Written by Peter Young
Jim Marshall and I are in an outdoor store adjacent to Pisgah Forest, North Carolina, buying climbing slings, when someone speaks, “someone has chopped bolts on John Rock.” After a short pause, I respond, “That would be me.” Silence. After a few awkward moments, we talk. I explain that John has been free from unnecessary bolts for more than 50 years, and the zeitgeist has been ‘ground-up; bolts only on lead & only when really needed.’
Read MoreWritten by Ron Funderburke
Rodney Lanier first began to climb in North Carolina in 1970's, when the sport was still in its general infancy, the lone prerogative of an isolated clan. Mentors were hard to come by, and rambunctious locals might have been as likely to blast beer cans off fence posts as rock climb.
Read Moreby Bruce Burgess
Most every fan of North Carolina rock climbing knows the name Thomas Kelley as the author of NC’s first comprehensive climbing guide “The Climber’s Guide to North Carolina”. His Second Edition was the only one that included a section for Rumbling Bald due to issues with access. What you may not know is the resistance Thomas met in gathering route information from several of the route pioneering locals of that period.
Read Moreby Grover Cable
The way I remember it, Dave Black and I were the first to free climb the entire route at the end of July 1977. It was a typical hot, muggy, thundershower-interrupted Transylvania County summer afternoon…
Read Moreby Peter Young
I have been going to John Rock for over 50 years. The first encounters were while working for North Carolina Outward Bound School. During those early years…
Read Morecompiled by Mike Reardon
Aid Attempts: The first pitch was a Brad Shaver, Bob Mitchell, Will Fulton aid project called Rubber Ducky. Circa 1977, two teams freed Rubber Ducky…
Read Moreby Sean Cobourn
Several years ago I took a group of friends to North Cedar to show off one of my favorite cliffs. We were almost out of the forest and my shoe came untied. I halted the human caravan and bent over to re-tie it…
Read Moreby Bruce Burgess
Most pitches have some kind of character building twist. Sport climbers need not apply! It was CC’s project, climbed with a grab bag of people and spread out over a period of time…
Read Moreby Bill Mulvey
We met in the scouts, I taught canoeing merit badge at Raven Knob Scout Camp in or around 72-74 I think. Remember you dancing in the OA Wednesday night ceremonies….
Read Moreby Diff Ritchie
When we first started going up to Stone Mountain from the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area– it was very quiet up there and the only folks you would see were local families having picnics…
Read Moreby Jim Gravely
I have not climbed that pitch in many, many years, but had been climbing recently doing climbs that were 4 grades higher than the guidebook rated the entrance crack…
Read Moreby Diff Ritchie
I was hired to guide Fritz Wiessner around Western North Carolina in the seventies. He was in his 70’s at the time living in Stowe, Vermont and wanted to check out North Carolina….
Read Moreby Rich Gottlieb
I first considered climbing when returning to Atlanta from a fiddler’s convention in Virginia. I was on the Blue Ridge Parkway and spied a massive, intriguing, dome of rock in the distance…
Read Moreby Eddie Begoon
Unfortunately this is not a story about the first ascent of a five star, hyper classic like Rotert’s Tits and Beer, Jeep’s Dinkus Dog or Henry Barber’s free accent of Cornflake Crack….
Read Moreby Ted Anderson
My first time climbing the original route was in ‘78. Six of us, two party's of three. The first was Bob Rotert, Tim/Tom McMillan, and Bill Hodley….
Read Moreby Peter White
The first time I met Lee Carter was in the TR parking lot (80ish). Ralph Fickle and I had just come out of the Amphitheater when Lee and his climbing partner…
Read Moreby Robin McKinney Walker
Generations of Merrie-Woode campers have gazed upon the granite face of Old Bald, drawing strength from its ancient grandeur. Alumnae and campers alike share the memory…
Read Moreby Ted Anderson
When I soloed Whiteside I had no intention of free soloing the bolt ladder. So I took some slings and biners with me…
Read Moreby Ted Anderson
I was riding my bike back to Cullowhee going up a hill, that was a straight section of road. I was on the edge of the road, there was no traffic coming toward me…
Read Moreby Ted Anderson
Reincarnation we found a couple of old 1/4 inch bolts low down on the face, so that is why we called it Reincarnation….
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