How To Order The Upstate Bouldering Guidebook

Upstate Bouldering Guidebook
Ordering Information:

To order a copy of the Upstate Bouldering Guidebook, a guide to…
*Around 350 bouldering routes in Upstate of South Carolina and western North Carolina
Areas covered in The Upstate Bouldering Guide...
Jocassee Gorges Area of SC:
-Little Eastatoee
-Beasley Gap
-Sasquatch
-Big Eastatoee
Western NC:
-Whitewater Falls
-Granite City
-Pisgah National Forest/Looking Glass

*11 Jocassee Gorges mountain bike rides
*2 Jocassee Gorges road bike rides
*Suggestions for...
+Future boulder route development
+A dozen whitewater runs nearby, from class II-V+
+8 different flatwater paddling destinations
+Hundreds of miles of hiking and backpacking in nearby areas
+A variety of swimming holes on local rivers and lakes
+Gear Shops nearest each bouldering area
+Camping within a few miles of each bouldering area
+And eating options/grocery stores near each bouldering area

…basically, enough information to keep any outdoorsy person busy for at least a month!!!

To purchase a guidebook and support local South Carolina and North Carolina bouldering, please e-mail UpstateBouldering@hotmail.com with your order request (either black and white or color and how many copies you want) and I will send you a PayPal invoice, which can be paid with any major credit or debit card. 100% of the profits from these guidebooks will be donated to the Carolina Climbers Coalition, to maintain, preserve, and further bouldering access in these same areas.

Black and white copies are $20 each

Brilliant full color copies are $33 each

Add $5 for shipping and handling to anywhere in the continental USA

If you are in Greenville, SC, you can save the shipping charge and pick up a black and white copy at Sunrift Adventures.


If you are near the Little Eastatoee Boulders, you can save the shipping charge and pick up a black and white copy at One With The Ride.

Check out the following link for more information about the guidebook…
More in depth details about the guidebook

Once again, thanks to the advertisers/sponsors of this guidebook for showing your faith in me and the efforts of the Carolina Climbers Coalition...not everyone was so supportive though. I was shocked by some of the responses I got from a few of the supposed "benchmark" local sponsors that I contacted...their focus was more on making money or boosting their own status/agenda instead of showing their true support for local access. When you support the sponsors below, you are truly supporting local access and not simply someones financial agenda!!!

Dont Forget...Trail Day Is This Saturday!

Well folks...the Jocassee Gorges Trail Day is almost here! Don't forget to meet at the parking are for the Little Eastatoee Boulders (http://www.mapquest.com/?version=1.0&hk=5-3kTlG8Xh) at 8am and we will go from there. As I mentioned in my previous post, we hope to have enough folks to split into 2 groups and send one of the groups up to the Beasley Gap boulders to do a little trash pick up and light trail work, that way we can get the most work done in the short time frame we've planned to do it in. But there should be someone working around the parking area at Little Eastatoee for most of the morning, so if you get up late, don't hesitate to come on out and help out with whatever is the focus at the moment.



If you have never been to a trail day, then please don't think that we are performing hard labor for 5 hours...its more of a time to gather, meet new friends and climbing partners, learn about new areas, and while you're having fun, get some trail work done also. This trail day will not be as strenuous as the Table Rock Adopt A Crag Trail Day we had back in December...the main focus will be to beautify the areas by picking trash up and making sure that the trails are cleared enough that someone with a crashpad could walk through unimpeded. I hope that folks see this as a great opportunity to support local bouldering and a chance to meet and party a little with like minded folks. We are planning on grilling out after the event...maybe for lunch if most folks aren't going to stay around for the bouldering, but most likely for dinner after we finish off a fun afternoon of sending some of the best boulder routes the Gorges have to offer! BYOB if you'd like to have a cold beverage after the hard work too:) There will be space to camp at my house if anyone doesn't feel like leaving these wonderful hills and getting in on some kind of fun outdoor activities on Sunday! If you need a place to crash on Friday night, feel free to get in touch with me also.

I'm really looking forward to this and have dreamed of a group effort to make some of these bouldering spots shine a little better...this truly is a landmark occasion for me and South Carolina bouldering! I want to thank everyone in advance that is planning on coming and encourage you to bring as many friends as you can round up...I'm sure everyone is going to have a great time!!!

Jocassee Gorges Trail Day Flyer

I just whipped this flyer up to provide some basic info for the upcoming trail day. Here is a link to the first post about the Trail Day. Please remember to wear sturdy boots, pants, and work gloves to protect yourself from the briars, underbrush and for picking up trash.

We will also need tools to perform the trail work...Please bring shovels (spade and flat), pick axes, hand-saws, pruners, garden rakes, etc. Some mallets, pry bars, post hole diggers, sledge-hammers, etc might be handy too.

Please pack yourself a brown bag and some water for Saturday’s lunch.

The plan is to split the group up into 2 smaller groups and tackle the 2 main quick approach bouldering areas in the Gorges, Little Eastatoee and Beasley Gap. We will meet at Little Eastatoee and go from there. Each area's parking lot is a main spot that we'll be working on. At Little Eastatoee, we'll be smoothing out the apron into the parking area, picking up litter and trash and then re-clearing/cutting the main trail to all of the various bouldering spots. At Beasley Gap, we'll be picking up litter trash from the parking area (there is a lot of trash, old busted TV's, near this parking area) and trimming the underbrush...on up the trail, we'll clear the trail of any downed trees and pulling old metal waste out of the area that has been taking away from its beauty for quiet a few years. If we have any time after these areas, we'll go pick up trash at the parking for both Sasquatch and Big Eastatoee, which are right around the corner from the other 2 spots. After working hard for the morning, we'll head out into the boulderfields for some spectacular sending!!! We might take a trip to some lesser known areas that aren't covered in the guidebook...cant tell you where...but it would be worth showing up to find out:)

I'll have the new guidebook for sale (black and white copies for $20 each) at the Trail Day and folks that have prepaid with PayPal can also pick their copies up then too, if they choose not to have the guidebook shipped. I will also be giving away a few copies of the guidebook to folks that show up and help out, so make sure to get there on time and work hard to show me you deserve one of the free copies!!!

Camping will be available for both Friday and Saturday night if anyone is interested, please RSVP to one of the addresses on the flyer to get directions to the camping and so we know how many folks to expect.

This has been in the works for some time now and I'm super excited to be able to help out with some of the bouldering areas I hit all the time! Please feel free to pass this post or the flyer around to anyone you might think is interested and encourage them to come enjoy the fun and discover of some of the best unknown boulders in the Southeast!!!

The Upstate Bouldering Guide Revealed

The Upstate Bouldering Guidebook is finished and on its way to me right now! I'm so stoked to have this huge project finished and have 75 copies coming to me to distribute through Sunrift Adventures, Brevard Rock Gym or directly from me via mail order. Dont forget about the big Jocassee Gorges Trail Day coming up in 2 weekends on March 24th, where you can also purchase a copy of the guidebook! Here is a link to the first post about the guidebook...and a post about an update to the guidebook too. In 162 pages, around 350 problems in 7 areas are revealed, along with information on future development , the current nearby access issues, and enough extras on other nearby outdoor recreation activities to keep you busy for a couple of weeks, this guidebook is a valuable resource for any local or travelling outdoor enthusiast. Besides that beta, I wanted to give an idea of what you can expect in this guidebook, so here are some sample pages...

The book opens with the usual disclaimer and table of contents, as seen below...


Following this is a page about the CCC and the efforts that have been put in to get to the point we are now with many of these bouldering areas...


Then there is an introduction to the region and bouldering in the region...


At the beginning of each section, there are a couple of introductory pages with the basic info about that area, driving and approach directions, and also the cant miss routes in the area. Here are the intro pages for Beasley Gap...



After the intro pages for each area, there are basic topos of the entire area showing all of the boulders and routes in that area. Here is a sample from one of the areas at Granite City...


From there, almost each boulder and route is shown on a photo topo, so you cant get lost, along with a written description of each route. Here is a sample from the Nowhere Boulders in Pisgah...


I hope folks like the book and they enjoy finding new places to boulder and explore! As I was getting pictures ready to use in the book, I ended up with a few extra that couldn't be fit into any available space, so I thought I would post them up here so you can see some of the action shots from the various spots...


North Side of Looking Glass V2/3 (Can you see the aid climbers on the face above me?)


Yeti V2/3 at Sasquatch Boulders


Space Feeling V3 at Little Eastatoee


Bob's Place V2 at Beasley Gap


George Evans on Rhodorete V4 at Little Eastatoee


Hidden Hominid V2 at Sasquatch Boulders


Elephant Back V4 at Little Eastatoee


Old and In The Way V1/2 at Little Eastatoee


Crystal Crymps at Beasley Gap


V4 at the North Side of Looking Glass


Little Easy V2 at Little Eastatoee


Cryptid V1 at Sasquatch boulders


Fuzzy Photo V1/2 at Sasquatch boulders


Dark Star V3/4 at Big Eastatoee


Sugar Magnolia V1 at Big Eastatoee


Photo Series of Moonshine Still V4 at Granite City

Official Upstate Bouldering Guide Preorder Information

I put out a call for preorders on the blog about a month ago, but I haven't sent any information out yet to those that have preordered, or any details about how to preorder...so here we go!

The book was sent to the printers at the end of last week and should be back within another week or so!

If you would like to preorder a copy of the new Upstate Bouldering Guidebook, please send an e-mail to UpstateBouldering@hotmail.com and I will get a PayPal invoice out to you as soon as possible. If you have already e-mailed me, then you can expect an invoice within the next day or so. The cost for the guide is $20 for a black and white copy or $33 for a color copy (sorry for the increase in the price of the color guides, they cost $28 to print, so I’m only making $5 for the CCC for each of these sold)…please add $5 for shipping and handling if you don’t plan on picking the book up at the Jocassee Gorges Trail Day on March 24th. Please indicate in your e-mail if you will be picking the book up or if you want me to ship it to you when the books arrive, and if you want it shipped, please don’t forget to include your mailing address. This will be the only publishing of this copy of the guide for a couple of years and will be only available in limited quantities, so if you want one, make sure to preorder! I will have copies of the black and white version at the Jocassee Gorges Trail Day on March 24th for sale for $20 also. The color copies are almost sold out, so if you want one, please preorder soon!

With bouldering information about areas in the Jocassee Gorges of SC, Nantahala National Forest (Granite City) and Pisgah National Forest (North Side, Nowhere and Roadside Boulders), as well as, enough other outdoor recreation (mountain biking, hiking, backpacking, road biking, whitewater and flatwater kayaking) information to keep you busy in the woods for weeks, this is an invaluable guide to the local area and sure to put a big grin on your face! Remember that all profits for this book will be used to further access in these local areas and will eventually be funneled back to the Carolina Climbers Coalition…you are gaining beta and also the satisfaction of knowing you have done something good for the local climbing community too.

I was very fortunate to get some great advertisers, that care about our local climbing community, to donate to the project and future access...I'd definitely like to thank the following for helping make this thing happen!

Long Strange Trip

While I've been finishing up the guide, I've been reclimbing a few routes I haven't sent in a while, and forgot how fun some of these are! I've climbed West LE Fadaway V4, Sasquatch V4 (only the 2nd ascent of this route), Space Together V4, Rocky Bottom V3, and Dark Star V3/4....all of which are included in the upcoming guidebook. While I was sending these guys and getting a few new action shots to use in the book, I worked a long time project at Little Eastatoee that I've recently dubbed, Long Strange Trip. This route starts on West LE Fadaway and instead of traversing out right and onto the shelf, it heads straight up, past a crimp rail and over a few cryptic moves to attain a very odd transition onto a slab. I've been working this route for years and years and had given it a project grade of V6/7 after all of my flailing failed attempts. I originally thought the route would be in the V4/5 range, but after getting thwarted so much, I decided to bump it up to try to get some stronger boulderers to send it and establish the problem.

In my haste to take some pictures on one of my recent trips to Little Eastatoee, I ended up sending the rig before I really knew what had happened! I was alone and trying to get a few pictures of routes nearby using the self-timer feature on the camera...I'd set the timer, run up to the route and send it as quick as I could, while the camera snapped a shot of wherever I was at the time. I had finished taking a few shots of nearby routes, when I decided to turn the camera onto the project route and try to just get a shot of my working it. During one of the attempted pictures (eventually my camera died while snapping these photos) I ran up to the route, with unusal and confused beta, and stepped up onto a different foothold than usual, got a handful of whatever I could grab and launched myself up the rock, dynoing to a small sidepull I had never been able to hit when trying the problem static...needless to say, I was in complete shock when I realized that I had actually stuck what I thought was going to be the toughest move on the route. From here, I grovelled my way around to be able to step up and through the weird transition onto the slab and I sent that joker in complete shock of what I had just done! I wanted to let out a big yelp of joy after sending, but there were some hog hunters in the parking lot that were already giving me an odd look, and I didn't want to give them any reason to pull their guns out;) I'm not one to chase grades too much...I'm pretty happy to send a V3 and just enjoy the movement and freedom of bouldering, and I'm no where near in the shape I used to be when I could project and send V7's. So, it was a giant shock for me to send the hardest route I've sent in a few years! I haven't sent anything harder than a V6 in a couple of years and this was definitely harder than any V6 I had ever sent before. Because the hardest grade I've ever sent is a V8, and I felt that the moves and technique needed to send this route were much more difficult than any of the V7's I had ever sent, I decided to stick with the V7 grade for Long Strange Trip...at least until somebody comes in and repeats it and gives their opinion (yep, that's a challenge). This is now the hardest problem in the book and the last problem recorded in the new guidebook...that's why I thought it only fitting to call it Long Strange Trip after all of the weirdness involved with the send, but also for the fact that it took me years to send the thing and it puts a nice ending on the upcoming guidebook. It has been a Long Strange Trip developing most of the boulder problems in the area and I've enjoyed every minute of it! As I mentioned, the camera died before I could get a photo of the route, but I'll try to get a snapshot of it soon to post up for folks to see...until then, get your preorders in for the upcoming guidebook, which is now finished and about to head out to the printers! I'll post this weekend or early next week about the new official preorder info (if you've already sent me an e-mail about a preorder, then you can expect a PayPal invoice in your inbox soon to reserve your copy) for the guidebook and hopefully some more solid info on the upcoming Jocassee Gorges Trail Day! Til then folks...send as much as you can before the temps get any higher and summer takes our bouldering opportunities away!!!