Triple Crown: The Stone Fort

Snow fell on Chattanooga, Tennessee on Saturday, December 6^th while a crash pad toting mob infiltrated the Stone Fort boulder field. They came by bus, grinding their way up the ever steep and serpentine road leading to Mont Lake, home of the last stop on the Triple Crown Bouldering Competition.

Jim Horton and Chad Wykle are the proud parents of Stone Fort. Access was secured at this privately owned boulderfield, due in part to their concerted negotiation with the landowners. These talks laid the groundwork for making the Triple Crown possible at the Stone Fort (formally known as Little Rock City), and secured year round access for climbers by permit (available HERE).

As the snow fell, so did the climbers. The light powdery flakes quickly melted leaving a slick surface on all but the steepest faces, but as the snow subsided, the wind and brisk temps remained, and conditions improved.

John Glassberg approaches another V11, "Jimmy, have you done it yet?"     Jimmy Webb is putting his Evolv approach shoes back on. He nods confirming he has already completed the line and he is lacing up to hike to another one. Jimmy's scorecard is heavy with big numbers. He is a local boy, knows the field well, and he is in great shape after spending the last month in Hueco Tanks. He walked away with the highest score for the day. Jimmy's friend Jeremy Walton placed a close second.

Meanwhile, the ladies are frantic to just get ten problems. Alex Puccio is one move from the top of another boulder problem. She has past the crux, but she is scared. A wall looms behind her and the thought of hitting it petrifies her. She stems across to it and down climbs because the fear is just too much for her to handle, but she her disappointment is short lived. Puccio is psyched on The Stone Fort and there is a lot for her to do here.

Outside the corridor only two boulders away sits the other Alex, Alex Johnson. Alex is unassuming and if she is scared, you wouldn't know. She fires up Cleopatra a v8 without so much as a leg quiver or sign of struggling. She quietly returns to her brightly colored Organic crash pad and like Keyser Soze in Usual Suspects, "Like that, <poof> she was gone." She would later show up on top of the podium after placing  1st at the Stone Fort and 2nd overall for the series.

Local home girl, Kate Reese would take 2nd place this day. Her bubbly persona flashed through a circuit of problems that secured her a 1^st place finish for the series. Congrats to all the competitors who placed, and to everyone who helped make this year's Triple Crown a success.

This year the Triple Crown gifted the following to help climbing access in the south:

Asheboro Lease--$2,000

Donation to Hound Ears Country Club--$1,000

Hound Ears Raffles/Donations--$5,000

Horse Pens Raffles/Donations--$2,170

Stone Fort Raffles/Donations--$1,100

Friends of the Cumberland Trail Donation--$1,500

More than 50 climbers became member of the Friends of the Cumberland Trail at the Stone Fort comp ($5 per membership)

Donation of $1,730 to make all money raised by Triple Crown for Yellow Bluff (Crag X) to $5,000 during the series

***Carolina Climbers' Coalition Donated $1,500 to the SCC--it was earmarked for the Yellow Bluff (Crag X) Mortgage

Stone Fort Scores

Junior

1  Calvin Wagner                                3660

2  David Eisenstadt                             3191

3  Mike O'Neill                                      2528

Beginner - Women

1  Chandler Wells                                2061

2  Susan Hulsey                                  2034

3  Stephanie Wilkins                            2025

Beginner - Men

1  James Davidheiser                         2129

2  Josh Goldsmith                               2074

3  George Hatcher                               2025

Intermediate - Women

1  Melanie Meinhart                             3116

2  Jaime Rice                                      3070

3  Katie Rowinski                                3062

Intermediate - Men

1  Jason Bartley                                  4152

2  Rob Cardosi                                    4060

3  Kevin Richardson                            4049

Advanced - Women

1 Amanda Berezowski                        4355

2 Ashley Hamilton                              4249

Advanced - Men

1  Brandt Sykes                                  8183

2  John Michael McGinn                        7794

3  David Tucker                                   7743

Open - Women

1  Alex Johnson                                  9250

2  Kate McGinnis                                9075

3  Alex Puccio                                     8213

Open - Men

1 Jimmy Webb                                   16608

2  Jeremy Walton                               15653

3  Jon Glassberg                                12980

Ancient Hard Person

1  Mike Bacon                                     8876

2  Christian Griffith                              7291

3  Steve Myers                                    6961

Stone Master

1  Hilary Cohen                                   4227

2  John Norman                                  2467

3  Rick Hansen                                   2297

Star Chaser

1  Ryan Johnson                                 132

2  David Powell                                     92

3  Nathan Fedor                                    64

Triple Crown Series Total

Junior

1  Calvin Wagner                                10339

2  David Eisenstadt                               8937

3  Mike O'Neill                                      4752

Beginner - Women

1 Abi Wright                                        5993

2  Hsu-Chun Liu                                   5409

3  Melissa Robertson                            5162

Beginner - Men

1  Jacob Henley                                  5947

2  Josh Goldsmith                               5745

3  Andy Sobel                                     5563

Intermediate - Women

1 Jaime Rice                                       8618

2  Natalie Hawley                                 8288

3  Nicole Hansen                                  8038

Intermediate - Men

1  Brian Jones                                     11735

2  Jason Bartley                                   11511

3  Conan Blakemore                            10795

Advanced - Women

1 Amanda Berezowski                          13789

 2  Ashley Hamilton                             11138

3  Francesca Metcalf                               9411

Advanced - Men

1 David Tucker                                   20740

2  Brandt Sykes                                  19627

3  Sean Hribal                                     18549

 Open - Women

1  Kate McGinnis                                 26428

2  Alex Johnson                                  25520

3  Alex Puccio                                     25127

Open - Men

1  Jimmy Webb                                  40422

2 Jon Glassberg                                  34700

3 Carlo Traversi                                  29816

Ancient Hard Person

1  Mike Bacon                                     21318

2  Christian Griffith                              12963

3  Jason Young                                   12461

Stone Master

1  Hilary Cohen                                   9860

 2  Rick Hansen                                  5960

3 Diane Antheunisse                           2988

Star Chaser

1  Nathan Fedor                                  216

2  Matt Twyman                                  145

3  Ryan Johnson                                 132