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Just wondering if anybody has ever heard of an ascent of anything on the backside of wildcat wall? Also, what is the concensus on "cleaning"a route of shrubbery? about halfway up this sweet looking line there is a mess of rhododendron and to top out this would potentially make it impossible. Just wondering about the ethics.

Just think of them as jugs.

yeah dude, don't chip the holds.

you can think of them as no fall incentive once you climb above them.

sklag wrote:Just wondering if anybody has ever heard of an ascent of anything on the backside of wildcat wall?

Unless you are climbing 5.12, funky OW, or just really, really chossy lines, they have all been done. In the 70's. On acid.

Just curious b/c these are fairly remote.

Wes wrote:In the 70's. On acid.

brings a whole new meaning to climbing a route in the 'original style'.

i love the old pictures of hugh. what a sexy beast

From an ethical standpoint this is a wilderness area where visitors should practice "Leave No Trace", leave the area as you found it. The presence of the rhodos adds to the sense of adventure of the line. Sense of adventure is another wilderness value.

From a Forest Service standpoint clearing of vegetation is "development" that requires prior approval.

Bottom line, if you can't climb this w/o removing the vegetation, move on.

Considering the quality (or lack thereof) of the routes at Wildcat, I'd make a solid bet that the north side of that escarpment is probably somewhere in the realm of "death defying epic" with a side of complete and total moss/choss/spiderweb pile of sandbox kitty litter held together only by the roots of the rhodos you mentioned pruning.

I love remote climbing, I think that area in Swift Camp Creek Gorge is some of the most amazing of anywhere in Kentucky. But I wouldn't bother dragging a rope and rack to taht wall for any amount of money, fame or notoriety.

Have fun!