Climbing at the Motherload

Big falls are to be expected, Sasha Digiulian comes off "The Madness" 5.13c

Andy Miers crimpin' down on "8 Ball" 5.12d

Emily Harrington works out the moves on "White Mans Overbite" 5.13c

Andy Mires warming up in the beautiful Motherload, RRG, KY

Eddie Avallone makes easy work of "Cut Throat" 5.13b

Andy Miers clips on the aesthetic line "8 Ball" 5.12d

Andrew Wheatley styles "Snooker" 5.13a

Jeff Fulgham keeps moving on "Snooker" 5.13a

Needless to say I was pretty excited to wake up and drive to the crag after a entire day of rain, after all, I was there to photograph, and only had two days to do it. We lost our "warm up" day, so we opted to jump right in, and climb at the Motherload upon our first opportunity. This area is home to a very steep amphitheater which tops out just over a hundred feet of notoriously difficult and pumpy climbs, it is quite an amazing place to be. We got on the only wall with an 5.11+ to warm up, and I ascended the rope Andy hung for me to get my photo brain warmed up. I snaped a few good shots, and got everything lined up for bigger and better climbs ahead. We headed a little deeper in, and found some more climbers we knew, who were climbing "8 Ball" 5.12d, and "Snooker" 5.13a. Just as we got there someone was finishing a climb, and I asked if I could jug up their rope and hang for a while, they knew I was there to photograph and didn't seem apposed to the idea. He set up a fixed line for me, and rappelled down off of it, and I got my ascender and cameras ready. Ascending a steep wall is especially difficult, you are just dangling in the air the whole time, with nothing to keep you oriented in any direction, and you can only move up or down. The weight of the cameras on my back didn't help the process, and the dynamic climbing rope I was ascending made everything less efficient, but I'll take it over staying on the ground anyday. From this rope I could photograph a lot of different routes, and since the crag was pretty busy that day, had an opportunity to shoot many different climbers. The lighting was pretty perfect, all the rain had made for an overcast day, and metering exposures was easy because of the consistent light. I hung for two hours before I needed to come down for a break from gravity, and am very happy with the images I got. The photos posted here are just an overview on that day, and I will continue to post them gradually after this.