By Rico Diego
At the beginning of 2023, I finished the wrestling season sooner than expected. This forced me to find a new hobby to fulfill my adrenaline junkie rush. This was when I discovered The River Rock located in Roanoke, Virginia. Let’s say you want to hang out with some friends but are tired of the same old drive to Lexington. Maybe you are like me and love having a fun hobby. With Roanoke only being an hour away here’s why you should check this place out.
Locating The River Rock is a bit hard, even with Google. While some may find this a tad inconvenient due to the building hiding and not in the plain open, I like what it can symbolize. It transforms a small random rock climbing gym in the busy life of Roanoke into a hidden gem. A gem that if you are not paying attention to, or, if you don’t know what to look for, you will miss. This place is filled with adventure and lots of fun. For those who enjoy getting out of Buena Vista but hate the city, this is a nice medium.
The rock climbing section is filled with auto-belays, and belaying options. For those not familiar, or needing a refresher, belaying is where a person on the ground controls and secures the rope on the floor. Where with auto-belay, the rope is secured in a device hooked onto the wall at the top. I am not the biggest fan of auto-belaying because I think it makes it too easy. However, if you are wanting to start out and are nervous of heights, I recommend you start here. The auto-belays take the fear of falling away. The path can be easy but challenging enough to make you frustrated. To be belay requires you to have someone certified, and can be a bit time consuming because of knots and phrases that one has to learn. However, if you manage to pass the certification of one of the workers watching you tie the knot, give the phrases, and ensure that you won’t drop the climber, then you are allowed to go even higher.
Now, my personal favorite is the bouldering section. Bouldering is harder since it is free climbing. If you feel like you wanna step up your climbing game, bouldering is definitely the go for you. Not only do you have to be able to pull up your weight and have a strong grip, but a good amount of core helps too. Some of these climbs cause you to swing out, which can make you to fall due to the momentum. Overall, it is harder than rock climbing and can cause a lot of frustration. However, if you are okay with sucking for a while, then give it a shot. If you’re an adrenaline junkie like me,then you’ll get a rush from it. Knowing that you are only one away from reaching the top and if you don’t: you fall. The idea of this brings me a rush of energy to keep climbing.
Overall, this is a great rock climbing gym because you can do both bouldering and rock climbing. If you are looking for a day pass it costs $16. If you need equipment that also will cost $10 coming to $26. However since most of the readers will be college students a $3 discount is given. I spend most of my time bouldering until my hands can no longer take it. When this happens, I then switch over to the rock climbing section and keep going. After about an hour and a half to two hours, my arms are shot. If you’re looking for a way to get out of town and do something fun, this is definitely the go to. Get a group of friends together, pitch in for gas, and enjoy this place. The only thing I would change about this place is the hours of operation. It does not open until noon on the weekdays, and on the weekends it closes at 7:00 PM.
Have you ever wanted to go rock climbing? Let us know!
The River Rock: Rock-Climbing In Roanoke was originally published in The Herald on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
