T-Wall Gear Beta

I'm going to be in the Chattanooga area for a few days this September and we're thinking about spending a day at the T-Wall. My first question is about the hunting closures. I can see on the SCC website that they have closures listed for spring 2015 but nothing for the fall. Does anyone know if that means its clear for this fall or maybe they're just not listed yet? I'm trying to get this figured out so I know whether to study routes here or look elsewhere (like Sunset Park?) Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the dates, it looks like I'm clear to try the T Wall! So I'm wondering a bit about gear beta. I'm a little new to trad leading so I'm looking to climb some of the easier and better-protected climbs. I'm looking at routes like Plastic Toys, Nappy, Jaywalker, Nutrasweet.... I'm seeing recommendations on routes like Plastic Toys for "Small to medium gear" I don't mind picking up a bit of extra gear if it means keeping my leads better protected. Most of what I've lead so far is not quite as tall and has taken average to extra hand sized cams. So how small do I really want? Right now I have BD singles .3, .4, 3.5, 4 and doubles .5 through 3, of course a single set of nuts. What else might I want and/or double or triple up on to sew up these routes?

Scott,
I would recommend twall before sunset park. IMO the routes there are a little more straight forward as far as pro and especially route finding. Sunset will be cooler and short hike but the tree and formations can make some routes harder to fine. Twall is very straight forward if you have a guide book chat trad is good. As for the routes you mentioned I would say nutrasweet is probably easiest if you can climb crack don't have to be stellar just helps also good stemming . The pro is really good and you can sow it up. Plus there is a nice tree to sling for some confidence. Jaywalker is stiff for rating if you are not proficient at climbing cracks and stemming but again awesome easy pro. Plastic toys and nappy are good new leads also. Plastic toys belays on top of the boulder which is a little awkward. Nappy is a little trickier with some pro but nothing hard. Some of the 5.8's up there will surprise you so get comfortable first before jumping on art or dirtbag..... As for pro double .4-3 bd is good May want a few more .75,1,2 is always nice for hand cracks and some tcu's wouldn't hurt but not really need on the climbs you mentioned. Bring some slings if your doing any roof routes to extend. Pm if you have any other questions and watch for chiggers on the hike up the mountain where some pants!!!

It's a bit further down the cliffline, but you might want to add The Garden to your list. It takes a lot of gear in the hand-sized range (#1-#3 Camalot), which is where you already have doubles.

I got halfway up The Garden and would have been happier with Triples in the bigger sizes. I only left the ground with singles and then got by with doubles after some tomfoolery. The caveat being I wanted to sew it up.

I've actually got triple #3s and yea I've actually used em all on a pretty consistent sized hand crack route, I've considered picking up another #2 to have three of those too but I'm really trying to avoid buying more than I need of anything... I'm starting to think I might wind up wanting a 3rd for some of the routes I'm looking at.

You really don't need triples at T-Wall, or probably most anywhere, unless you're a big wuss like I am :)

Ha, I'm sure you're right, guess that puts me in the big wuss category then but I'm ok with that!

You'll probably want some smaller cams... I use .3, .4, and .5 BD's there often, as well as blue, yellow, and orange Master cams and TCU's.

Also, September will still be pretty hot at Twall. I'd check the weather before you go. Sunset is a great option that's usually shady, and there are some great routes there for your level, but you will spend more time looking for them. One-Ten, Blonde Ambition, Afternoon Delight, Stan's Crack... all fantastic.

Thanks for the info folks. Thats a good point about still being warm in September, I imagine if its a sunny day I would cook being that the wall faces south, I guess I'll be prepared to go to either place depending.

Also I think I'll beef up my rack a bit in the small cam selection. I've got one (.3) X4 already, wondering if I could just fill out the small X4s or I really need to branch into the TCUs etc. I've cleaned a few of them but never placed one yet. I guess the TCUs go even smaller, does anybody use below size 1 for free climbing?

Several of the description pages for the routes talked about above mention hexes. I'm wondering if a set of DMM torque nuts would be worth picking up? I know there is a big long thread on here where the consensus is that they (hexes) are kind of a waste...

Thanks again for your time if you've read these posts!

If you like the X4 you already have, then just fill out with those. X4s, TCUs, Aliens are all good. It's just a matter of what you prefer.

Regarding your question about sizes, I've used all the way down to a 00 TCU free climbing. But for starting out, you really don't need any smaller than a size 0 (equivalent to a 0.2 X4).

And as for the hexes, since you already have doubles in hand-sized cams I wouldn't bother.

If you're looking for variety, you might be better served by getting some tricams (sizes 0.5 - 2 is a good place to start). Be warned that some people absolutely despise them, while others love them. If you can borrow someone else's first and try them out first, then that would be the way to go.