Need incentive to visit a spanking new climbing gym? Try this: If you’re, say, a 5.7, 5.8 climber, there’s a good chance you could send a 5.9 on a freshly minuted climbing wall.
“I came in and did two 5.9s,” Raleigh climber Phil Gruber said of his first visit to the Triangle Rock Club’s just-opened gym in North Raleigh. “In a row,” he was quick to add. “I’ve never done that. And I talked to a guy who did three 5.11s.”
“The grades are a little soft,” TRC Managing Partner Joel Graybeal said during a climbing session this morning.
Today was my first attempt at the wall, and I wouldn’t say the routes are easier — they’re set by chief TRC routsetter Scott Gilliam and his crew, the same group responsible for routes in TRC’s flagship Morrisville gym. The difference: the holds are all new and exceptionally grippy. Thousands of hands have yet to act as the indoor equivalent of wind and rain to smooth the holds’ surfaces.
I developed an appreciation for this phenomenon climbing a 5.8 rife with grippers (small holds that require greater hand strength to hang on to. After getting a feel for the route by watching Phil and Chuck Millsaps before me, I took my turn. I third of the way up, in a 15-foot stretch of nothing but the small holds, I managed to keep moving and punch through. The grippers were like flypaper.
Alas, there are new holds in this gym that may be grippy but require techniques that eluded me this morning. Always good to have a new challenge.
If you’re an existing climber looking for a confidence boost or a newcomer who likes to excel the first time out, check out the new North Raleigh Triangle Rock Club soon. The grip won’t last forever.

Learn more about the North Raleigh Triangle Rock Club here.

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The post Get a grip (while you can) appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Another warm weekend is on tap, with highs around 90 forecast for much of the state. Typical for August, but still, by now most of us have had our fill of hot. How about some cool alternatives for a change?

Good idea — and we’ve got several.

On the water

Our favorite option for simultaneously savoring and beating the heat is to play on the water (something we’ve been doing a lot of lately). If you’re an accomplished paddler, you already know where to go. If not … .

• Got your own boat? If you’ve got your own canoe or kayak but are something of a novice, we suggest checking out your local North Carolina State Park. Twenty-three of our state parks offer paddling access, most of which is good for novice paddlers. Find the paddle-friendly park nearest you, here.
• Don’t have a canoe or kayak? Then check out GetGoingNC.com’s handy list of 37 places to rent a canoe or kayak in the state.

In the water

On one of the alluded-to summer paddle trips, our shuttler, Joe Jacob, proprietor of Saxapahaw’s Haw River Canoe & Kayak Co. mentioned a spot on the river with a particularly nice swimming hole. (“I think it might be spring fed,” he confided in reference to the spot’s cooler waters. Sure enough when we found the spot (by a pair of big rocks, river right, just downstream of the Puryear Dam below Swepsonville) the water did indeed feel refreshingly cooler. So how, besides word of mouth, do you find out about the state’s top swimming holes? Try SwimmingHoles.org’s North Carolina section, which lists 76 sweet wet spots statewide.

Go high

Did you know the temperature atop Mount Mitchell has never exceeded 81 degrees? That happens when you’re over 6,000 feet in the air. And Mount Mitchell isn’t the only place in the high country that tops 6,000 feet in elevation: According to the South Beyond 6,000 project, a joint effort by the Carolina Mountain Club and the Tennessee Eastman Hiking and Canoeing Club, there are 40 such spots in the Southeast (mostly in North Carolina). Some are easier than others to reach, and “easier” is a relative term in this case. Find the 40 here.

Climb the walls

Of course, you can always have a great outdoors experience indoors, at your local climbing gym. We’ve got a list of those statewide as well. Just go here for the gym nearest you.

Oh, there’s a chance of rain this weekend as well. Remember your poncho.

The post Cool ideas for another hot North Carolina weekend appeared first on GetGoing NC!.