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, July 20, 2011

New Dixon School Road Bouldering Guidebook!!!



The Dixon School Road Boulders were once an insider’s crag and considered to be on the border of a legal/illegal place to climb. In the mid-late 90’s, rumor’s used to fly in the local climbing gym about a bouldering spot near Crowder’s with a quick approach and fun routes…most folks I knew called it the Buzzard Roost back then, but it soon became known as the boulders on Dixon School Road. When I finally got the lowdown about the place it was, “No need for beta…just drive down Dixon School Road and look for the boulders. Parking is an issue and climbing is kind of illegal, I think…but if you’re into pebble wrestling it might be worth it.” Since I was mainly a roped climber at the time, I didn’t really care to push possible legal limits just to get on some boulders. As the years progressed, many of my climbing partners bowed out of the game and left me with a climbing jones that bouldering finally satisfied. I pretty much forgot about the place until the word started circulating around the CCC (Carolina Climbers Coalition) website in 2009 about the Dixon Boulders officially opening with a new parking lot. Finally, after the official opening of these boulders nearly 10-15 years after first hearing about them, I visited this sweet little boulderfield and truly enjoyed these pebbles!



Now, for the first time, these excellent blocks and routes have been showcased in an incredible new guidebook, Dixon School Road Boulders: Selected Boulder Problems by Matt Bielejeski, that’s guaranteed to show you around to this once mystical area. Not only is this valuable information finally available to everybody, not just those in the know, but 25% of the proceeds will be donated to the CCC to help pay off another awesome set of boulders on the West Side of Rumbling Bald! This is not only a great opportunity to finally get the beta for Dixon, but to help out the grassroots organization that helped to bring you this bouldering area! This is a limited time, limited release guidebook…the first run is only 100 copies and there may not be a second run! Check out the ordering info below and go ahead and order your copy of the guidebook for only $25. The guidebooks are expected back from the printers any day now and will then be sent out to those that have already ordered immediately…so don’t miss out on this exceptional chance to help out the CCC and get some sweet beta at the same time!



Here's the ordering info posted by Matt Bielejeski just a couple of days ago...
The guide is done and going to the printers next week.

It will be $25, with 25% of all proceeds going directly back to the CCC.

The first run will only be 100 books.

If you would like to ensure you receive a copy, PayPal $30 ($25 + $5 shipping and handling) to firesnakestudios@gmail.com.

Please include a shipping address for USPS.

After all pre-orders have been distributed, the remaining copies will be available directly through me via Paypal, or available at Inner Peaks in Charlotte, NC.

Other retail locations may become available if sufficient books remain.

To reserve your copy, preorder today by Paypal-ing $30 ($25 + $5 shipping and handling) to firesnakestudios@gmail.com

Be sure to include a shipping address for USPS.

If you have any other questions, feel free to email me directly at firesnakestudios@gmail.com

Matt is also the main administrator for the "Dixon School Road Bouldering" group on Facebook...if you are a fan of Facebook, then this is a great way to meet other Dixon climbers, find out beta, post pictures or gawk at shots of other folks, ask questions or just set up a quick boulder session with others. Keep a look out for an interview about Dixon and the new guidebook with Matt coming soon!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Too much to do lately...


I thought I'd have some extra time over my break to bust out a few posts...but I was wrong. I was hoping to get out the reviews of the brushes and Flashed Tonto, Ninja & Samurai pads, but things never slowed down enough for me to sit in front of a computer and get them done. Hopefully I can get those out sooner than later!




We had a great time up in Grayson Highlands, VA, despite the heavy showers that seemed to show up at least once a day. I was still able to get 2 sessions a day in and send a handful of V3's and a V4...a full write up will come before the reviews, so keep a look out for that too. We also took a quick trip up to the Graveyard Fields on the NC section of the Blue Ridge Parkway in Pisgah...at the top of this post is a shot of Lily, chillin' at the base of Upper Falls, with a few fun boulders in the background. The main slabby boulder, I've been calling it the Salamander Slab, has a few nice V0-V2/3 routes to check out while you're up at the falls. Below is a shot of me on top of Big Pinnacle with the Highlands bouldering area is on the ridge just behind my head and Mount Rogers, the highest point in Virginia, is the taller peak in the background.




On a different note, the first ever Table Rock (SC) Adopt-a-crag is coming December 10th, 2011...mark your calender and go ahead and plan on coming out and helping us work on the trail and then climb some routes before we have a cook out and silent auction. Our focus is specifically on the climbers trail at Table Rock and getting it back into good shape, but we are also trying to show off this great, underused SC climbing resource and help introduce the area to folks that might not be familiar with it. After working on the trail for half of the day, then folks are free to hit some of the routes on this impressive face (and a group may head to the Jocassee Gorges for a boulder session if there's enough interest). And finally end the day with some good grub and a silent auction to help raise money for the CCC and the Rumbling Bald Boulders Purchase. We need as many volunteers and as much help as we can get...if you would like to volunteer or donate food, silent auction swag, or money to help out with this event, please feel free to contact me through the e-mail link at the top of the page, or by getting in touch with Stephen Scoff, the SC CCC rep. Here is a link to Stephens recent post on the CCC website.