Southeast Regional Coordinator, Lisa Hummel, and I traveled this past weekend to the 5^th annual Homoclimbtastic Climbing Convention. This spectacular shindig takes place in Fayetteville, WV, home of the New River Gorge. For those you have never been, the New is home to a concentrated amount of unmatched trad lines and bullet sport routes on some of the most unique sandstone on the East Coast.

Cantrell’s Campground was the host to well over a hundred climbers who traveled in from all across the country; San Francisco, New York, and Toronto to name a few. It was July, it was hot, rainy, and the locals had nothing good to say about the conditions, but Homoclimbtastic didn’t care. If the rock was dry, it was being climbed, and a little (or a lot at times) of rain wasn’t gonna stop them. Everyone was psyched just to be out climbing as a group and all abilities were represented. Those just getting into the sport climbed alongside solid 5.13 climbers. The community out at the crag was fantastic. To beat the heat on Saturday, most of the group headed to Summersville Lake for a swimming/sport climbing combo. The Orange Ostwald wall panorama was filled with clipping draws, speedos with climbing shoes, and lake lounging.

The evenings were also filled with fun. The documentary “Climbing With Pride” was shown on Friday with a great turn out. The documentary was filmed at the previous Homoclimbtastic and featured many of this year’s participants. Saturday night was the big night. Drag Queen, Porsche Ferrari put on a spectacular performance while additionally hosting the live auction fundraiser for the American Alpine Club (AAC) and New River Gorge Alliance (NRGA). Both were tons of fun and everyone had a great time. All in all, it was an awesome weekend, and $4,000 was raised in our live auction.  Thanks to Homoclimbtastic for a wonderful weekend and great memories!