Sunday, October 10

RoctoberFest

The last few days have rapidly flown by.. after pounding 1,200 miles of highway we arrived at the Red just in time for RoctoberFest and all of its frenzied glory. Between all the events, seeing friends, getting settled in and trying to get out climbing we've been going basically non-stop. RoctoberFest has now come and gone.. Although I've yet to hear any official numbers on how much mortgage money the event was able to raise, the crowds have been huge.
sunset over Kansas
I put on a slide-show with Sam Elias and Emily Harrington in Lexington on Thursday which was generously sponsored by Arcteryx, and since then Paige and I have been taking care of the Sportiva booth at the vendor village right at Roctoberfest headquarters.. showing off the new Python and hearing nothing but rave reviews from our shoe demo. Clinics, indoor and outdoor comps, movies, slide-shows, games, food and swag were all part of this massive three day event at America's best sport climbing venue. I'd definitely suggest checking it out if you have not already.
slide-show at Phillip Gall's
emily looking sketchy
the BEST
kids LOVE bouncy stuff
the festival...
In-between all of this we have managed to climb as well, although this unseasonable heat has been a MAJOR buzz kill. I did onsight 'Dirty Smelly Hippie' 13b and 'Spunk' 13a along with getting an effort on the incredible 'Golden Ticket' 5.14+. It took one solid work session for me just to clean this beast of endless spiderwebs and horrifying insects of all kinds. On my first (climbing) attempt, I was able to piece the bottom together nicely- a really amazing wall of deadpoints and lock-offs throughout thin pockets and the occasional rest. Then, abruptly you encounter a full-on dyno, followed by a very difficult boulder problem with some nice 13- climbing to finish. I found the bouldery section to be quite reachy, and could not put together a suitable solution on my first try. I'm hopeful that I can however, and stoked to give it another effort as soon as the temperatures drop below 80 - the route is seriously beautiful.
Adam Taylor on the Golden Ticket
At the moment I'm nursing a bit of a cold, which is well timed- I'd rather rest and relax while the temp are so oppressive.. it's supposed to cool off mid-week. Cheers!