Happy Holidays!
I’m in Atlanta for the holidays and luckily I had a couple of free days to go climbing. On Monday we headed up to Little Rock City which is just north of Chattanooga, TN. It was a beautiful day with a high of 50. Conditions were prime and I was psyched to get back on The Shield. Every year I come home the sandstone blows my mind. It’s so completely different from climbing anywhere out west. You can use features here that would be impossible to hold if it were granite. The rock is so smooth yet it grips like sandpaper. After warming up we headed over to the Tristar/Dragon Lady corridor. I managed to do Celestial Mechanics V7 first try which was rad. It’s one of those climbs that I could hardly pull on the starting holds a few years ago. After that a few of us started working on King James V10 which starts on the left arete and climbs up and right with a crux that is higher than the finishing hold of Celestial. On my first try I climbed up the arete and then over onto cool blocky features and made the big cross at the top to gain a small three finger edge but fell trying to grab the next hold. On my next go I grabbed the same three finger edge and committed to grabbing the positive right hand hold. At this point I tried to swing my foot out right to a ledge but couldn’t immediately place it there so I had to fight to hold the swing on the tiny crimp. Mid-swing I heard a pop from my left hand…
Black Mountain Bouldering
Video featuring lots of hard new climbs from Black Mountain California, several first ascents including Vorpal Blade V12, a few old classics such as Morphic Resonance, a guest appearance from Sarah Palin, and even a highball or two. Hope you like it!
The Last Weekend
We headed up to Black on Saturday to find out if we could drive up the mountain. Luckily the gate was wide open so we drove straight up to the Corral. There was still some snow on the ground from last week but the boulders were dry. It was 40 degrees when we arrived but the sun was out so the conditions were perfect! After warming up we worked on the mid-day lightning project which is just below the corral next to Dark Horse. This wall is amazing and it has features that beg to be climbed. Unfortunately it still feels hard! Not sure how this one will go but somebody needs to do it!!
Mid-day Lightning Project
Thanksgiving
I drove north on Wednesday to spend my Thanksgiving in Bishop. Thursday was a beautiful day in the buttermilks. I worked on a few things; finally managed to do Stained Glass which was exciting! All this time and I had been grabbing the last hold wrong! There is a little razor hiding on the left side of the hold which is the key to victory!
Alex Savage on Stained Glass V10
