LRC Doh!

After the awesome day of climbing I was super psyched on climbing again at LRC! We decided to warm up near the Mystery Machine Boulders.
For my first climb of the day I decided to climb a slightly tall problem called the Incredarete V0. I thought this would be a fun easy warm up.
The starting moves seemed a bit tricky but I got through them and kept on going up. Towards the top I was planning on moving to the right instead of staying left and that's when it happened. My foot slipped, my hand popped out and I went falling. It was so unexpected that I didn't have any time to think.
Next thing I know I missed the pad by a foot and landed on the ground on my butt with my spine straight up. I felt a shock all through my lower back.
I did have a spotter for most of the climb but he decided to move away once I got higher because he thought I was already up. I did have a crash pad but the way I fell made me miss it by a foot, and because of the way I fell my lower back took all the force of the fall...
I was in pretty bad pain and needless to say my day was shot. I could walk but it hurt to twist my body at all.
This was the first time I took a fall that bad and I grew very concerned. I decided to go to a nearby hospital to get it checked. Fortunately nothing was broken and I just needed to rest it but the whole experience gave me a fright.
We all know going into bouldering that it can be a dangerous sport but sometimes life likes to give you little reminders. I was lucky to not have bigger injuries. So what did I learn from this experience?

1. Never stop spotting somebody till they are fully up and over and they can verbally confirm that they are o.k.
2. It's probably a good idea to not warm up on highball problems especially as your first climb if you have never climbed it before.
3. If the weather is cold make sure the rubber on your shoe is warm. When you climb with cold shoes they might not have the same amount of friction that you are used to. A good way to do this is to keep them inside your jacket to warm them up.
4. Never underestimate any climb. Even if a climb is rated far below your skill level a fall from 15 feet up hurts just the same.

Littel Rock City (a.k.a Stone Fort) - Crag Beta!

Little Rock City which has recently been renamed to Stone Fort is an excellent bouldering destination. There is a high concentration of problems and there are many amazingly fun problems. If you are anywhere near Chattanooga I highly recommend you make it out to LRC.

Location:
LRC is located in the Montlake Golf Course which is 30 minutes north of Chattanooga TN. 


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Access:
Since LRC is on a private land there are certain procedures you need to follow to climb at LRC. You must follow the directions below.

1. Create a LRC access account on the Southeast Climber Coalition's website in advance.
2. If you want to be guaranteed access to the boulders wake up at 5AM the day you plan to climb, log in to the site and scroll all the way down and click on "Get A Pass". If you need a parking pass press the yes button. You do not need to print out the parking pass. If you are climbing during the week you probably don't need to wake up so early to get a pass but for the weekend during prime season it might be a good idea to get a pass right at 5AM.
3. Park at the designated climbers parking area, the parking spots furthest from the club house.
4. Once there check in at the club house, sign a waiver and pay the $5 per car parking fee. You will need to display your parking receipt on your car's dashboard.

Approach:
The approach is flip flop friendly.

Guidebooks:
To my knowledge there is no published guidebook available for purchase for LRC. The best guide currently available is the Triple Crown Bouldering Competition book. The book has maps and good descriptions that make finding problems fairly easy. I do not believe this guide is publicly available but you will probably run into some folks that will be able to get you a copy.

Where to Stay:
There is no camping at LRC. During my stay I stayed with friends at Chattanooga TN.

Food:
If you want some good food there are many good options in Chattanooga. I would highly recommend checking out Lupi's Pizza,

Wi-Fi:
There are many cafe's in Chattanooga that have wi-fi access.

Etc:
Please make sure you read and follow the rules on the seclimbers.org website. It would be a shame if we lost access to this awesome bouldering destination.

Little Rock City (a.k.a Stone Fort) - Bouldering!

Warm Up

After HP40 my finger tips were completely raw and the cold weather camping wore me down but after a few days of recovering in Chattanooga I was ready for an awesome day of climbing!

The Crescent V1

Hairy Underclings V2

One climb that I thought was pretty fun was the Hairy Underclings V2. The rock formation is pretty awesome looking. The rocks have wavy bulbous slopers that have flat bottoms. The Key to the climb is to use your thumbs to catch the flat bottom portions to help keep your body close to the rock.

Super Mario V4

One problem that Victor and I really wanted to hop on was Super Mario. According to the guidebook this is one of the most popular climbs at LRC and I can see why. This climb has many fun moves including a knee bar! Definitely hop on this problem if you visit LRC.

Red House V7

If you complete Super Mario you might want to give Red House a go. Red House is a harder variation of Super Mario. The climb starts low on small underclings goes up to some small crimp to the left, a finger lock, to a heel hook. It is a pretty burly climb but it suited my climbing style. I got really close on my first go but had a hard time sending it. It took many tires but I eventually got it! It was a fun climb! I think it is easy for the grade but I'm not complaining though, it was my first V7!

Your Sister Boulder

After Red House both Victor and I was pretty beat. Victor decided to take a break while I decided to get some easier climbs in. We headed to "Your Sister Boulder". There are 4 problems ranging from V0- to V3. I finished the Uncle Punchy V0, Drag Me Down V1 and These Feels Like Your Sister V3. Funny names and pretty fun climbs!

Mystery Groove V4

For our last climb of the day we decided to try out the Mystery Groove. This was an awesomely fun climb! For the start there is a shorter person scrunched up beta which I used and there is a taller person beta that Victor used. If you are feeling too scrunched look for a foot hold further out to the left. This climb was a perfect climb to end the day since it has many fun delicate balancy moves that doesn't need to much energy. I liked the climb so much I did it twice! I highly recommend you give this climb a go! The down climb can be a bit tricky. I found that the easiest down climb route for me was  on the left face of the rock using the horizontal crack. Make sure you scope it out before you head up. What an awesome day of climbing!

A photo showing that LRC is really located in a golf course.