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.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Updated Local Spot-The New and Improved Little Easy


In South Carolina, if you want to boulder, you have to create your own boulderfields. Most folks don't realize the exhausting efforts it entails to take a pile of pebbles and turn it into a boulderfield...or maybe they do and that's why there arent any publicized boulderfields. I've had my hands in around 500 bouldering FA's in the upstate area (almost all of which have access issues), but almost every single one of them took a lot of work and hours of hiking around to find an area with possibilities and then cleaning, prepping and sequencing routes. Little Easy is a prime example of this process in action...and I think everyone should be involved with its development.

Many folks simply want to be handed a boulderfield complete with topo, but SC is still in its infancy of bouldering development, so there is no boulderfield complete with topo. If that's your style, get the awesome Rumbling Bald Bouldering Guidebook and fight for a parking spot...if I was closer, I'd be there every chance I had. But, this is a chance for folks to get in on the ground floor of this area and put their stamp on SC bouldering, and its future. As mentioned in my previous blog, our stewardship of this area is going to go a long way in the possible access of bigger and better things in the future. The Carolina Climbers Coalition has designated a new SC rep, he has visited the area and sees that the future of climbing in SC starts with bouldering and leads to bigger and better things...and cliffs:) We can be an important component in the future access of all areas by our behaviors and how we treat the land and others in this area. Always be on your best behavior in any boulderfield...never attract attention, never yell or scream, never take away from someone else's experience, always be respectful of others and the area (don't litter/pack trash out you find), leave no trace, and always keep your pet on a leash or under complete control. Remember, there is a big difference between bouldering in the gym and bouldering outside...not strength and technique, but attitude and responsibility. Many times, including Little Easy, we are visitors on hunters' and fisherman's land, so be on your best behavior and as respectful as possible to ensure there are no conflicts.

Here is the first blog post about Little Eastatoee.
This has some basic info on the area, including Little Easy V2 and Rhodorete V3.

Here is some new info on what should be, after some development has taken place, one of the best bouldering spots in the upstate....



Here is also an uncut video of The Finger, a fun V2 at the Bridge Area...



And, here is a link to the new RC.com section for Little Eastatoee.

I'll post the topo, or what I have so far, within the next few days...keep checking back!

1 comment:

  1. Looks good Brad! I'll get in touch when I'm back in tigertown. Hope you had a good Thanksgiving (and managed to get away from the family to boulder for a while)!

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