Erica Lineberry

    http://cragmama.com

    Erica is a mommy and a climber with a passion for getting outside and enjoying God's creation to the fullest! She's been climbing for almost 5 years, and a mommy for a little over 1. What Erica enjoys most about climbing is the many different styles. Since Cragbaby was born, she traded in those long multi-pitch days with pebble wrestling sessions with those crazy pad people...but if forced to choose just one type of climbing, she'd grab a set of draws and head for the nearest sport crag.

  • May 15, 2012, by » 1 Comment »

    The Smoooooth Quickdraw from TRANGO

    Trango has a new quickdraw called the “Smooth Quickdraw.”  To be honest, my initial thought was that their marketing department must not have been trying very hard. I mean, when you call something “smooth,” all you’re really saying is that said object has a continuous, even surface, free of bumps or ridges, right? If that’s our working definition, then every quickdraw I’ve ever owned would be considered “smooth.” It seemed like Trango’s naming system was similar to those people that name boulder problems based on some obvious, over-used characteristic (“The Arete,” “The Egg,”, or “Big Crack.”)  Descriptive, yes.  Creative, not so much.  But as we all know, first impressions don’t always stick. My old draws were in desperate need of replacing, Read More

  • Feb 6, 2012, by » 2 Comments »

    Gear Review: Misty Mountain Harness

    A couple of months ago I was contacted by Mike Grimm, owner of Misty Mountain Threadworks.  He asked if he could make me a harness, and after hemming and hawing for a while, I told him I’d have to think about it…Just kidding, of course I jumped on the offer!  Misty Mountain is a well-respected local company that has been around for quite a while.  They have a reputation for not only developing superior products, but also for a committment to sustainability and reducing their carbon footprint. After a few emails back and forth followed by some detailed instructions regarding a measuring tape, I had a chance to try out my new rig the week before Christmas, on my first Read More

  • Jan 11, 2012, by » 4 Comments »

    Hit List for 2012

    Although a large part of what makes crag days special involves the amazing people I’m with and the spectacular setting we’re in, another big part of it for me is the personal satisfaction that comes from working towards and achieving goals that I’ve set for myself.  Sometimes those goals revolve around specific routes, grades, and/or areas, and other times they are more vague (ie, getting better at _______ technique).  Other times they are things that are personally applicable to me in my current life phase.  For example, during my pregnancy I challenged myself to see how many weeks into my pregnancy I could still “toprope send” 5.11, but during the first few months of Cragbaby’s life, my goal was simply Read More

  • Nov 17, 2011, by » 1 Comment »

    Dave the Dude, 5.11d (from the Perspective of a Dudette)

    While every climbing trip we take involves fun and uniqeness, not every trip contains a moment like this one.  It’s 5 days later as I write this and my heart still skips a beat when I think about this line.  When I first sat down to write up my trip report from last week’s trip to the Red, I knew Dave the Dude deserved way more love than a brief mention in a weekend recap, so I decided to memorialize it as a Classic Climb. Just like the old adage that says you can’t judge a book by its cover, you can’t always tell how good a route is at first glance.  Sometimes a simple, uninteresting face can provide exceptional Read More

  • Nov 9, 2011, by » No comments yet

    Guidebook Workday at Moore’s Wall

    While admittedly that title might be a little extreme, the Moore’s Wall Guidebook Photo Extravaganza certainly did not go as planned. The original plan was to meet up with my favorite photographer, Manuela, on Thursday morning at Moore’s Wall. Our goal was to photograph as much of the cliffline as we could and spend the night with family in Winston-Salem, so that we could not only wrap up route photos on Friday, but also walk the cliff with Carolina Climbers Coalition president Scott Gilliam so that he could show us some undocumented lines. Our plans started unraveling long about Wednesday however, when Friday’s precipitation forecast skyrocketed from 20% to a whopping 90%. Add in a late start Thursday morning, (FYI Read More

  • Oct 28, 2011, by » No comments yet

    Rocktober at the New River Gorge

    After a small string of crappy weather trips a few weekends back, I was starting to think our rain curse was back…but au contraire!  Despite both nights plummeting to a frosty 35 degrees, the daytime temps went from frigid to an ideal 60 degrees within a couple of hours of the sun rise, much to everyone’s delight.  Although we had a pretty big crew with a wide range of skill levels represented, I think everyone managed to get their fair share of pump and exposure, along with a healthy dose of fall color. We spent Saturday at Endless Wall, which is probably my favorite place to climb at the New River Gorge.  An even mix of both sport and trad, the nearly Read More

  • Oct 4, 2011, by » No comments yet

    Petzl’s Giving Away a FREE Helmet!

    Did that headline get your attention?  I hope so, because your chances are pretty good and eligibility is as easy as the head cheerleader.  This month I’m participating in the launch of Petzl’s Helmet Campaign over on Cragmama, my personal blog.  All you have to do is go over to my site, read my post about helmets, and then add a thoughtful comment (why/why not/when you do/when you don’t) to the discussion at the bottom of the post.  By posting a comment, you are automatically entered into the random drawing for a Petzl Elios or Elia (winner’s choice) helmet, which will take place this Friday afternoon.  So if you want a chance to win a sweet hard hat with very Read More

  • Sep 28, 2011, by » 2 Comments »

    In Celebration of a Comeback

    Our climbing escapades this past weekend were a little different than most. We headed north to Pilot Mountain, with the intention of getting on some lesser travelled routes for guidebook research, but most importantly to support a good friend celebrating a physical and mental comeback from injury. So instead of a typical trip report I decided to post an interview instead. Although today’s interview is not about a fellow Cragmama, keep reading and I promise you won’t be disappointed. I first met Bennett Harris in January on a day trip excursion to the Asheboro boulderfield in central NC. Of course I knew who he was before that though…the NC climbing community can be a pretty tight knit group, and when Read More

  • Aug 31, 2011, by » No comments yet

    From Gym Rats to Rock Hounds…

    It seems like a lot of our climbing recently has revolved around projecting some harder stuff, so it was nice to take a step back for a day with some local craggin’ on more moderate terrain with a couple of gym rats. The forecast was for temps in the mid-90′s, but with Hurricane Irene baring down on the east coast, it also called for lots of cloud cover and 25 mph gusty winds, which we figured would neutralize the heat a bit. Considering what folks just a few hours east of us at the coast were (and still are) dealing with at the time, I certainly don’t want to complain, but I will say that the 2 clouds I saw Read More

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