Howdy y’all! We just got back from this year’s Triple Crown Finale in good ol’ Chattanooga Tennessee! As always, the southern climbing community welcomed us with so much hospitality you almost think they are faking it, but then realize that they actually just are truly that friendly. And with the superb addition of the Greenlife Grocery store, next to the new Rock/Creek Outfitters, a visit can actually be had without gaining ten pounds from eating everything fried, and then re-fried.

The temperatures proved to be the best that I can remember of the five years I have attended the competition. A few snow flurries came and went, just enough to get people psyched to try hard. The young guns from across the country came to strut their stuff, dispatching of problems way beyond my comprehension, but leaving me more than inspired to train harder for next year.

However, aside from the impeccable conditions and the world class climbing, the highlight of the event for me was Friday evening at the famed Rock/Creek Outfitters store. With the cold air setting in outside, the scruffy climbing community dressed in their puffy’s held together by rolls and rolls of silver duct tape, crowded in to see a couple of movies and slideshows, accompanied by a small raffle to benefit the SCC.

Being a member of the Access Fund board (www.accessfund.org) I want to take a moment to say how amazed and impressed I am by the southern climbing communities effort and enthusiasm behind access issues and being good stewards for the climbing community as a whole. It is the one place that I can bank on traveling to and know that ninety percent of the people I run into at the crag or in the boulder field is an Access Fund member and an SCC member. Having so much of their climbing located on private land, they realize that climbing is a privilege and not just a right. The nation wide climbing community can learn from their efforts to strengthen the ties between climbers and land owners to create a good, safe environment to do what we all love to do: climb.

Andrew Kornylak and the SCC put together an incredible film, “Heart of Stone” (http://marmot.com/node/2657) on access in the south and the southern climbing community. And before his film premiered, Tommy and I gave a presentation on climbing in Yosemite. Tommy’s film was hot off the presses of Josh Lowell’s editing room, receiving it a mere twelve hours before we arrived in Tennessee. Pictures of Tommy’s youth in the mountains, his dad’s muscle days, and young exploits in Yosemite gave way to Josh’s short but incredible film on Tommy’s first attempt to climb Magic Mushroom (5.14, 30+ pitches) on El Cap in less than 24 hours. Climbing for twenty two hours, through the night with dozens of 5.12 and 5.13 pitches he came as close as you can to doing it, but failing on the last move, 3000 feet above the Valley floor. Luckily, he is stubborn and came back a week later to dispatch of it with relative ease.

So, that’s the wrap up this year! I know next year will be amazing as always, and if you haven’t attended the event in the past, put it on your calendar for next year, you won’t regret it!

Special thanks goes out to Tom and Andy at Marmot for their continued support of this awesome event, Dawson at Rock Creek for the support of the southern climbing community, and Chad and Jim for all of their hard work and dedication to put on the best event in the country each year! Thanks guys!