February Tennessee Wall with Zach

Zach ties in at the base of In Pursuit of Excellence

February 20, 2022. Climbed with Zach at T-Wall.

Mad Hatter (5.9) - Warmup. Zach's lead.

Multiple Use Area (5.9) - Toprope (shares anchors with Mad Hatter).

Prerequisite for Excellence (5.8) - Toprope (shares anchors with Mad Hatter).

Love Handle (5.10) - My lead. Lots of fun. Sling through the handle. Tricky face climbing above the handle. Then a chill roof.

Infinite Pursuit (5.10c) - Zach's lead.

No More Tiers (5.11a) - My lead! Only my second time leading 5.11 on trad. This route pushed me, especially through the final roof, both physically and mentally. But I managed to hold it together (there are plenty of rests) and do it cleanly. We linked both "pitches" (there is a large ledge in the middle of the climb). It was a hard lie back rock over to pull the first roof off the deck. Then a beautiful finger crack to the top of "pitch 1". From there it was a thin finger crack which I fell on during my first attempt. I lowered back to the ledge at the "start of pitch 2" and then led it clean to the top. It ends with a long series of tiered roofs. These are not particularly difficult, but it is a long and pumpy stretch of climbing, and at times it wasn't easy to see where the next jug was, so I would need to place gear high to trust that I could go up to explore further for good holds.

In Pursuit of Excellence (5.9+) - Zach's lead.

Dirt Bag (5.8) - Our cooldown on toprope (shares anchor with Pursuit). This felt hard for 5.8. Was I just tired after the rest of the day?

January Tennessee Wall with John and Rachel

 

John and Rachel at the base of T-Wall

Sunday, January 30

A chilly day to start but it quickly warmed up. It was sunny and a perfect day for being outside. Temps were in the 20's when we parked but probably hit the 50's by midday. We were climbing in just long sleeves starting at 9:30 AM and for various other portions of the day.

Open Sesame (5.9 or 5.8+) - A juggy warmup, this route had me being extra careful when traversing right under the roof where the feet were more smears than holds. I wish I had double-extended the piece near the wall in the crack under the roof to avoid rope drag.

Crack Attack (5.10a/b) - A very crack-centric climb. There was tons of good pro. However, I went left about 2/3 of the way up instead of right. This seemed like the easier way to go, and someone told me later in the day that by going that way I had avoided the crux.

Espirit Nuvo (5.10c) - The bottom section was very easy but quite chossy. The finger crack felt really tough for me, especially at the top. There just were no good feet, and it had me thinking that I need to practice my slab climbing some more. Traversing to the right after the finger crack also felt very challenging. The top was easy but I was exhausted by the time I got ther. I ended up using all 14 double-length slings. I rested twice on the gear while leading this route.

Electric Rats (5.10c) - This one was tons of fun, I really enjoyed it. This climb starts hard but gets progressively easier. There is a big roof to pull at the beginning, then a smaller roof with a heel hook into a corner after that. It was tricky getting up from the ledge into the crack. From there it works up into a hand crack and is basically a hand crack all the way from there to the top. I could have brought one or two #4 cams and would have used them. I placed all the larger gear except one #1.

Woodcock Cove with Malcolm

 

Malcolm ready to ascend

January 8, 2022

Woodcock Cove, went with SCC (Meagan Evans, Executive Director, and some other folks).

Double Toke (5.8) - trad lead warmup. Malcolm got freezing cold because the route too quickly moved into the shade after I led it.

Natural Born Drillers (5.10+) - some tricky bits in the middle

La Femme Makita (5.10)

The Thrill of the Drill (5.10)

Overall, I feel this area will be very popular. Well bolted, with direct southern exposure makes it a great winter destination.

November Denny Cove with Malcolm and Will

 

Malcolm approaching the chains on Room for Cream

November 19, 2021

Malcolm, Will, and I drove to climb at Denny Cove, only my second time at this crag. The weather was cold but dry and sunny. The first two routes were cold on the fingers, but by the third route we were warming up. This is definitely a good winter destination. 

Last Dance (5.10a/b) - Sharp conglomerate, felt slightly painful on the cold hands! 

Tulip Poplar (5.9-)

The Drippler (5.11b) - interesting start, it required jugging up the rope after clipping the first bolt to reach the first moves. Very overhung, this route was pumpy.

Vitamin C (5.10b) - interesting side-to-side movements working with the arete. 

Room for Cream (5.10c) - my lead. A bit runout (only four bolts on this climb), but not overly challenging, so it didn't feel uncomfortable. Tricky to see the holds when it transitions onto the upper lichen-covered face. 

Voyer (5.10d)

November 2021 Tallulah with Jacob

 

Jacob begins his rappel down Primitive Paradox

November 8, 2021

Trip to Tallulah with Jacob, the first time I have been able to climb there in many years. I had forgotten almost everything I might once have known or remembered about this place.

If you rappel down from the top, you come down right at the base of Digital Delight. Punk Wave is 60 feet to the left.

I led Primitive Paradox (5.9). This climb had two or three hard moves but was pretty chill. The hardest move for me was the mantle near the very top.

I led Punk Wave (5.10a). I had some trouble route-finding right after the pitch-1 belay. I ended up sliding directly left of the bolts around the arete and then up onto the fact. I struggled a few feet higher trying to establish myself in the finger crack, hung on gear once, and then took a fall. Eventually I pulled on a black totem positioned in the bottom of the crack, but once I was above this the finger crack actually felt very secure. I will be able to get this the next time I try it if I go into it with more confidence and just reach as high as possible as soon as possible into this crack.

Both after our first rappel (down from the summit) and after our rappel down Primitive Paradox, we struggled with the (double) ropes becoming so twisted that we had to climb back up to free them. So, unfortunately, after Punk Wave we were already running out of daylight.

We finished as quickly as possible up Digital Delight (5.8) with Jacob leading the first three pitches in one go and me sending us to the top. It was aerobic following Jacob's lead with the backpack on!

View from the start of Primitive Paradox

October 2021 Tennessee Wall with Noel

 

Kenton and Noel

October 31, 2021 Halloween! Misty day, chilly. We weren't really nice and warm until mid afternoon, when the sun finally came out.

Art (5.8) - Warmup. Noel's lead. Always fun. Brings back memories of my trad fall 2/3 of the way up on this route a few years ago.

Finagle (5.9) - My lead. Bouldery start, basically two campusing moves. Traverse left to face climbing with thin cracks. Poor protection on the face, better protection higher up. 2nd "pitch" was mostly lichen, felt sort of hard for 5.6. We did both pitches in one go.

Hidden Assets (5.10) - Noel's lead. Easy down low, tricky section 2/3 of the way up in the corner. Pretty classic hand crack. A long route, definitely needed the 70 m rope.

Golden Gloves (5.10) - My lead. Bottom half was chossy, making me nervous about the quality of the protection. But the climbing was very easy. Second half was challenging, but the protection was very solid. Pulling out of the roof was the first crux, and I needed to hang on gear to regain my composure after freaking out about the dripping wet hand/finger crack. The second crux was keeping stable in a flaring hand crack very near the top of the route. The entire route was a good deal more difficult than I had anticipated because all of the cracks were dripping wet today.

October 2021 Dogwood West with Malcolm

Malcolm ready to go at Dogwood West

October 18, 2021

Malcolm and I went to Dogwood West with Zach and his wife Erin. As a surprise, we also ran into John and Rachel when we arrived!

We climbed several routes here, but none of them are on Mountain Project yet, and I don't know any of their names. It was a special day for Malcolm, who did his first climb on lead; it was a 5.10!

This is a small area with many short but very fun sport climbs. The approach is extremely short and convenient.