Until about a year ago, I didn't know I had a world-class climbing destination located a mere 4 hours away from my house. When I finally figured this out, I decided I wanted to go check it out. It took me awhile to get around to it, but I finally did it. What a blast!

I didn't know the first thing about rock climbing, so I used a professional guide who taught me the basics of toproping. There are hundreds of routes at E-rock ranging from 5.4 to 5.12. We climbed on Motorboat Rock and the News Wall. I'll focus here on the beginner's routes that I got to climb on my trip.

Jacknife (5.4)

This was my first climb. Not sure how to categorize it, but it's has a lot of big features and great hand holds.

Army/Navy (5.8)

This is a short climb that didn't seem that difficult to me, but 5.8 seems to be the consensus. I used the crack on the right to get started.

Thor's Flake (5.8)

This was my favorite climb we did on Motorboat Rock. The flake was fun. Climbing the chimney on the left and then getting established on the slab up top was a real challenge. I only slipped once.

Mystery & Imagination (5.8+)

Mystery & Imagination(5.8+)

Without a doubt this is the hardest climb I did all weekend. To an untrained eye (like mine) there appeared to be very little in the way of footholds. This is where I learned the importance of smearing!

Sweat(5.7)

This crack is a local favorite. There are no gaps in the crack and the "diving board" at the top is a nice way to finish off the climb. This one was lotsa fun!

The Today Show(5.7)

This was more smearing practice for me.

Nobody Likes Bryant Gumbel

Nobody Likes Bryant Gumbel(5.7+)

This was a lot of fun. It's a slab route right next to "The Today Show". It has a lip in the middle of it that allowed my guide to show me a special move to get over it. I think he called it a cantilever? Anyway, it was pretty cool!

Conclusion & Tips

All in all, it was great fun and I can't wait to go back!
Scott Harris from Mountain Madness was my guide. He did a bang up job! I highly recommend him. I also recommend eating at Mamacita's in nearby Fredericksburg.
You can camp at the state park or get a hotel room in Llano or Fredericksburg. Llano is considerably less expensive.

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