Despite the rain and unusual weather Hogan and I had a great time climbing on the South Face of Looking Glass Rock.  Most of the rock was wet, however Second Coming was dry.  We had climbed multipitch before, but this was Hogan first time with double ropes.  It took a while to get use to [...]

This ice season has been slim, with the warm weather and rain.  However, last weekend was a good opportunity to take advantage of the available conditions.  Sunday I was fortunate enough to go climbing with Michael and his son MJ.   Conditions allowed for us to attempt Sam’s Knob.
The hike in was with a fresh layer [...]

I had a great day climbing with David.  You can see great photos on the Citizen Times website.  We enjoyed some great ice condition.  It was not thick ice but super technical.  Thin ice is more about precise placements and delicate axe swings or “pecking”.  Hooks and foot switches also make up the type of [...]

If you ask a climber if she wants to go rock climbing, a likely response will be “what kind?” Answers to this follow up inquiry might include: bouldering, sport-climbing, trad, or multi-pitch. For folks that are new to climbing, the lingo may seem confusing. Let’s get this sorted out and point you to some places [...]

Had a great day climbing at Crowders Mt State Park.  I was joined by Kevin and his two amazing sons Bryce and Aiden.  The weather was a little cloudy at first, but turn to beautiful blue skies.  There were lots of people out climbing and having a great time.  We started on a 5.9 sport [...]

Today was one of those rare days where everything seems to go well.  I was fortunate enough to climb with Warren.  He wanted to climb the Nose on Looking Glass Rock.  It is one of those must do classics in the area.  The Nose was the first route on this section of rock and follows [...]

Lately I have been extremely lucky to be able to climb many days a week outside around western NC. Today fellow AMI Guide Chris Davis and I went out to Cereal Buttress at Rumbling Bald near Lake Lure, NC. The weather was near perfect.
We started out on Obamanation (5.8), a more obscure route that was [...]

Had a great day out at The Nose Area with Gary!! We started the day at Looking Glass Outfitters where we learned how to tie the basic knots. Gary quickly mastered all of them. The sun burned the fog off and we drove up to The Nose Area. Next Gary had an introduction on how [...]

Rope Types

Dynamic Rope

Kernmantle ropes have two components that work together to create the desired performance.  Some kernmantle ropes are static, meaning there is limited stretch.  These ropes work best for jugging, hauling, rappelling and anchor construction.  Climbers need a different type of kernmantle rope, dynamic.  A dynamic kernmantle rope is designed to absorb energy from [...]

Last Monday four of us from Appalachian Mountain Institute was fortunate enough to visit the PMI factory and lab.  PMI has been making ropes for over 25 years here is the USA.  We were able to take a tour of the factory and learn how PMI makes dynamic climbing ropes and static ropes used for [...]