• Shortoff

    7 Comments »Posted in Random by Feb 22, 2011

    Christian pulling the second pitch roof on the Shortoff route "Dancing Outlaw" (5.10+).

    Getting ready to plug a nice horizontal cam.

    After the second pitch hero-roof.

    Another shot, just past the second pitch overhang.

    We had a fantastic day at Shortoff, on two top-notch routes. The weather was bright and gusty, and very cool in the shade. I redeemed myself on one older route, finishing something I had merely assisted before I knew sticky rubber from tooth paste. Then I was kindly shown the way on what’s surely one of the most worthwhile face routes around. My toes were screaming from all the thin face. What a pleasure.

    Burnt to a crisp, the ridges leading up to Shortoff look almost meadowed, with some sort of tall yellow grass. It’s kind of a curious sight.

    Zachary Lesch-Huie

    Zachary lives and works in Boone, North Carolina. Bad or good, rock climbing’s his most entrenched habit. Frankly there’s nothing he’d rather be doing. Fortunately climbing helps him meet great new people, and spend wonderful quality time with his soon-to-be wife. Without climbing, and the wonderful and weird people of the climbing world, he might be a loathsome hermit. When Zachary’s not able to climb, he distracts himself with work, swimming holes, and climbing media of various sorts, including this blog site.

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Discussion 7 Responses

  1. Matt Paden
    February 23, 2011 at 8:12 am

    Damn, Dancing Outlaw looks amazing. I can’t believe I’ve never been to Shortoff. I need to put my boulder shoes on the shelf some weekend and hike my ass up there! That day looked kinda cold tho…

    Reply
    • Zachary Lesch-Huie
      February 23, 2011 at 10:27 am

      It’s a good route, one among many out there. Yeah, it was surprisingly cold in the shade that day. In the sun though it was blazing. Normally it’s good to take advantage of the shade there, in the morning.

      Reply
  2. Redonkulous
    February 24, 2011 at 12:34 pm

    J’aime le rock du sud d’escalade. Vous êtes tous les hommes heureux!

    Reply
  3. Jacob Cioffoletti
    March 5, 2011 at 7:06 pm

    I just thought I should tell you that I was on mountain project the other day and had seen that ShortOff is closed to climbing because of the Peregrine Falcons.

    http://mountainproject.com/v/north_carolina/linville_gorge/shortoff_mountain/105940150

    Reply
  4. Zachary Lesch-Huie
    March 5, 2011 at 8:58 pm

    Jacob,

    Thanks for checking out the blog! Hope you’ve been getting some climbing in lately.

    Thanks for the heads-up about the peregrines. However, when they close Shortoff (and other NC cliffs) it doesn’t necessarily mean the entire cliff is closed, but just a section of the cliff. So, a portion of Shortoff is closed due to peregrines, but not all of Shortoff. Specifically the closure is at the right/south end of the cliff. Check this out: http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5188454.pdf and this one, http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5259380.pdf
    Zachary

    Reply
  5. Jamie Ervin
    March 16, 2011 at 11:37 am

    Zach,
    Thanks for posting these pictures! Joe Lovenshimer and I went and did this route last week and had a blast. I’ve been really psyched on getting back to Shortoff ever since. That second pitch is wild. Did y’all find the piton on the first ascent? How do you feel about the likeliness that it would hold a fall from the roof moves?
    Hope your doing well and hope to run into you around Boone sometime this Spring,
    -Jamie

    Reply
  6. Zachary Lesch-Huie
    March 16, 2011 at 1:36 pm

    Jamie, Hey man good to hear from you. Glad y’all had a nice time on the route. That first pitch about whipped me the other day; that second pitch roof was fun though. About the piton, I wasn’t there when Joe Lackey hammered that thing in there while finishing up the first ascent (he didn’t find it there though–he pounded it in for protection). I had mostly been Joe’s belayer-apprentice, only helping hammer one bolt in on the first pitch, then watching him skillfully free climb between hook hand-drill stances for the rest of the time. Joe L. came back with Ron another day to finish the thing up. Anyway, the piton’s bomber. It’d hold a fall from the roof, and a fall from even higher up–but I guess you’d have to just jump off to find out for sure. I thought there was plenty of protection around and nearby though. 

    Might see you out there sometime soon Jamie. Happy climbing.

    Reply

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