Last Friday, on June 3^rd, two Chattanooga-based climbers, Dan Rose and Max Poppel, cut the ribbon to The Crash Pad, a boutique hostel located just minutes from downtown Chattanooga. The Crash Pad caters to outdoor enthusiasts like climbers, trail runners or mountain bikers, or anyone looking to check out Chattanooga on a budget. While its reach is a broad range of user groups, its inspiration came from the desire to give climbers a better place to stay.

Once called the Boulder of the East by the city’s mayor, Chattanooga has gained notoriety as a southeastern climbing mecca for its stellar sandstone and copious amounts of rocks. Recent efforts by the Southeastern Climbers Coalition, Access Fund and key individuals have helped stimulate the development of many areas that sit, mostly, on privately owned land. But what the community didn’t have was a centralized place to crash for those passing through.

“Chattanooga lacked a basecamp for traveling climbers,” says Rose.

Chattanooga has seen an increase in climbers over the past few years in part due to the recent media coverage and the addition of new guidebooks to once unpublished areas. Within a thirty minute radius of Chattanooga, climbers can find sport, trad and bouldering areas. However, many travelers found the accommodations, like nearby hotels, to be either too expensive or the camping, especially in the winter months, to be inconvenient and sparse at best.

“We’re hoping The Crash Pad will fill that niche for Chattanooga, but also be a place for people to hang,” says Poppel.

Rose and Poppel note that iconic climbing areas like Yosemite and the Red River Gorge have community gathering spots on similar iconic status, but Chattanooga didn’t have this type of centralized meeting place.

“Why should Chattanooga be any different?”  Says Rose.

The duo made various trips throughout the country and abroad researching different hostels. While many hostels they visited were close to urban areas, only a handful, if that, were geared towards climbers and outdoor enthusiasts. The Boulder International Hostel is one of just a few in the United States.

The first of its kind in this rising climbing destination, The Crash Pad is also unique for its completely new structure, which is tracking for LEED Gold Certification. The Crash Pad also boasts woodworking, concrete and glasswork in the building done by local artists and artisans. Many structures were used from reclaimed materials like wood from a small building that stood on the ground prior, and glasswork materials reclaimed from beer bottles that had littered the lot.

The Crash Pad holds between 30-40 people. Bunks are $27 a night and private rooms are $70. Prices include breakfast, coffee, Wifi, computer access and other amenities, like linens.  The hostel is located behind a local bakery and brewpub in Southside, and downtown is less than five minutes away.

For more information on The Crash Pad, visit: www.crashpadchattanooga.com.

Story by Whitney Boland