Triple Crown Bouldering Series

Intro: The southern states are blessed with some of the best rock in the country, and it is a home to one of the most anticipated events of season, The Triple Crown Bouldering Series. We sat down with event coordinator Jim Horton to talk about the series, and what plans are in store for the future of the event.

DPM: How did the Triple Crown series get started, and why?

JH: The roots of the series lie in the Hound Ears Bouldering Comp that I started 15 years ago to try and raise some money to purchase Howard Knob in Boone. “The Knob” was a boulderfield in Boone where a lot of climbers, including myself, discovered climbing. We never managed to work out an agreement with the owner of Howard Knob but we keep doing the event to raise money to gain and maintain access to other climbing areas. It was actually a climbing access success story to be able to have the event. The general public is only allowed to climb at the Ears on the day of comp or on one of the locals’ days we occasionally have. Hound Ears is a private gated community. Usually those kind of places don’t allow anyone but members in, let alone 400 plus dirt bag climbers. Over the years, the event grew and so did the number of boulder problems. Now there are well over 400 boulder problems there. I honestly didn’t really see the potential Hound Ears had. It became a monster; definitely not what I had initially intended. I always thought it would remain this little casual event at this obscure boulderfield-- turns out the boulderfield wasn’t so little and neither was the event.

Anyway, Adam Henry had put together a couple competitions at Horse Pens Forty, which I attended. At one of his events he and I discussed the possibility of creating a series or tying our two events together. It was a brief conversation-- more of a passing “wouldn’t it be interesting” kind of thing.

Meanwhile, Chad Wykle, a North Carolina boy himself, and his wife Rebecca-- really the third and perhaps most vital member of the Triple Crown crew-- had moved to Chattanooga. We had been friends for several years. He was part of the usual crew that came out to Hound Ears year after year. He was working at Rock Creek and had been hatching a scheme to create an event down there at one of the incredible sandstone boulderfields.

I need to insert a little back story here and explain where the name for the series came from. For years at the Hound Ears comp we had a special bonus gimmick called “The Triple Crown.” You got 50 bonus points for doing the three star classics on the Pocket Wall. These problems are “The Pocket Problem,” “Court and Spark,” and “Parlez Vous Parkay.” It was a cool gimmick and basically something all the contenders had to do. As a matter of fact, I think we had been referring to those three problems as “The Triple Crown” even before there was a comp.

Anyway, Chad called me up one day with the idea to combine Hound Ears, Horse Pens Forty and a new comp at Rock Town to create a bouldering series. I thought it was a great idea. We called up Adam Henry and he was in as well. The problem was the Rock Town Brass didn’t think it was a good idea at all. Due to some bad climber habits they’re were not to psyched on climbers. Ultimately, despite our best efforts, the rangers closed us out. As luck would have it, this early disappointment turned out to be a blessing in disguise. If not for them turning us down we wouldn’t have thought of having the event at Stone Fort and subsequently wouldn’t have gained yearly climber access to this amazing Sandstone boulderfield-- one of the best in the country.

Bang! The Triple Crown was born.

DPM: Over the years, I am sure that the competition series has changed and evolved, can you tell us a little bit about those changes?

JH: We sort of cookie-cuttered what we’d been doing with the Hound Ears Comp into the Triple Crown. The basic comp hasn’t changed all that much since we started the series. The main refinements have been in streamlining everything as much as possible.

The major changes have probably been sponsorship, awareness and success. The first year or so was a learning experience for us. Honestly, we were giving too much to the competitors. We really weren’t raising the amount of money we had hoped—which is why we started this thing in the first place. We were trying to throw in free camping, free food, free tees, tons of prizes, etc., etc,. etc,. We came to the realization a few years ago that we can’t do all this and raise money at the same time. We rethought the whole thing. We asked the sponsors to give us fewer prizes and hook us up with more cash. We started charging competitors for camping. We dropped the big pavilion in Chattanooga. We basically trimmed as much fat as possible. We left all the fun stuff though. We also started forming partnerships with our sponsors. Chad, working as a sales rep for both Marmot and Chaco, put together ideas to create custom Triple Crown products-- Chaco Sandals and Marmot Jackets which helped us to raise even more money. As a result, we’ve been able to do what we started this whole thing for-- the reason I started the Hound Ears 15 years ago. We’re helping to purchase and pay leases to climbing areas. We’re buying kiosks for climbing areas. We’re donating thousands of dollars each year to the Southeastern Climber’s Coalition, the Carolina Climbers’ Coalition and the Access Fund. This thing’s actually become very successful.

DPM: We know how active you and Chad are in the climbing community, and that part of the goal of the Triple Crown Series has been to give back to the climbing community as well. What has the Triple Crown been doing in regards to this?

JH: Ummmmm………………..you mean besides raising 50K through the event for climbing access over the past five years????? Specifically, we paid off the final $$ on the Boat Rock note (now owned by the SCC), we pay the lease each year on the Asheboro Boulders, we helped raise significant funds for the acquisition of Laurel Knob and many other direct action causes each year. Both Chad and I continue to work closely with land managers on property that would literally blow the collective mind of the entire climbing community if permanent access is secured! We’re trying to make it happen. We’ve got several things in the works right now that could dramatically increase the amount of climbing here in the Southeast.

DPM: You and Chad were able to secure access at Stone Fort (LRC) how did you accomplish this?

JH: After we got shut down by the Rock Town Rangers--as I said, they’re not too psyched on climbers-- we were trying to think of another location to have the third event. I was sitting in my office. Chad was in his. I started thinking about Stone Fort (Little Rock City). In many ways it was just like Hound Ears-- not a gated community but very similar. I thought if it could happen at Hound Ears it could surely happen at Stone Fort. I called Chad up and told him I had a crazy idea. He immediately asked me to ‘go ahead and say it;’ as if he new exactly what I was about to say. I told him and he said, “Dude. I was thinking the same thing!” We kind of ran through the whole scenario a few times. He asked me if he should just go up there and talk to them-- Montlake Golf Club. I told him to make it happen, and he did. Chad‘s got one of those personalities that always comes across friendly. I knew he’d do a great job talking to the Montlake Golf folks. He went up and starting talking to people. If one person told him there was no way, he’d ask to speak to the next person up on the ladder. The higher up the ladder he went the easier it became. They were actually very interested in allowing climbing on their property. He finally talked to Henry Luken, the owner of Montlake, who was extremely understanding and open to the idea. We just had to figure out how to best protect Montlake from liability issues, environmental impact and how to prevent climbers from scaring off the golfers-- they are the ones who actually pay to be there. Working out the details took some time but it was actually pretty easy to make it happen.

I really think gaining access to Hound Ears and more significantly, Stone Fort, goes to show what can happen when climbers communicate with landowners. I’m always amazed at how open many landowners are to the idea. I’m not sure I’d be so willing to allow a bunch of strangers on my property. What I’m most surprised by, and often disgusted by, is the entitlement many climbers feel in regard to climbing on private land.

DPM: Is it working out?

JH: Yes, for the most part. We’ll always have a few naysayer--just like you do with any group. There will always be those who’ll say “it was better before it was legal to climb there,” or “I don’t like the process we have to go through.” Blah, blah, blah. The cool thing is the landowners-- a golf course I might add, are actually psyched on climbers right now. If only I could get Hound Ears to see things the way they do. If I could gain access to Hound Ears by signing in online and printing out some passes I would be walking around with a constant perma-grin on my face. It’s extremely rare to encounter a landowner who will embrace us like this. I don’t understand the people who can’t seem to comprehend how incredible our access is. The sign-in isn’t flawless, but it’s the best we’ve got right now. Who knows what might happen in the future? They may continue to see value in climbers using their land-- then again, they could also find us to be a pain in their asses. That’ll be the choice of the colective climbing community.

DPM: Have things changed greatly for those climbing there?

JH: Look, I used to climb there many years ago, so did Chad. I think we’d both say things have changed a great deal-- it sucked to go there before! Sometimes people would say it was open. Then, a few weeks later, it was closed. Then you can park in this pull-off or at this tower, or you’ll get towed if you park there. There were stories of people getting guns pulled on them for parking or walking across the wrong person’s land. You couldn’t climb on many of the boulders because you were afraid you were going to get busted by golfers or people from the neighborhood. The truth is-- it was never open. Climbers were trespassing. It was, at best, sketchy at all times. I don’t like that feeling. I’d much rather climb in a place that I feel welcome. The people at Montlake are great. They want you to come in the club house, buy some snacks, some chalk, rent a pad and have a beer. In short, they’re awesome. Anyone who complains about Stone Fort, and they are very few and far between, has far more serious problems than getting a pass to climb. Sure, it’d be great if you could just roll up there whenever you want, have the whole place to yourself and not have to worry about picking up your trash or doing trail days. That’s not reality. Mommy and Daddy don’t own the place. Hell, if they did they wouldn’t won’t your friends coming over whenever they wanted and trashing the place.

DPM: Anything new going on with the Triple Crown this year?

JH: Nothing too crazy. New videos, slide shows, parties, people, boulder problems—just business as usual.

DPM: What is your role in the competition series?

JH: Chad and I are partners in most everything. We’re co-organizers. We try to never make a decision without speaking to each other first. We both definitely have our specialities though. Chad deals with sponsors more than I. I handle the marketing and design all the tees, ads and guides. I’m a little more involved in Hound Ears than he is. He’s a little more involved in Stone Fort than me. Adam Henry is a third partner with the Horse Pens 40 comp. Without him, we wouldn’t be able to do that event. We both try to come up with new ideas to make the events more entertaining, the award ceremony more bearable and ways to raise more money for climbing access. It’s really a pretty good partnership. We disagree sometimes but I think that’s vital to any successful partnership.

DPM: What are the plans for the future of the Triple Crown?

JH:To be honest, we were just about ready to drop the whole thing. We actually said at one point that this would be the last year we’d do the series. We were getting a little burned out and not feeling all that great about the amount of money we were able to raise. We had to decide if it was really worth all the effort and BS we have to deal with. Chad and Rebecca recently had a baby. I started my own Design Firm. It was becoming a bit too much of a burden. We both thought it would be great to just drop it all and go back to just climbing and making a living. It’s a difficult decision to face. It’s hard to just erase something you’ve put so much effort into creating. We worked a few things out, had some serious conversations and decided we’d stay at it. As far as future plans-- who knows what the future might hold. We’ve discussed adding a fourth event-- you’d still only use your 3 highest scores. We’ve discussed adding a team division. We’ve thought about many things. If anyone has any suggestions we’re open to them. Jesus, what am I saying now there’s going to be all sorts of smart ass comments thrown my way. Internet trollers unite!