Considering a trip to Chattanooga?

Welcome to Chattanooga’s finest climbing guide service. If you are heading to the southeast, likely you’ve heard about the great rock climbing this area has to offer! Why not let the area’s best known climbing instructors show you around or guide you through your first experience?

Lisa Rands and Wills Young are world-renowned climbing coaches, and American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) certified instructors with over 60 years of climbing experience between them. They know the area’s cliffs and boulders like no-one else. The former head instructors and founders of High Point Climbing School, Wills and Lisa have served hundreds of happy customers and built an unmatched reputation for excellence in all they do.

Lisa and Wills created The Synergy Project to bring the highest possible level of customer satisfaction to their clients, and to engage, educate, and inspire all generations of climbers.

Chattanooga is a vibrant city straddling the wide Tennessee River and surrounded by hills and cliffs—an unparalleled playground for rock climbing on world-class sandstone. Whether you wish to improve your existing skills or begin this journey of discovery and adventure, we can guide you. We have every type of climbing available within a short drive. Get out with our rock climbing guide service during the day; later, enjoy your evening with a restaurant meal; take a stroll across the pedestrian bridge to relax, or sip a drink along Main Street … In Chattanooga we have it all!

Nothing can compare to the incredible beauty and variety of Mother Nature. Chattanooga is a Mecca for rock climbers. Every kind of climber from sport climbers, to boulderers, and traditional climbing gurus, flock here for the variety and the convenience of the climbing. We are here to help you enjoy an incredible day out!

Foster Falls has tall climbs on immaculate rock. The forest setting and waterfall are an added bonus.

We Guide Almost Any Day!

Our outdoor guided climbing trips are available virtually any day, with sufficient notice, though there will be some exceptions due to prior commitments.

While we can certainly accommodate last minute trips, subject to guide availability, please plan well ahead if you have a specific date in mind. All trips are customized to your specific needs and goals.

If you’re an experienced climber heading into town and need a climbing guide or partner, give us a call.

All participants will need to fill out our regular online waiver and our confidential medical information form.

Scroll down for options and pricing below.

Call or text Wills Young at 760-920-5348 any time for more information.

OPTIONS

Please note that anyone planning to climb must be athletic and in good health as even the easiest climbs are extremely strenuous.

For shorter (3hr) trips, we will go to Sunset Rock, close to Chattanooga, where we set up top-ropes for people based on their level of skill/experience. This area is the best area for people who are beginner to intermediate climbers (climbs will be 5.7 and up). The goal of the trips, typically, will be to get clients climbing as much as possible, so they can think about the climbs, and have fun, without worrying about any of the logistics. This is also a great area for longer trips as there are dozens of great climbs in the 5.7 to 5.9 range, and for those looking for a tougher challenge there are some good climbs at 5.10 and 5.11.

As another option, Foster Falls is a short 45-minute drive away. We have a five-hour minimum for trips here. This is an extensive area that is good for those climbing from an intermediate to a more advanced level (there are just a few suitable climbs around 5.8/5.9 but additional options are 5.10 and up). Anyone looking to climb primarily in the 5.10 and up range should consider this option.

For boulderers, the place to go is Stone Fort, up on Mowbray Mountain. This area with its hundreds of boulder problems runs along a small wooded cliff-line adjacent to a golf course, and we park at the club house there. We will supply pads and show you to the best climbs for your level and taste. There is an additional entry fee of around $9 required for trips here that is charged by the club owners.

GUIDE RATES

3-hour trips are $255 for one or two people; additional participants $90.

4-hour trips are $320 for one or two people; additional participants $110.

5-hour trips are $375 for one or two people; additional participants $130.

$25 supplemental fee for climbing at Foster Falls.

$40 supplemental fee for instruction in traditional lead climbing and anchor-building.

The hourly trip time is car-to-car (from the destination parking lot).

We supply all equipment that clients don’t already have, other than climbing shoes, and you can rent those if you don’t already have them. Just be sure to let us know in advance.

We will be happy to provide instruction on any aspect of climbing, including climbing technique, use of equipment, anchor building, preparation for AMGA certification, etc. Learn how to place gear and use ropes yourself, whether that’s by traditional climbing at Sunset, or sport climbing at Foster Falls. We also offer bouldering instruction and coaching (bouldering pads supplied) with trips to Stone Fort.

“With over 40 years climbing, I have a lot to teach, and enjoy working with people who want to learn” — Wills Young.

CLIMBING GUIDES

Lisa & Wills are American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) certified single pitch instructors. Our climbing guide service is fully insured and operates to the highest possible standards with all necessary permitting. Head guides and owners of Synergy Climbing, Lisa Rands and Wills Young are world-renowned rock climbers and climbing coaches with over 60 years experience between them.

Lisa Rands

As a guide, I enjoy working with clients who are motivated to improve their skills and push themselves toward new goals. I particularly like to work with people to improve their movement technique.

As a professional climber for 25+ years I have learned that details matter. With experience comes the ability to notice those details–details that most other coaches won’t notice. I work with customers to address deficiencies in their technique, their training, or their approach to the climbs they want to achieve and help them to reach their goals.

I also have expertise in assessing injuries and advising on injury prevention and control through appropriate stretching and exercises. Outside, I bring the decades of knowledge that you just cannot get from a textbook, and a thorough understanding of all aspects of climbing, gleaned from personal experience and from world-class experts who have mentored me in the past.

Wills Young

As a guide, I enjoy working with all my clients! We typically have a lot of fun. I especially like to work with people who have a sense of humor and are willing to challenge themselves. With expert direction and advice I have found that nearly all of my clients will accomplish more than they thought they could.

I have a huge amount of experience working with beginners, both adults and children, and enough patience to handle any situation. At the same time I can teach new skills to veteran climbers. So, if you are looking to get into “trad” climbing and want to know how to build anchors, to rappel with a back-up, to lead and place your own “cams” and “stoppers,” or if you’re not sure what you want, and need to know what your options are, I can help.

As an experienced coach to an elite climbing team including nationals-level competitors, I have also worked with many youth athletes who are climbing at a high level for their age (or for any age for that matter). I can coach/guide top youth athletes, whether sport climbing or bouldering.

OUTDOOR GUIDING