Inform and Inspire

Welcome to Upstate Bouldering, designed around bouldering in the Upstate region of South Carolina. This website is intended to inform the reader of local spots in SC, Western NC and Northeast GA, as well as a blog of my experiences climbing at these great spots. I hope everyone learns of a new place to climb or is inspired to climb somewhere close to them. If you have any comments, please send me an e-mail.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

The Secret Stash-The Jocassee Gorges

I've been hording the best boulders in the area for a while:) Mainly because of access issues...there are no official statements about bouldering in this area, but we dont want to push it until it becomes a problem (not uncommon for SC climbing of any sorts). We have been warned by game wardens before about climbing and biking in the area, but they didnt know if bouldering was officially illegal, so luckily they let us go without a hassle. Still, I dont want to push the limits.

I have linked to RC.com and a page I started years ago and have added only a few of the routes to...The Bearfields. This is the easiest boulderfield to access and most climbed by myself and a handful of others over the years. We have lately been FA'ing in a new/old area that was left alone for a while and now we are attempting to fully map...The Jedi Field. The last of the 3 boulder areas, mentioned on the RC.com page, is not that easy to access and mainly has highballs (some of the best highball lines I've ever seen)...so we dont head out to the Lighthouse Boulders very often due to the danger and lack of any rescue imaginable, short of a tractor beam from a UFO. We have mapped about 100 routes in the Bearfields, about 20 at the Lighthouse, and about 75 in the Jedi field, including "Use the Force", which J-Rock calls "the best V3 this side of Rumbling"...or at least in the Jedi area. J-Rock has climbed all over the planet, so I trust his statements about grades and quality more than most. We are heading back to Jedi today to mine some more incredible routes. Sorry, I know its kind of a tease, but I cant tell you where these places are until permanent access has been figured out, but I will provide some pictures and a video of "Use the Force" very soon so everyone can see that SC really does have some incredible bouldering.

2 comments:

  1. Sounds awesome man. I can't wait to see what is out there.

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  2. Hey atjohns...get in touch and I'll show you around some boulders about 30 minutes from Clemson.

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