Mickael Fuselier's balance on the RocTrip in Red River Gorge :

Mickael FuselierRed River Gorge is obviously the North American hot spot when it comes to sport climbing. This little corner of paradise is located in eastern Kentucky, about two hours from Louisville. The small downside of this place, though, is that there is oil under the ground.

Because of this, the RRGCC (Red River Gorge Climbers' Coalition) bought the land to prevent losing access to the site. Aside from wanting to showcase this magical spot, the aim of this RocTrip was to help the RRGCC by giving them back the cash prizes won by the climbers (excellent concept). The second goal was making the annual Roctoberfest bigger than ever.

Red River Gorge is made up of many crags, and stuff for everyone, from Class 4 to project material. You'll have to search a long time before coming across a bad piece of rock. The rock is sculpted to perfection, and offers one gem after another. The height and overhang of the routes varies from crag to crag (15 to 35 m). After a full-on day, you can go and recover at Miguel's pizzeria, where all the climbers hang out.

This trip was particularly well organized, and stars like Chris Sharma, Dave Graham, Dani Andrada, Liv Sansoz, Emilie Harrington and many others, thrilled the climbers who had come to see the show.

Personally, I enjoyed the atmosphere within the team, and I had tons of fun on this trip. I got to collect a solid bunch of tick marks on about 15 routes, from 8a (13.b) to 8c+ (14.c).

A big thanks to Tony for the belay in Fifty words for pumped. It allowed me to climb confidently through the crux, for which I couldn't clip and in which a fall could have broken my ankles. Thanks also to Petzl for inviting me on this trip.

All the info you need on the Red River Gorge: www.rrgcc.org.

See you !
Mike

Mickael Fuselier enjoys the RocTrip
Photos © Keith Ladzinski