ChattaJack, Triple Crown bouldering highlight year’s final big outdoors weekend
This weekend will serve as an unofficial endof-year celebration for the region’s outdoor events as the weather gets colder and organized competitions slow until next year.
Two of Chattanooga’s most prominent outdoor competitions both take place Saturday. The highest attended paddleboard and kayaking event in the region, ChattaJack, will begin early Saturday morning. The Triple Crown Bouldering series also will be in the area later that morning when local climbers descend on Stone Fort in Soddy-Daisy.
Typically, the events are part of the overarching River Rocks festival. The festival began in 2011 and served as a marketing umbrella for many of the events that take place in October. It helped the city market itself, provided exposure for the
events and added some smaller events of its own to the calendar.
“It didn’t come together for whatever reason this year,” said Ann Ball with Chattanooga Presents, which put on the event. “We couldn’t get the sponsorship together for it. I can’t believe the community doesn’t see a really big value in this, but anyway,
they didn’t this year.”
Chattanooga Presents hopes to bring the event back next year.
Once again, ChattaJack sold out just hours after registration opened six months ago. It has quickly become one of the premiere paddleboard events in the world and one of the largest in the U.S. Thirty-eight paddlers participated its first year in 2012. This year, organizers capped registration at around 600. They had hundreds of people on a waiting list.
“It’s probably because of the Tennessee River Gorge,” event founder and co-director Ben Friberg said, noting that the area’s scenic beauty has a major role in the event’s popularity.
Friberg compares the 31-mile paddling event to the marathon of the paddling world.
“It’s definitely not an ultra. There are longer events out there,” he said. “But it’s very comparable to a regular marathon.”
While registration has long passed, the event is open for spectators. It begins at 8:30 a.m. at Ross’s Landing, when hundreds of paddlers will take off through the river in the morning light. There’s even a special surprise at the start for guests and paddlers, Friberg said.
In Soddy-Daisy, upwards of 800 people will descend upon the town’s multipurpose golf course that is also home to renowned climbing and a disc golf course. The day will feature the Triple Crown Bouldering Series, a run and disc golf throughout the day.
The nearly mile-long cliff line at Montlake Golf Course makes the property one of the region’s top bouldering draws. Event co-founder and director Chad Wykle estimates there are probably 400 individual boulder problems in the field.
The event is one of three in the series. The two others are held in North Carolina and Alabama. The event’s goal has long been to raise money for more climbing access. There were very few legal, accessible climbing opportunities in the area when the event began.
“It’s improved so much because of this event and others like it,” Wykle said.
Registration remains open through Friday, and the event is open to spectators for a $10 fee. The competition begins at 9 a.m. and climbers must turn in scorecards by 4:30 p.m.
Contact staff writer Mark Pace at mpace@ timesfreepress.com or 423757-6659. Follow him on Twitter @themark pace and on Facebook at ChattanoogaOutdoors TFP.