Here’s a guest post from Erin Yakim at Hard Rock Climbing, our climbing partners over in Fayetteville:
Can I just tell you how excited I am about the summer? We’re getting ready to put the pontoon boat on the lake and I can hardly wait. We usually have a fist fight as to who gets to take the first climbing trips out on Summersville Lake.
That’s right- I said get the boat ready for climbing. This isn’t your typical climbing trip.
This one is special (well, at least worth getting into a fist fight over). We start out at 9:00 am picking up our guests and making our way north on US-19. There, we load up the boat with climbing gear, swimming gear, suntan lotion, food, and us. All the makings for a perfect day.
The water is beautiful and clear at Summersville Lake (aka The Little Bahamas of the East). After we boat our way to the first set of cliffs, the guides set the pontoon up so that we are able to climb directly out of the boat on to the rocks. Cool, huh?
A top rope anchor is used to protect the climber as they ascend the rock. As they climb, the slack is taken out of the rope, so that if they happen to let go or fall, well, they actually won’t fall at all; they’ll be held up by the rope. The views from up top are incredible!
There is no soloing (climbing without a rope) when climbing above the boat. However, later in the day, there are chances for swimming and water bouldering, and climbing out of the water directly onto the rocks. The Army Corps of Engineers has prohibited diving or jumping from the cliffs into the water, so we advise down climbing. Oh, and we know some oh-so-scenic spots for lunch, too.
We travel to several different climbing sites through out the day. Some cliffs are 35 ft tall and others maybe as high as 70-80. The difficulty of the routes varies from place to place, but there is something for everyone.
We take people climbing that are absolute beginners. We take people that had climbed for years and want to expand their knowledge. We take everyone in between, too. We have had families, school groups, boy scouts and team building groups that absolutely love this trip. This is a trip that’s appropriate for kids as young as 6, and people as old as, well, me.
Who doesn’t love being chauffeured around one the state’s most beautiful lakes? You get to climb up high above the water, knowing that there only a few people who actually get to experience this! Awesome.
Tags: Adventure Vacations, boating vacations, climbing vacations, Fun and Adventure in West Virginia, lake vacations, pontoon boats, rock climbing, safety, Songer Whitewater, vacation ideas, West Virginia Vacations