successful day.  I bit the bullet and went up a very dirty route, getting filthy but figuring out all the moves on another of the big routes on the main wall.  We capped the weekend off with a nice dinner at The Terminal Brewhouse in Chattanooga.  The Terminal has good food and brews good beer and is easy to get to if you're traveling through on I-24.