What an amazingly beautiful day to be climbing the Granite Dome at Stone Mountain State Park, North Carolina!

I’m gonna try to be fairly short on words here since the pictures will speak loads. But, the major difference between friction climbing and traditional climbing is that friction climbing is much more of a “contact” climb as opposed to a climb with multiple jugs or obvious holds. As you can see, there aren’t many true holds for hands or feet, so what’s really holding you on the wall is the connection that the sole of your climbing shoes makes with the “sticky” granite.

It’s rock, so it’s not really sticky, but that’s what it sometimes feels like when you’re climbing the wall like Spider-Man! (That’s for you Tito.) Well, except for the many many instances when you feel you have a good connection to the wall and you instantaneously slide 3-4 inches down before “sticking” again! The famous Great Arch is shown below, a 5.5 multi-pitch climb that ends some 500+ feet from the base. (Next time;)

It was a long day with only few climbs, but well worth the time investment. I sent U-Slot first, as you’ll see below. It’s a 5.7 named for the large ridge that you must mount and climb up and over (shown in the first image up the rock in the distance). That’s the hardest move on the climb and it’s a bit intimidating. I’m getting ready to come up over it in the second pick below. Look at those trees! Amazing color.

Next was the initial ascent of The Block, which is rated a 5.8. We didn’t actually make it up to the 5.8 move since we were top-roping lower on the rock. Then it was the Entrance Crack, which is technically rated a 5.4 I believe, but that seems a little low for the climb. It’s probably more of a 5.5 or 5.6. After sending U-Slot slowly on my first ascent, the next two climbs were much easier because I started to become comfortable with the sometimes slippery granite.

We ended our long day, about twelve hours including drive times, at a stellar little joint called the Basin Creek Country Store. Awesome little joint with tons of bottled beers and a mounted head for each on the wall! They even had a couple stuffed Jackelopes! OK. Shout outs. Wish me luck. Clockwise from front left: Renee, Scott, Simon, Maria, Tito (our fearless leader), Paul, Lisa, Moi, Becky, Yvon and Chris. Great group and a great trip

Time to do some indoor on Monday and then head for the weekend to Table Rock. Hoping to get in some multi-pitch climbs there with some major elevation. Also, the scenery should be amazing. Can’t wait! See you out there!