Could climbing icy road cuts be new ecotourism?

A combination of winter weather and roadbuilding may have launched a new niche in tourism for mountainous areas. Brian Sohn and Josh Justice of Pike County, Kentucky, are "leading the way in taking advantage of the environment that has been created, namely the massive rock cuts created by the construction of roads like the new U.S. 119," to promote ice climbing in Eastern Kentucky, Russ Cassady of the thrice-weekly Appalachian News-Express in Pikeville reports. (Cassady photo: Justice climbs a man-made cliff between Williamson, W.Va., and Pikeville)

"To me, it represents the potential we have in this area for ecotourism," Justice told Cassady. "It's our greatest natural resource. Coal's not a renewable resource. I think that ecotourism could be a part of our comprehensive economy here." The sport hasn't gained wide appeal in the region yet, but the climber did report they recently discovered evidence at one site indicating other climbers had been there recently.

In cold weather the high rock faces of the mountains cut to make room for the road become covered with ice, as water drains down and freezes. Some of the safety concerns of ice climbing, a dangerous sport, are alleviated by the geology and engineering of the road cuts. "With the safety issue kind of dealt with, I was willing to try it out," Sohn told Cassady. (Read more) And others may, too, now that AP has run the story. Does your locality have road-cut climbers?