Chris Weidner Says Returning to the New River Gorge Defines Aging

Climbing After Decades: A Return to West Virginia’s New River Gorge

Thirty-one years after his first visit at age 21, Chris Weidner returned to the New River Gorge in West Virginia, reporting on the physical realities of tackling sport routes later in life. Weidner documented an October climbing trip alongside a crew of friends navigating the area’s notoriously stiff grades and widely spaced bolts.

The excursion centered on Nuttall Sandstone, a rock formation composed of 98 percent quartz that climbers frequently describe as “bulletproof.” Unlike his rainy, sweltering first trip, Weidner encountered ideal autumn conditions featuring clear skies, dry rock, and cool temperatures. Yet the group quickly discovered that favorable weather did not translate to easy ascents.

The New is famous for its rock and infamous for stiff grades and intimidating sport routes, which thoroughly humbled the visiting climbers. Throughout the multi-day trip, members of the party repeatedly fell off lines they had expected to complete on their first attempt.

Challenging Routes and Close Calls

On one route named Animal Logic, a 5.12b line near Summersville Lake, Evan Jaeger took a sudden fall with an armful of slack while attempting to clip the third bolt. His partner, David, managed to reel in the rope just in time to prevent a ground fall.

Later in the week, Fritz, Evan’s younger brother, achieved a successful redpoint of Thunderstruck, a smooth line that transitions from low-angled to vertical and beyond. The physical toll of the route left Fritz exhausted near the last bolt, admitting he felt close to vomiting from the exertion.

Age profiles varied among the group. Jonathan, at 70 years old, leveraged his footwork and technique to onsight Spyder Needs A Thesaurus, a 5.12a route on the D.C. Memorial Boulder peppered with tiny edges, securing his hardest successful climb of the week. Meanwhile, David, 54, returned to the sport and successfully repeated a route he had first climbed years earlier.

Confronting Unfinished Business at Apollo Reed

For Weidner, the primary objective of the trip was Apollo Reed, a wildly steep sport climb above Summersville Lake that he had entirely bypassed during his 1995 visit because it seemed impossibly difficult.

River gorge summersville lake credit wv tourism

Days before his successful ascent, Weidner attempted the route and fell at the crux on his first try, eventually retreating with exhausted forearms after spending a half-hour working out the individual moves. On the final day of the trip, shortly after watching three younger climbers fall off the route, Weidner tied in for another attempt.

Recognizing he could not match the youthful energy, he relied on deliberate pacing and preserved his stamina by maximizing rests. Having rehearsed the sequence and practiced the upper sections the night before, he pushed through the crux, pulled the final roof, and clipped the anchor.

Reflecting on the experience, Weidner noted that the true value of the trip extended far beyond reaching the top of any single route, centering instead on the camaraderie of sharing the crag with friends and meeting younger, enthusiastic climbers.

Keep reading