Home to some of the finest rock climbing and bouldering in the United States (and some winters, even ice climbing!), the Southern Appalachian Section of the American Alpine Club encompasses three states which span the southern Appalachian mountains, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. While the focus of the section’s events and its membership’s climbing priorities are oriented to southeastern crags and bouldering sites, AAC members from the section frequently travel to the alpine environments of the Rockies, Tetons, Cascades, Alaska, and the greater ranges of South America, Europe, and Asia.

Significant climbing venues within the Southern Appalachian Section include the T-Wall and Little Rock City bouldering of Chattanooga (ranked number one climbing town to live in by Climbing magazine) and North Carolina’s Looking Glass, Table Rock/Linville Gorge (located near Boone, ranked number ten climbing town in US), Stone Mountain, Laurel Knob, White Sides Mountain, and Moore’s Wall.

An upsurge in American Alpine Club membership in the section has fueled a growing number of AAC-sponsored events ranging from well-attended local dinners, barbecues and fund-raisers in North Carolina to climbing and bouldering weekends in Tennessee. We encourage you to join with other members and take the initiative to produce grassroots AAC social, service and climbing events. Members are also encouraged to support the section newsletters by submitting their input to the Section Chair, David Thoenen. Please forward news on your most recent climbs, and remember that this is not the Alpine Journal—reports on any climb are welcome on this site! Treks qualify as well. We use the newsletter as a vehicle for spreading the word on how much fun we’re having in the southeast on our climbs, big or small. While we’re eager to applaud our fellow AAC member when she wins the Triple Crown of Bouldering or succeeds in the first ascent of Rum Doodles’ North Wall, we’d also like to hear about your road trip out to JT, your trek up the Khumbu, or your weekend in the Linville Gorge. If you’re into Facebook, make a point of joining our Facebook group, the American Alpine Club Southern Appalachian Section.

Be sure to check out the benefits of AAC Membership in the Southern Appalachian Section.

Meet your Southern Appalachian Section Chair.

Use the navigation buttons below, or in the blue navigation bar above this post to find what you need in the Southern Appalachian Section.