[Hide Comment] The Southeastern Climbers Coalition has signed a contract to purchase what is roughly the "middle section" of Steele, to-wit, from the Walk down gulley near the Rinkles radio tower down to Relevation Wall, which is just shy of Graham's Crack area...

until we give the go ahead, this place is still off limits to climbing.

Although we have until June 26th to close, we will try and get it opened ahead of time to enjoy it before it gets too toasty...

if you have any questions, contact someone at the scc board at seclimbers.org or shoot me an email at guslf100@aol.com

ciao
gus
scc bd Mar 5, 2009

[Hide Comment] im supa stoked..ready for a trail big enough for a bouldering pad haha. Mar 10, 2009

[Hide Comment] haha, ben u must have a laid back job too. ur on here all day Mar 11, 2009

[Hide Comment] Wow, thanks for working to open this area. It was the hotbed of Southern climbing in the early to mid-80s with folks coming from Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida, in addition to the nearer locations. I can't wait to revisit. I'll make a trip just to climb there. Mar 13, 2009

[Hide Comment] SCC closed the deal last Friday. Sep 8, 2009

[Hide Comment] NOTE: PLEASE REFRAIN FROM USING THE WOLF WALL GULLY. IT IS BEAUTIFUL FRAGILE EARTH!! Jan 31, 2011

[Hide Comment] Best crag in the SE! Mar 29, 2013

[Hide Comment] Going to birmingham for a little while this week... Was hoping to do some TR soloing, does Steele have accessible TR anchors?

Or am I better off grabbing my beanie and going to horsepens? May 13, 2013

[Hide Comment] Brannen....

If you can lead solo the 5.8 on the right end of the Wolfe Wall, or scramble up the chimney behind (loose/dangerous) you'll be able to rig something. Wolfe Wall anchors are challenging to access without a lead to access the top.

More suitable would be the Revelations Wall to the climber's right of Wolfe Wall and the Hot Wing Buttress....left of Graham's Crack area, which is not on SCC land. There is a perfect gully behind and to the left which you can scramble up to rig a TR off of any of the numerous trees. This section of cliffline has not been splattered with ring anchors. Odd, since this is the biggest portion of SCC-owned land, but will likely occur soon enough. May 14, 2013

[Hide Comment] Updates....

As of May 2014, the SCC has had the rest of the road paved - almost to the parking lot. Virtually any vehicle should be able to access Steele, now.

The trail to Wolfe Wall has been completely updated with new steps installed by the Access Fund and the Jeep Conservation Team.
Click here. accessfund.org/site/c.tmL5K…

The SCC has installed a luxurious, weatherproof composting outhouse near the parking lot. Please use this and add a scoop of sawdust as required. Pee in the woods. This will help keep Steele clean and your dogs out of terrible messes. May 8, 2014

[Hide Comment] Hey guys,

Does anyone know if you can toprope these routes? They are all listed as TRAD, so I didn't know if the layout of the area prevented you from hiking to the top and setting up TR anchors and climbing that way.

Thanks! Nov 13, 2014

[Hide Comment] The Revelation Wall is perfect for top roping. You have to rig from trees, but there are many firm pine trees in the vicinity. There is an easy walk up via a corridor behind and left of the wall.

Otherwise, it's sort of difficult to set TRs on many of the routes. Wolfe Wall can be scrambled up to, but it's challenging and better to lead a route first.

Other walls are broken by terraces or gullies, in some cases. Several of these spots allow access to the top of the cliff. That said, these instances are somewhat hard to decipher if you don't have pretty good knowledge of the area.

Nearby Palisades is also very friendly for TRing. Nov 14, 2014

[Hide Comment] Climbing actually began at Steele in the late 1960's with Tommy Taylor, Graham Wilson (Graham Crack) and Jack Pierce as the main developers. Basically all of the old soft ring pitons and the majority of the button head Rawl bolts were installed by these guys up until about 1973. Dr. Joseph Sherrill climbed extensively with Graham and Tommy and was an important player in the early and mid 1970's because he became a link between the old and what would be the new generation climbers of that time. Joe drew topos of many of the early routes and even wrote an article for a magazine but decided not to submit it. He also made a panoramic photo of the cliff that covered routes from Oak Tree Direct all the way to Coming Attractions on the Cloudy Day ledge. The photo was posted in his climbing shop Blue Water Outdoor Equipment until he sold the shop to Alabama Outdoors in the early 1980's. Around 1975 I met Todd Gregory who made important contributions to new routes at Steele, The Sting and The Wisdom come to mind. Todd wrote a brief summary and submitted some photos of Steele to Mountain magazine. This would be the first published documentation of climbing at Steele that I'm aware of. Traditionally climbers in the south were reluctant to publicize areas as a preemptive attempt to avoid the problems caused by unregulated use which is what happened at Steele by the late 1980's. Dec 2, 2014