|
Home > Trip Reports > The "T" in t-wall
Trip Images |
Jake (me)
|
 |
Kim climbing
|
|
the three of us
|
|
|
 |
Trip Report
|
 Email to a friend
|
 Print this page
|
| |
The "T" in t-wall
December 2006
Chattanooga , TN
posted by tjmellow
What do you get when you mix a strong sport climber, an aspiring gear climber, and gear climbing hippie, at one of the most spectacular trad climbing spots in the east? Some may say "A High time", others "Chaos", but for those of us who were there: simply amazing. The trip started with a late arrival at the campsite, this being the first time down to tenessee wall, none of us new exactly where we were going. So, after some failed attempts to use ancient directions from the internet, who knows how old they really were due to much new developement in the area, we made it to the campsite. We threw the tents up, grabbed the wine, cheese and bread to give a toast to the start of our first climbing trip together. The following morning came quickly... and after eating what would become the breakfast for two weeks we were on our way on what was described in the guidebook as "a fairly arobic twenty minute hike". Twenty minutes later we were stripping layers, and sweating our arses off. This should have given us some idea what everyday was going to be like. That day turned out to be realativly trying...not knowing what to expect we went to an area which had not been climbed in for years, both truenorthjosh and I bailed from climbs well within our abilities. Josh ran out of good rock, and I ran into a ten foot section of grass filling the crack that i was climbing, with feature-less rock surounding this crack i was forced to set an anchor and bail. So, neadless to say, we left the first day a bit frustrated. The following day things took a change for the better. With the arrival of a solo climber by the name of Zach, from California he had climbed here many times and needed a catch (or belay). The first few nimutes with him were in the wee hours of the morn, which unlike the day before was five degrees! So with a cold start we sarted that hike, and again stripped layers, and hydration. The amazing thing was that when the hike is over, not only are you warmed up, but the entire wall is south facing, taking in sun from morning till dusk. the weather can be foggy and cold below, and at the wall, 60 and sunny, infact on more than one occasion, it was just above freezing in the valley, and by the time i was ready to climb the first route i had my shirt off working on my tan lines!!! With the arrival of Zach we were pointed to some of the most classic moderate routes ever climbed (by me) the fallowing six days we climbed with Zach trading routes, top-roping hard line to the right and left fo the trad line we were climbing. This is how the rest of the trip was, not one rainy day, and a rest day of driving into north georgia for some wine tasting, the over all report is one of the best i have ever taken, and easily compairs to some of the more "majestic" spots in the nation. A bit of beta for your trip: Free Wi-Fi at crystals, and very tasty burritos at "mojo burrito" the local climbers are a great assett to the traveling climber. If you have any questions dont hesitate to ask. Check ou my profile for some more pics of the area.
by the way that "T" stands for Terrific, climbing, weather, and people.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
