Climbing high with the Southeastern Climbers Coalition
Chattanooga is a national climbing destination. We all know this by now. In a hundred-mile radius lie some of the greatest sandstone cliffs and bouldering fields on the entire east coast. What few of us have noticed is the tireless effort that created our current climbing mecca.
It’s in large part thanks to the members of the Southeastern Climbers’ Coalition, and after a chat with them, I learned their history and what lies ahead.
It started over three decades ago when Chattanooga climbing was in its infancy. In an article for Climbing Magazine, writer Elaine Elliott described the passion of the professed “father of Chattanooga traditional climbing,” Rob Robinson.
With a multitude of first accents and ‘push it to the limit’ attitude, Robinson’s title was well earned. But after two decades of climbing, Robinson and his peers transitioned from recreation to conservation. What eventually formed was our current S.C.C. They started with Sunset Rock on Lookout, but their reach quickly and thankfully spread throughout the south.
Apart from the S.C.C., there are smaller coalitions elsewhere in the south. While they all operate in their own distinctive regions, the S.C.C. is protects our wild lands throughout Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama.
The first property the S.C.C. purchased was a boulder field near Atlanta called Boat Rock. “…and since then we’ve bought nine more and we help manage over thirty in the south. It’s lot of climbing,” said Cody Roney, the executive director at the S.C.C.
Purchasing a property isn’t always the goal for the benevolent coalition. Their latest projects, Denny Cove and Hell’s Kitchen boulder field, were transferred to the state park service. But not after some hellacious hard work.
“Once the state owns something a lot of red tape goes up so it’s harder to get things done,” said Cody. That means the S.C.C. grinds out the trails before handing land over. Dozens of volunteers labored every weekend this summer to create access to these new climbing areas, and their hard work shows.
When speaking of the potential for new areas to climb, Cody expressed the possibility of our region: “You can drive anywhere and see these huge cliff faces.”
Robinson’s generation of climbers would often trespass on private property to access what’s mostly open to us today. Conservation work has legitimized the sport, and people have noticed. The coalition is working with local town officials, like those in Jasper who see out-of-town cars heading to Denny Cove and Foster’s Falls every weekend.
Cody relayed the economic effect climbing has on our region: “Climbers come here a lot...all season they’re people traveling here. Usually that turns into people buying property here, working, going to school…”
Climbing for this region has room to grow, but it will only be possible with the work of the S.C.C. Their trail building season is in hibernation, but climbing is in full swing. More volunteer opportunities will kick up next spring.
If you want to lend a hand you can donate or become a member at seclimbers.com.