After a two year hiatus from North Carolina rock climbing I finally made it back to climb at Moore’s Wall with my old partner Ben and his ever lovely fiance Tonya. We ended up climbing the super classic Zoo View (5.7+ 2p) and some 5.6-ish line on Sentinel Buttress.
I’ve climbed Zoo View once before during the early days of my climbing career. Ben and I had been hitting all of the classic 5.6’s in NC and feeling confident after climbing the Maginot Line (5.7 3p) at Shortoff Mountain we committed to Zoo View. The thing that establishes Zoo View as a super classic climb is the daunting roof halfway up the second pitch that is home to the most bomber jugs imaginable. The holds are deep and positive and confidence inspiring to even the most novice climber. With these church of the solid rock holds you can relax and enjoy looking like a superhero as you pull a good size roof with great exposure. It felt good to pull that roof again and even better to get to the top with a shit-eating grin on my face and relive the climb with Ben.
I’ve heard a lot of complaints about the rappelling situation at Moore’s Wall. There are not a lot of rappelling options and the set of bolts that dumps you to the Crow’s Nest drops you down a popular route on Sentinel Buttress. When we were there we accidentally rappelled over a team. I am highly embarrassed and it is inexcusable but it happened. Be very careful about what is below you when rappelling on Moore’s Wall and expect to wait at the top or at the Crow’s Nest for the parties below to clear. It is just the way it is, but hey we’re in the South where people are friendly and afternoons are lazy.
My old trip report on Zoo View has more pictures and beta if that’s the sort of thing you’re into. Also if you have any thoughts on fixing the rappelling situation at Moore’s Wall I’m all ears.