Hardwear Sessions

By Jessa Goebel

Stone Fort, outside Chattanooga, TN, the final stage in the Triple Crown Bouldering Series.

As I walk through the boulder field on Friday helping set up the finishing touches for the competition, I can't help freaking out. The lines at Stone Fort are amazing: tall, short, crimpy, slopey, roofs, cracks, and aretes. It's all at Stone Fort. Best part of Stone Fort, the golf course that the boulder field butts up to. Where else can you go bouldering in the morning and finish the day with nine holes and a few beers in the club house?

Every first Saturday of December the Triple Crown comes to town for the final showdown in the series. This is the competition out of the series where you see competitors really start digging deep and fighting for a spot on the podium. Every category, men's and women's, had tough competition. Climbers came from all over the country to compete for the Triple Crown Title Belt. Yes, there actually is a belt for the winner of the Triple Crown complete with squeaky toy inside. For the men's there was speculation that Coloradan Paul Robinson would win, but for the women's the belt was up for grabs to the strongest overall. In the end it was Paul Robinson, and Kate Reece McGinness who would win the Series.

The Triple Crown also raised over $20,000 for the Access Fund, Southeastern Climbers Coalition, and the Carolina Climbers Coalition. All funds raised go toward the access and preservation of climbing areas such as Laurel Knob, Boatrock, and the Asheboro boulders in the Southeast.

Editor's note: Climbing magazine reported that Paul Robinson and Lisa Rands took first in their respective categories.