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…

I managed to finish the problem but the reward was not worth the price. I’m not sure exactly what I did but something in my ring finger doesn’t feel right, I probably tore or strained a pulley. It doesn’t hurt unless I pinch it or try to climb something hard. I was able to do a The Graduate and Castaway later in the day without any serious pain so that’s a good sign.

On Tuesday we drove out to Rocktown to enjoy the perfect weather. I decided to have a highball day and avoid anything harder than V8 in order to not further injure my finger. I started off by sending Campus Punks V6 which is a pretty hard and tall slab that I’ve tried a few times back in the day but never been close on. Next up were two climbs in the same corridor, one face climb called Freed’s Fall, and the left arete, Suspicious Minds. Both climbs are 25+ feet tall; Freed’s Fall is a bit easier checking in around V4 but the crux is the very last move to the top of the boulder (very exciting!). Suspicious Minds is a bit harder at V5 but the crux is down low; the upper section isn’t too bad if you are tall but involves some really cool slopey features! I flashed both lines and then we headed over to a climb downhill from Mr Stiffy. I don’t know the name of it but if you are walking downhill, before you get to Pythagorean Theorem, on the left there is a tall steep wall with slopers and pinches going up to a topout at 25 feet. I had never tried it before but managed to pull off the high crux sequence on my third try. It was pretty exciting trying to hold the I had to try pretty hard to keep from barndooring off the slopey holds so I’m guessing it’s in the V7/8 range but who knows. Whatever grade it is, it’s fantastic! Get on it the next time you are at Rocktown. To finish the day I flashed a 20 foot face called Guillotine which I think is V6 but I’m not sure. It’s just uphill from Pythagorean and to the left of an easy crack climb. I enjoyed a fantastic visit to Rocktown, climbing house sized boulders all day while surrounded by awesome friends, which reaffirmed my love for the south. My favorites of the day (in order) were the unknown climb, Freeds Fall, and Suspicious Minds.

Unfortunately all hands were too busy spotting me to get video or photos so you’ll have to take my word for the quality of these lines at Rocktown! My finger didn’t bother me too much but I think I need to take a month off to let it heal.