Special Interest Articles -- October 1999
My First Climb at Coopers Rock
Story by Julie Bertsch with photos by Marty Lamp
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Could this dog's name be Shadow by any chance? |
Our destination was Coopers
Rock State Forest, which is located just outside of Morgantown, in
Bruceton Mills, WV. A beautiful State Park that is a playground for
hikers, mountain bikers, campers, and of course, climbers.
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Getting started on the 30 ft. climb |
Lisa came to my rescue and showed me how to tie a "figure
8" and a safety knot, and I was on my way up the "gritstone" rock.
She belayed me, and I didn't feel too afraid of falling, but I had
never felt gravity quite like that.
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"Belay me! Belay me!" |
Climbing takes a lot of control, and it helps to know the lines, (or route). When you're on the rock everything looks different, and I soon realized that I was on a slight overhang that made my next move a bit tricky for me. I grit my teeth, and grunted my way up only to find my forearms shaking and my fingers slipping. I shouted, "Belay me! Belay me!", (which means I'm gonna fall), and let go. It wasn't too discouraging, swinging around was kind of fun actually. I finally did make it up another climb our crew called "the crack".
The feeling of making it to the top is really gratifying.
There are no trophies involved, no medals, just you and the
rock. It's no wonder everyday climbers are always climbing
higher and higher.
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Greg just makes it look easy! |
It was a very exciting experience and one I would recommend to anyone who's interested. There are plenty of places to go in West Virginia, and if you don't have friends who climb, you could go to a climbing school in the area or check your local outfitter stores. Be careful, you may get addicted quickly! That rock has my name on it for next time.
Special thanks to all of the crew that day who showed me
the way...up.
Other Climbing Pictures: [ Set 1] [ Set 2]
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Seneca Online Climbing Guide
Seneca Rocks Climbing School
Seneca Climbing Center
New River Rock
Climbing at the New
Tim's Climbing Page
Cool Climbing Sites:
Rocklist.com
Big Wall Climbing Yosemite
Climbing Magazine
Rock & Ice
Horstnet