TAKE ME HOME TO THE PLACE I BELONG…
By: Jim Shimberg
...West Virginia. The New River Gorge. What does it mean to me? For starters, it brings to mind the best sandstone I have ever climbed on! I recall back in the late 1980s when we drove down three times in a year after the route explosion at Bubba City. It’s a haul – 14+ hours from New Hampshire but was well worth it every time. Each time I visit I’m reminded of trips past and always leave with new memories.
The New is packed with some of the best routes anywhere and they’re sure to be memorable for years after. Some of the climbs I’ll never forget begin with getting the onsight on Shear Strength (5.11b) at Bubba City and then failing completely on Darwin’s Dangle which we sure thought was hard at 5.11d. One of my proudest onsights came with my successful send of Michelin Man (5.12a) in 1990, though it’s been downgraded to .11d in the new book.
Rats! Then comes to mind Raging Tiger (5.10d) and the amazing striped walls of Bubba City. I love those cracks but I sure did have to beg my partners to let me do a gear route. With the amazing sport climbing everywhere who can blame them for wanting to clip bolts? I remember driving down to the New in 1993 and unfit, tried a bunch of 5.11 sport routes including Sancho Belige at Butchers Branch, a beautiful and very sustained 5.11c. I hung a few times and told myself to get into shape. The next spring I cruised it and boy did that feel good. Goes to show what a little training and motivation can do! 
There is climbing at the New for people of all abilities. Beauty Mountain offers another wide selection of climbing from the Mushrooms and Burning Calves to the moderates at the Brain formation. Flight of the Gumbies (5.9) at Kaymoor is one not to be missed along with many others in the 5.9 to 5.10+ range. I even brought my daughter Rose to the New to climb. We went to the Junkyard Wall which hosts a variety of quality routes from 5.6 and up. Unfortunately it started to rain so we didn’t get any climbing in but now I have yet another an excuse to go back - she did not get to climb in the New!
Camping at the New is stellar as well. Check out Roger’s near Kaymoor - what a great guy he is, friendly and always telling us stories of some sort. I remember him telling us a great story about his Dad working the coalmines from a long time ago. The campground is walking distance from the Kaymoor crags that have everything from classic vertical face climbs to some of the steepest jug hauling the New has to offer. 
No I never projected much, never sent many 5.12 routes, but I can still recall my wife Dawn stepping over a copperhead snake at Summersville Lake (oblivious to all) and the great swimming after climbing on a hot day there. Sure I have climbed in the New in the summer - but it’s work and man oh man did we use a ton of chalk! It’s all part of the experience. Now so many years later it’s the folks at Waterstone Outdoors, and Kurt and Elaina (local friends) that I think of the most. Sure I love the climbing but as an older and hopefully wiser man I am not so driven. I just want to be outside, touching the amazing Nuttall sandstone, hiking around the crags and being with family and friends... 
Which is why I make it to the New River Rendezvous every year I can. Over 1000 climbers gather at the Burnwood National Park Campground in the New River Gorge of Wild West Virginia in mid-May to celebrate climbers and climbing. The New River Rendezvous aims to raise money for the New River Coalition of Climbers by throwing a three-day festival with all kinds of entertainment. Hosted by the crew at Waterstone Outdoors in Fayetteville (thanks Gene and Maura and Kenny and all) the Rendezvous offers free clinics taught by guides and professional climbers, amazing live music, shoe demos by La Sportiva and many other vendors, great food, dessert and pizza from Pies and Pints in Fayetteville. And the climbing? The perfect Nuttall Sandstone of the New River Gorge makes the often less-than-perfect weather seem trivial; everyone climbs and camps rain or shine and eats and drinks and climbs some more - I can’t wait until next May! I might just have to go back sooner!
