LATEST NEWS
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DECEMBER 14, 2006 |
The Finale to the Triple
Crown Bouldering Series—The Stone Fort
The fourth annual Triple Crown Bouldering Series rolled in
to Chattanooga last Friday night under the best of
circumstances. A sweeping cold front complete with chilly
temps and powerful winds blew in to town just in time for
the comp. The front had followed weeklong rains, and as
every seasoned boulderer knows, this combination sets a
unique stage—one that is perfect for “sticky” climbing
conditions.
The finale was being kicked-off at Rock/Creek Outfitters
with a slideshow presentation from Tommy Caldwell and Beth
Rodden on Friday evening. Over 150 climbers had packed in to
the shop for a chance to meet the two infamous climbers and
to talk about the unbelievable weather that had come to
town. “The conditions are perfect…,” said John Dorough, Five
Ten sales representative, to several climbers, “…and that is
a fact.”
There was also lots of discussion about the “French
Contingent” that had come to town. Tony Lamiche and crew,
had made a month long visit to the south for a chance to
compete at Triple Crown and to sample southern sandstone.
Word had spread throughout the climbing community about
long-standing projects that had fallen quickly to the
Frenchman. “I heard he sent every project at LRC—I heard he
did the Shield in just a couple of goes—Somebody said he
sent the Dragonslayer Project—,” were just a few of the
whispers from huddled groups at the slideshow.
The weather, the presence of Tommy and Beth and the rumors
of Lamiche only served to ignite the desire for the next
day’s festivities. After the show, the throng moved away
from Rock/Creek, and closed out the evening with food and
spirits from restaurants in the unique North Shore setting
in downtown Chattanooga. The comp was just a few short hours
away, however, so competitors and volunteers alike, made it
a short night—after all, the finale was at hand.
Comp morning broke with chilly temps, and competitors
bundled in down jackets quickly filled the enormous First
Tennessee Pavilion to sign-in. Attendees nabbed some coffee
from the Mountain Hardwear Tent, and made their way through
the line for their comp goody bag. All the while, Kurt Smith
slowly pumped music and information to the competitors, and
soon the convoy of buses arrived to take the climber mob of
over 400 just north of the city to the fabled Little Rock
City/Stone Fort.
After the short ride, competitors exploded from the buses,
ripped through the massive pad stack, and made for the
field. They wasted no time and began taking full advantage
of the perfect conditions—cobalt blue skies and temps that
topped-out in the low fifties provided the perfect medium
for sick scorecards.
As the day continued, word began to spread-- Lamiche was
having his way. Having missed Hound Ears, it was obviously
impossible for the French powerhouse to place in the strong
field of competitors…or was it? What kind of scorecard would
it take to make the podium in the series. After all, he
would be attending only two of the three comps?
Many competitors from other categories were putting in their
own blistering scores as well—
In the Men’s Advanced Category—
Paul Fuelling of Boone NC was ripping through boulderfield
with a scorecard that included such classic (hard) notables
as Space V8, Special Agent V7, Jut Strut V8, and Spyro Gyro
V7. Doing his own ripping was Mike Bacon from nearby
Lafayette GA. It was shaping up to be a podium showdown
between these two Senya Iaryguine, Nate Draughn, and Series
Men’s Advanced leader John Reger.
In the Women’s Elite Category—
Kate Reese, reigning queen of the Triple Crown, and leader
going in to the finale was having a tough go at LRC early
on, but was still turning in a super strong showing with
sends like Blind Spot V8, Jut Strut V8, Grimace and a slew
of other V8s—
Sasha Diguilian, at only 14 years old, was having a
fantastic day, and although Kate had wrapped up the series
with insurmountable scores at Hound Ears and Horse Pens, she
was creating a scorecard that would make for a “photo
finish” at LRC.
In the Ancient Hardperson Category—
What is there to say…Special Agent, John Woodruff was once
again putting on a clinic at LRC. Space, Odyssey, Grimace,
Psychosomatic, Mann Haut, Jut Strut, Cleopatra….you get the
point. Ultimately, he racked up enough on his card to place
him fifth in Men’s Open!
There were strong scorecards in every category, but in the
end, it was the Frenchman Tony Lamiche that walked away as
the new standard bearer. Lamiche sent a project in the front
area of the field, Flying High V11 (recently established by
him), The White Face V11, Dragon Slayer V12 (long standing
project recently established by him), The Law V11, Biggie
Shorty V10, New Sensations V11 (recently established by
him), Bed Wetters V10, King Cobra V10, and wrapped up his
day with The Chattanoogan V12. Amazing—
Check out the complete scores
here.
After the comp competitors returned by bus to the Pavilion
for BBQ from Shuford’s, music, and a slideshow of images
from the entire series courtesy of Jon Glassberg. Prizes
were awarded to LRC and series winners. Once again Kate
Reece was crowned as Queen, and Paul Robinson King of the
series.
Giant Thanks to all of our sponsors—
Rock/Creek Outfitters
Marmot
Chaco
The North Face
Prana
Mammut
Rock&Ice
Clif Bar
Five Ten
La Sportiva
Metolius
Mountain Hardwear
Black Diamond
Montrail
Misty
Topo Ranch
Smartwool
Powersox
Footsloggers
Oakley
Mountain Khakis
Urban Outpost
This series would not be possible without the full support
of these sponsors. Additionally, these are the businesses
that continue to “give back” to the outdoor community, and
support the SCC’s efforts to gain and maintain access to our
climbing areas.
Our goal with this year’s series was to help raise enough
money to close the note on Boat Rock in Atlanta, and in
January and that will be accomplished. We also wanted to
once again support Habitat for Humanity, and we raised
$2,500 for that organization.
Very, Very Special Thanks to Henry and Kelly Luken, the
Montlake Golf Club, and Kim White for allowing us to climb
at The Stone Fort/LRC! Without the support of a gracious
landowner and land manager, this event and all climbing at
this area would be impossible. |
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NOVEMBER 22, 2006 |
Triple Crown - Habitat for Humanity Fundraiser 2006
Triple Crowners! The finale to the Triple Crown is just
around the corner, and we have been hard-at-work to make
this the best competition in the history of this series. To
add to the fun, the event has once again been extended into
Sunday!
The Chattanooga Market has asked us (the Triple
Crown/Southeastern Climbers’ Coalition) to once again help
them raise money and awareness for Habitat for Humanity*, by
having an indoor difficulty and dyno competition. These
competitions will be held on Sunday December 3 (the day
after the Little Rock City/Stone Fort comp).
The location will be the same as our kick-off/awards
ceremony site—the giant First Tennessee Pavilion in downtown
Chattanooga. This event will coincide with the Chattanooga
Market—a weekly event held at the pavilion. The Market will
have over 50 local vendors (arts, crafts, and food). The
Market typically draws between 1,000 and 5,000 visitors each
weekend. We’ll begin taking registrations for the indoor
comps at 10 am on Sunday on-site at the First Tennessee
Pavilion.
There will be prizes, trophies, and CASH! for top finishers
in both male and female categories, and we will be raffling
off some fantastic prize packages from some of our sponsors.
The entry cost for the difficulty climbing comp will be $20
and $10 for the dyno competition—if you want to do both, the
cost will be $25--all proceeds from the entry fees, raffles,
and sponsors will go to support Habitat for Humanity.
In addition, Marmot, Chaco, Five Ten, and many others will
be on hand to represent their brands. Five Ten will also be
debuting their new Anasazi Verde Lace-ups at this event.
This is a limited time only run on these hot new shoes—once
we run out, they won’t be available until Spring of 2007.
Come-out and be the first to own this new top-of-the-line
climbing shoe! The price for the new Verde Lace-up is
$139—please bring cash or check for purchase.
This event will be a ton of fun, but more importantly, it
will give the climbing community a chance to raise money for
a fantastic Humanitarian cause. This is an unprecedented
opportunity for climbers to support the “greater community.”
There will be more information coming soon about the
particulars for the Little Rock City/Stone Fort Competition
and the event on Sunday—keep checking the SCC website at
www.seclimbers.org and the Triple Crown website for
updates
Please help us make this a successful event, and join us for
the festivities on Sunday. Below is a link with directions
to the pavilion for the event:
www.chattanoogamarket.com/directions.php
*To learn more about the efforts of Habitat for Humanity
visit
www.habitat.org. |
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OCTOBER 11, 2006 |
Hound Ears 2006
Triple Crown rolled in to Boone on Friday afternoon with
all the trappings of an impending disaster. Despite the
bluebird conditions that held sway overhead, a change in the
forecast called for rain on Saturday and Sunday.
Could it be that the organizers (Jim Horton and Chad Wykle)
had taken things one-step too far? After all, it was year
number 13 for the event, and the two refused to follow the
obligatory rules regarding the “unlucky” number. Go to any
hotel and scroll through the floor numbers, or any long
standing event and look over the years—you won’t find a 13th
floor or “the 13th annual” anything.
Instead of following “good luck” protocol, the two actually
billed the event as the 13th annual “Lucky 13” Hound Ears
Bouldering Competition, complete with classic flaming skull
logo and a judge tee shirt that depicted former president
Richard Nixon with a red face and devil horns.
“I don’t subscribe to that crap (belief in the occult), said
Horton, “…but it kinda’ puts a funny twist on things, huh.”
It appeared for a time that the two finally had pushed
things too far--the skies began to turn milky white and gave
way to low gray clouds as Sportiva kicked-off the event with
the 2nd annual BBQ/pre-registration dinner late Friday
afternoon. The BBQ ribs and tasty beverages pulled
competitor attention from the sky, but by early evening, the
clouds could no longer hold back their load, and a few
showers fell on to the campground.
Seasoned judges and competitors alike exchanged concerned
glances—the weather was looking bad, and the forecast had
gotten no better. “Gonna’ be a game-time decision,” said
Horton and Wykle several times, with a surprising lack of
concern. As the evening drew to a close, climbers made their
way back to tent city with only desire for a clear sky for
comp day.
Any hopes for that ‘splitter day” appeared to be dashed at
dawn. Dark gray clouds hung low and obscured the tops of the
high country mountains, and dulled the beautiful fall
colors—there was even an occasional mist. Registration
began, though, just before 8am and competitors quickly
grabbed their comp packets complete with area map, Smartwool
socks, Metolius chalk, and Clif Bars and headed for the
buses. After 2 quick caravans, the competitor count swelled
to over 400, and everyone gathered at the top of the
boulderfield. Horton made a few short announcements, and
kicked-off the event with the usual judge swag toss that
included a swarm of Clif bars and bags of Metolius chalk.
Competitors snatched the goodies, and bolted for the
boulders to check the rock for themselves...it was ON!!
Competitors nabbed problem after problem, and began to fill
their scorecards amid a frenzy of bouldering, spotting, and
shouts of encouragement. And suddenly, as 13th annual luck
would have it, the sun tore a line through the clouds, and
the splitter conditions that everyone had hoped for arrived.
As the afternoon wore on and climber fingertips began to
shred, it became apparent that there were some amazing
scorecards developing, and standards being set. One example
was found under the Three Star Roof that houses the
often-sought after tick ‘Fuc Yo.’ This classic roof problem
was originally sent in the early 90’s at the grade of V7 by
the infamous John Sherman, but in the late 90’s a key hold
was broken from the problem, and the grade soared to V9. It
became a must-do for all elite male competitors at the Hound
Ears Competition during every event since. Despite many
strong female comp attendees over the years including such
notables as Lisa Rands, the imposing problem had seen no
females sends going in to this year’s comp, and very few
attempts.
Local female powerhouse Jessa Goble set her focused sights
on ‘Fuc Yo’ at this year’s comp, though, and amid many
surprised on-lookers, nabbed the first female ascent of the
problem. Then, as if that was not enough, Kate Reese,
reigning queen of Triple Crown 2005, followed Jessa and
scored the women’s second ascent. Two VERY strong statements
for the power of female bouldering!
Not to be outdone, New England’s own Paul Robinson more than
“represented” the men with a nigh impossible send of a
long-standing project. Ironically, the Thursday before the
competition as the boulderfield problems were being cleaned
and tagged, Wykle made this statement about the problem to
head judge Robert Semple: “Dude…this thing may be a waste of
paper and duct tape…the damn thing may be impossible…it’s
been a project for years.” With just a few simple mile-long
pulls on tiny holds through a gray roof and over a bulge,
Robinson proved the statement false, quickly sending the
project, and later compiling a massive score of over 12,000
points.
At 5pm, competitors turned in their scorecards and returned
to the campground for vittles from Black Cat Burritos of
Boone, and tasty adult beverages from Sweetwater Brewery.
Kurt Smith and Odub pumped the volume with music, and as the
scores were tallied, Kurt began to promote the goal of the
Triple Crown 2006—raising cash for Boat Rock. Kurt put
together a great speech and climbers responded—donating
$1,200. With the help of Rock/Creek Outfitters and Chaco
sandals, the Triple Crown hopes to raise enough cash to
pay-off the remaining $11,600 on the note of this unique
Atlanta metro boulderfield and greenspace.
As nighttime descended on the campground, Jon Glassberg
presented a fantastic slideshow of great pics from the
event--complete with music. Competitors knew that the
infamous Triple Crown awards ceremony was about to begin,
and Jim and Chad did not disappoint. With tons of fantastic
offerings from Rock/Creek Outfitters, Marmot, Chaco, Mammut,
The North Face, Prana and many others, the event provided
fantastic prizes for all category winners including $600
checks for the king and queen of Hound Ears—Paul Robinson
and Kate Reese. As usual, there were also awesome door
prizes (over 25 separate prizes) including bouldering pads
from Misty Mountain, Metolius, and Black Diamond.
At the awards ceremony a special thank-you was delivered to
the Platinum Level Sponsors—Rock/Creek, Chaco, and Marmot.
These are perennial sponsors who have worked tirelessly to
support the Triple Crown and the efforts of the Southeastern
Climbers’ Coalition in a region that is riddled with
climbing access issues.
The very impressive sponsor list was also fully presented
and included:
Platinum Level Sponsors
Rock/Creek Outfitters, Marmot and Chaco
Gold Level Sponsors
Rock&Ice, Mammut, The North Face, Prana, and Clif Bar
Silver Level Sponsors
La Sportiva, Mountain Hardwear, Metolius, Five Ten, and
Black Diamond
Bronze Level Sponsors
Misty Mountain, Topo Ranch, Smartwool, Powersox, Montrail,
Urban Outpost (High Country Birmingham), Mountain Khakis,
and Footsloggers
Triple Crown will now roll on to Steele AL for the Horse
Pens-40 Competition on November 4 and will make the final
stop on December 2 in Chattanooga TN for The Stone Fort
Competition (aka Little Rock City).
For more information on the upcoming events in the series,
check back to this website, and The Southeastern Climbers’
Coalition website at
www.seclimbers.org.
The list of category winners from Hound Ears is below.
Junior
1. Jordan Earle 3349
2. Carlo Nasisse 2937
3. Asya Grechka 2757
4. Alexis Vanover 864
5. Allie Borden 761 |
Ancient
1. Jason Young 6253
2. Dave Wood 4961
3. Dave McLaurin 4516
4. Jeff Leads 4340
5. Joe Rosewall 3635 |
Beginner Women
1. Allison Williams 1926
2. Jennifer Lee Hall 1902
3. Magalie Laniel 1816
4. Bobbie Rae Erickson 1746
5. Stacy Duncan 1685 |
Beginner Men
1. Andrew Dow 2003
2. Simon Bishop 1973
3. C.P. Santos 1616
4. Chris Carver 1612
5. Mike Nahouraii 1607 |
Intermediate Women
1. Caitlyn Jensen 2895
2. Kati Hetrick 2882
3. Ashley Hamilton 2736
4. Danielle Berger 2723
5. Maggie Sibley 2513 |
Intermediate Men
1. Thomas Cunningham 3882
2. Travis Vaughn 3725
3. R. Scott Johnson 3690
4. Joey Staebell 3643
5. Ryan Patterson 3610 |
Advanced Women
1. Kim Fuelling 4777
2. Julia Smith 3584
3. Michele Conn 3083
4. Nancy Jackson 2799
5. Christina Austin 2267 |
Advanced Men
1. Nick Vosbein 7803
2. Ian Gleason 7291
3. Dave Fulton 7266
4. Brian Antheunisse 6648
5. Matthew Behrens 6466 |
Open Women
1. Kate Reese 7817
2. Claire Bell 6860
3. Sasha DiGiulian 6235
4. Jill Church 5746
5. Kasia Pietras 4563 |
Open Men
1. Paul Robinson 12,495
2. Max Zolotukhin 8,930
3. Ben Gerhardstein 8,417
4. Chris Sierzant 7,939
5. John Reger 7,731 |
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