If you want to experience some of the finest climbing in the southeast, Alabama has some solid sandstone that makes for great climbing, all within a couple of hours of downtown Birmingham. Horse Pens 40 is a famous bouldering destination, Palisades Park is a perfect place for setting up easy to moderate topropes, and Sand Rock has some of the most accessible sport routes in the area. Moss Rock Preserve is a field of giant boulders nestled in a beautiful 250 acre park just twenty minutes south of town.
Idlewild Adventure Company, Birmingham’s premier guide company, leads climbing and rappelling trips in the area. Idlewild’s founder, Ryan Cavender, climbed for the first time ever on the boulders at Moss Rock Preserve, and all it took was one trip to Sand Rock to climb on a rope to get him hooked on rock climbing. Although Ryan loves exploring new climbing areas, he’s addicted to climbing on southeastern sandstone. The main focus of Idlewild’s guide program is taking people out who have never climbed on a rope before, and putting them on routes that they will succeed on. Idlewild promotes the idea that climbing is for everyone.
November 4, 2023 – Val Verzasca, Switzerland – The Verzasca Dam, an engineering marvel nestled in the picturesque Val Verzasca of Switzerland that stands 220 meters tall, became the stage for the climbing elite. Red Bull Dual Ascent, now in its
second edition, attracted 24 of the world's best…
Idlewild considers all of the following places “home crags”, and while the Idlewild guide team can take you anywhere in the single pitch world, they know these places like the back of their hand:
Palisades Park – The perfect place for new climbers to get a lot of time on the rocks, Palisades Park has plenty of toprope opportunities and is a great place to learn to rappel or place traditional gear. Palisades is just over the hill in Oneonta, one hour from Birmingham.
Sand Rock (Cherokee Rock Village) – Perhaps the best known crag in Alabama, Sand Rock is popular for toproping and sport climbing. The park is near Little River Canyon and the town of Leesburg, plus or minus two hours from downtown Birmingham.
Yellow Bluff – Another great crag for climbers of all skill levels, Yellow Bluff features easy bolted routes and hard trad. It’s an ideal classroom for learning to sport climb, build anchors and place your first protection (pro). Yellow Bluff is an hour and a half from Birmingham, and just forty-five minutes south of Huntsville.
In addition to these regular destinations, and the clinics that they often host at Palisades and Sand Rock, Idlewild offers custom trips at your request. Just let them know where you’d like to go and what you’d like to do and they'll take care of the rest. If you’d like to mix climbing and camping, Idlewild has you covered. They are launching a full service backpacking program this spring, and if you wanna haul some climbing gear into the woods to climb remote rocks, they can help make it happen.
And if you’d like to climb in your backyard, Idlewild has an 18’ tall mobile rock climbing wall and they can bring the adventure to you anywhere in the lower 48. The mobile rock climbing wall is perfect for birthday parties, youth group events, company picnics, arts and music festivals, tailgating sessions, and more. If you’d like more information on Idlewild, check their website or give them a call at 256.273.9596.
Adam Ondra dominated the bouldering scene again and won a gold medal in the second World Cup competition in Salt Lake City. He took second place in the qualification and proceeded to the finals from the same position. This time, he was surprised by the victory and admits that a little luck was…
Adam Ondra completed today's finals in Meiringen, Switzerland, and won a gold medal in the first competition of this year's World Cup. He kept first place in bouldering continuously from the qualification until the very exciting finals. He was satisfied with his excellent form and appreciated a…
