Rock climbing in the Southeastern USA

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Navigation > Home Page > Trip Reports > 11/18/00 - The Buttinski Brothers Visit Shortoff Mountain

November 17-18, 2000
The Buttinski's (Chris and Jeff Braund)

Jeff and I wanted to get in one last trip to North Carolina before the holidays and winter cold arrived. We decided to investigate Shortoff Mountain, which is a west-facing cliff at the southern end of the Linville Gorge, a few miles from Table Rock and the Amphitheater. The guidebook suggests packing in rather than car camping, so we planned accordingly. We left Columbia, SC on Friday morning and made it to Morganton at about 12:30. We skirted the north shore of Lake James and easily found Wolf Pit road. At the end of the road, we donned our packs and headed up the trail. It's about 1 to 1.5 hours of steady uphill...a stiff hike but well worth the effort. At the top of the ridge, we joined the Mountains to the Sea Trail, the same one that connects Table Rock with the Amphitheater. Here the going became more difficult, as recent forest fires had downed many trees and bushes onto the trail. The fires had occurred within the last month and had left the underbrush quite charred. Fortunately, the hard-packed trail was a natural firebreak and is still easily followed.

We reached the obvious descent gully and found the only evidence of a spring was a (dry) black PVC pipe coming out of the ground at the top of the gully. Another 50 yards further we found ample camping sites within yards of the west-facing cliff. At this point in the afternoon, cold winds were whipping through the gorge, so we opted to do some reconnaissance. We descended the gully, enjoying the aid of a short fixed line at one point. At the bottom, we checked out some of the climbs to the north and south and settled on a few for the next day. There appeared to be lots of interesting, moderate (5.6-5.8) lines of 3 or more pitches...and plenty harder but beyond our comfort level. We played around on some boulder problems, chimneys and some great, easy free soloing on the weathered upper section of the cliff.

Enlarge photo of Shortoff cliff

Back at camp, we watched a beautiful sunset and then started dinner as the temperature dropped rapidly. By 7:00 p.m., it was pitch black, the wind was howling and we were in our bivy sacks. Judging by our frozen water bottles the next morning, the temperature had dropped well into the 20's.

The next morning was calm and we leisurely cooked hot chocolate while waiting for it to warm up. We heard a party start down the descent gully and we followed them shortly. For our warm-up, we selected Serentripitous (5.7*), just to the left at the bottom of the descent. It's a great one-pitch climb that is classic Linville Gorge....holds when you want 'em, protection when you need it, and great views all they way. Jeff led, I followed and then we rapped down. Above this pitch lies the challenging Tilted World section (Pinball Wizard), or a scramble up and off. Next we debated whether to do the classic Maginot Line (5.7+*) or Little Corner (5.6*). Although the wind hadn't started yet, the sun didn't look like it was going to make an appearance today and the rock was just tolerable on cold fingers. So, we opted for the easier Little Corner. We swapped leads over three pitches of superb climbing, following a group of three from West Virginia. As we topped out in late afternoon, we were amazed to see that these guys had built us a warming fire at the top of the cliff. As the guidebook attests, these climbs are highly recommended. Once you make the hike in, the climbs are all close, all excellent multi-pitch lines and they top out just a short distance from camp. Who could ask for more?

Actually, we asked ourselves whey we weren't doing these climbs a month or two earlier, rather than in mid November. The sun never made it out and the weather was calling for snow on Saturday night. Plus, we were out of stove fuel and really getting the hungries. We proclaimed the trip a success, packed up and walked down, arriving just as night fell. We feasted at the China Light buffet in Morganton before heading back to warm beds in Columbia. Jeff made the rest of the trip to Gainesville on Sunday.

Submitted by;

Jeffrey R. Braund
Summit Design, Inc.
jeff@summitdesigninc.com
www.summitdesigninc.com

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