Stone Fort

Today my friends and I bouldered in Stone Fort / Little Rock City in Soddy-Daisy Tennessee near Chattanooga. Most of what we climbed was difficult for me but not too highly rated.

We warmed up on Slab (V0-), Needless Things (V0-), and Costume Rings (V0-). We sent Fire Crack Flake (V1), a big incredibly thin flake on the corner of the boulder. I separately climbed the first and second halves of Art of the Vogi (V4), a really cool problem with a sloper, slab top. I couldn’t get anywhere on Hairy Underclings (V3). I loved the start of Swingers (V3-4), a cave super overhung with jugs, but couldn’t nail the sloper top-out. I climbed halfway up The Crescent (V1) and Spacegrass (V2), and flashed Smoking Jacket (V1-2).

Every climb here is highly rated. The problems we climbed have interesting holds and require precise moves. Overall, it was a warm day (even in early October), and my hands and the holds were quite slick. I’d love to come back and try these problems in cooler, drier weather.

Climbing outside, especially the strong moves required in bouldering, is rough on the skin (every hold on sandstone is basically sandpaper). My fingerprints wore off and my computer couldn’t read my print for a week.