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Straight and Narrow
Written by Jon Zumstein, DBO Staff

Grade: 5.10a, 4 pitches

Location: Shortoff Mountain, Linville Gorge

Description:

“Straight and Narrow” is one of the best 5.10 climbs in Western North Carolina. It has good protection, straight forward climbing, tons of exposure, nice views, and virtually no crowds. All the requirements needed for a relaxing day of NC wilderness climbing. Located on Shortoff Mountain near Lake James, this climb sees afternoon sun so it can be climbed early in the day during the mid-summer heat.
The approach takes roughly 50 minutes. You may want to drop extra gear at the top before you descend into the gorge. Extra caution is highly recommended on the descent gully. It is often wet and/or icy (depending on the time of year). From the bottom of the gully you turn left, (downstream) and walk several hundred yards until “Big Corner” is visible. “Big Corner” is the obvious corner that is large enough to be seen from Lake James. Our climb, “Straight and Narrow”, is the smaller crack that splits the face to the right of the corner. Rack up and make your way up the wide crack at the base of the climb. The first pitch goes at 5.6 and is easily climbed using a combination of face climbing and stemming. Traditionally the belay was built on the ledge with the small dead tree. An alternative is to belay from the deep crack 20 feet or so above the ledge. The second pitch follows the crack into a small vertical corner. Just as the corner ends under a small roof, step right out on the face and follow a fractured set of small cracks past an old pin to a decent stance on a ledge with a fixed “figure-eight”. Congratulate yourself on completing the first crux (5.10a) and build a belay here, or chalk up and launch directly into the vertical ground and thin moves of the second crux (also 5.10a). Continue straight up and over two small roofs then build a belay whenever convenient (If pitches 2 and 3 are combined this pitch is about 170 feet long). From here you have a short climb over lower angle ground to the top (5.6). Hike back left to the descent gully to retrieve your gear, or to descend again for another route.

Gear:

Standard NC free climbing rack with extra small tricams and mid-sized (.5 to 1 Camalots). 50 meter rope is required but a 60 meter is preferred (and required to link pitches).

Guides/Topos:

Selected Climbs in North Carolina, Lambert & Shull, 2002
The Climber’s Guide to North Carolina (3rd Edition), Kelly, 1995