Climbing Fever

Nestled on the top of a mountain, surrounded by luxury development and yet wildly untouched, is a boulder field called Little Rock City. This rock and woodland melody is a sanctuary for bouldering and just the other week I found myself spotting my three friends as they clawed up the rock face.

Now, as for me, if I want to dangle from a rock with just my bare fingers and toes, I prefer to have a rope attached and a nice, easy decent. Bouldering is a whole other animal. Climbers hang upside down, using every muscle in their body, and slowly pull themselves hand hold over hand hold to the top of the rock. The only thing to catch them if they fall is a firm crash pad, just six inches thick.

Nearly on a whim, several of my friends drove to Soddy Daisy, only 45 minutes from Cleveland to get a few hours of climbing in. At first glance this bouldering haven may seem a bit anticlimactic due to the lovely golf course viewed from the trail. However, once you finish your first climb, you will be hooked.

Bouldering is a growing sport, and it is not for the faint of heart. Except for white chalk marks on the cracks and crevices, there is no rout to follow on these climbs. You will need chalk for when your hands sweat and tape for when your fingers bleed.

The climbs here are some of the hardest in the South East, marking all the way up to v10. Rachael, Jack and Josh attempted a Dyno on one climb. In order to reach the top, they had to leap from the rock and reached with both hands for the top. Josh alone completed it. By the end of the day, we wore ourselves out.

And everyone left with bloody knuckles.

For all those tired of indoor climbing or just like climbing things, come to LRC. It is best to go with someone who knows what they are doing and take gear because these climbs are dangerous. Due to a recent injury, I am now the designated photographer. Yet watching newbies struggle up the rock and my old friends top out on a ridiculous climb is still a rush. There is nothing like the feeling of climbing to the top of a sheer rock using nothing but cracks and bare fingers.