Mount Rogers Backpacking Trip

On the morning of Friday, November 19th the sun was shining as the Outdoor Pursuits crew loaded up a van for a weekend of backpacking along the Appalachian Trail in Virginia. The group arrived at the trailhead at dusk and quickly set off for the first campsite. Friday night the temperatures were a little colder than anticipated as we set up camp by flashlight under the bright southern stars. As we ate dinner, we were treated to a show of stealth bombers flying low overhead in what seemed to be a training exercise.

Day two of the trip began with high winds putting our tents to the test and we worked together to break camp without letting anything blow away. Encounters with the area’s famous wild ponies lightened the mood as we pushed on toward our destination. The sun peaked through clouds on a few occasions, adding some much appreciated warmth to the climb toward the summit of Mount Rogers. We made it to the highest point in the state of Virginia for a nice relaxing lunch, enjoying the fruits of our labor at 5,729 ft. above sea level.

The weather had improved by the time we reached our second campsite, and the nearly full moon rose above us as we told jokes and ate some delicious snacks around the campfire. Everyone slept much better the second night because we had all worked hard and it was such a calm and peaceful night.

Our second campsite was still a decent day’s hike from the van, so we had little time to waste as we packed up on the final day. There was, however, plenty of time for a trailside lunch, photos of the spectacular views along the way, and a lot of laughs before we wrapped up the last Outdoor Pursuits backpacking trip of 2010.

This past weekend Outdoor Pursuits hopped in the wagon and scooted on down to the Red River Gorge of Kentucky. Along the way, we made a pit-stop at Hillbilly Hotdogs in West Virginia, where the brave few try to demolish the Home-wrecker, a 15 pound hotdog, loaded with toppings.

It was a beautiful weekend, with the rain holding off until Sunday. We woke up Saturday and set out for a day at the crag. With good weather in our hands, we climbed all day. Everyone got to climb something that they enjoyed.

Sunday we awoke to a bit of rain, but we didn’t let that hold us back. We climbed in areas where the rain couldn’t get to. It was a great way to spend the weekend, with a rad group of people. Hope to see you guys next time!

Coopers Rock Trip Review

On Tuesday OP and some students took advantage of the class free day to go work some boulders at Coopers Rock WV. It was early and cold Tuesday morning when we packed up the van and started our trip to go climb for the day. Arriving to a awesome fall day at Coopers Rock couldnt have been better. Everyone had their eyes set on some problems that they wanted to climb. The climbing started at a gnarly V5 cleverly named helicopter while others climbed a classic V3 called Moby's Dick. Everyone climbed until there tips were purple. We left at night after several hours of some awesome climbing and headed to The Black Bear Burrito. The burritos were awesome and everyone was ready to head home. Stomachs full of burritos, we packed into the van a interesting ride back to hocking. This trip was a great one and I would like to give a big thanks to everyone who came and I cant wait for another adventure.

Kinetic Columbus Trip Report

On Thursday the 28 of October, we took a group of students up to Kinetic annual climbing competition, "CRANK-O-WEEN".  This is the second year that we have attended the event, which is a bouldering comp, hosted by Kinetic of Columbus, which is a climbing COOP.  They order new holds, strip their wall and set 48 fresh problems to test the strengths of those that attend. 

Check out this video from columbus alive about the event.


Kinetic Climbing Comp from columbus alive on Vimeo.

More photos can be seen at Kinetic's Facebook Page.

The contingency of climbers that we took down did very well, with someone placing in every division!!