Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2017 - 78

From the Road: Community Action

HANG SOLO
Will the Water Stone
event convince the
Army Corps to open up
Summersville Lake?

Deep Thoughts
West Virginia's Water Stone Outdoors decided to bring the
European climbing craze of deep-water soloing to the heart of
America-and the locals (and everyone else) went wild.
by Doug Schnitzspahn
DEEP-WATER SOLOING-OR CLIMBING
without a rope on dicey routes above deep
water, which should break your fall-is
big in Europe. But like, say, Nordic walking or Johnny Holliday, it has yet to catch
on in North America. Which is odd. Yes, the
2016 Psicobloc Masters Series competition
does take place up at the pool of the Olympic
Training Center at Park City, Utah, during
Outdoor Retailer each summer. But that's an

78 OUTDOOR RETAILER

/ Winter 2017

exhibition for the inner circle. Deep-water
soloing in the hills of West Virginia? Now
that's something completely different.
Over the summer, the folks at Water Stone
Outdoors had the opportunity to host a core,
deep-water-soloing event on the cliffs that
overhang the deep waters of Summersville
Lake-right in their stomping grounds. This
particular crag had been shut down to cliff
jumping since 2007, due to safety concerns

from the Army Corps of Engineers who manages the reservoir. Climbing remained a bit of
a grey area, however, and, after a year of planning with the New River Alliance of Climbers
and Water Stone, the Corps gave a thumbs up
to the big event.
"Water Stone has spent its entire existence
cultivating a climbing and outdoor community to match the quality of our outdoor resources," says shop co-owner Kevin Parker. "As
a result, more and more outdoor enthusiasts
are choosing to move here or at least live here
seasonally. That creates an environment that
is conducive to putting on events that really
are special. The Psicoroc event was the best
example of that to date because it required
pulling in a large group of psyched, capable
volunteers who really got what we were trying
to do. Hopefully all of this helps create loyal
customers for life."
Psicoroc exceeded expectations, drawing
climbers from across the continent, including big names like Daniel Woods and Alex
Johnson, as well as Pscicobloc champions
Michaela Kiersch and Seth McColl, who won
the comp. It also gave the local climbing community a jolt of energy and the hope that these
cliffs, which were practically made for deepwater soloing, could be opened up for good.
"We are still glowing with satisfaction at
how it all went-especially given the logistical, legal, financial, and personal challenges
involved," says Parker, who adds that the shop
is working on a documentary of the event that
it hopes to submit to film festivals. "We really
do care about our local community, the larger
climbing and outdoor community, our staff,
customers, etc., and it shows people that we
are obviously in this for more than just selling
them some stuff." O.R.

Gabe DeWitt

PSICOROC EXCEEDED
EXPECTATIONS, DRAWING CLIMBERS FROM
ACROSS THE CONTINENT,
INCLUDING BIG NAMES
LIKE DANIEL WOODS ...

Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2017

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