Katie Brown, world-renowned climbing phenom, just signed with New England Ropes. Katie first surfaced in climbing headlines more than a decade ago as a wonder child. All grown up now, she’ll rep Maxim and New England Ropes on the rock and at comps, in addition to assisting in new product development. Congrats, Katie!

GROOVY BABY!

It’s Vegas. It’s Friday night. And it’s raining. Rain is never really an issue in Vegas, with the web of covered walkways and casinos. In fact, everything in Vegas is designed to avoid the realities of the outside world. You could very easily spend an entire weekend in Vegas and never see daylight. There’s absolutely nothing to dampen your spirits, apart from betting on black 8, and landing red 6.

After hitching a ride with Team Mad Rock, I arrived at Red Rocks. It’s still Friday night. And it’s still raining. Despite our proximity to the lights and glamour of The Strip, the opening night at Mountain Gear’s 2^nd Annual Rendezvous was low-key. The black jack table had to wait, as we set up camp at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park (the event’s headquarters) and Red Rock Canyon Group Campground. The climbers who had arrived earlier chose to huddle in their tents rather than brave the cold canyon evening. Peter Croft and Tommy Caldwell were our Siegfried and Roy for the evening, as they introducing a star-studded roster of climbers who were down to lead the clinics for the weekend.

Camp Mad Rock was my home for Friday night. Thankfully, come Saturday morning, the air at Camp Mad Rock shifted from the smell of damp climbing shoes to the smell of fresh pancakes and coffee. After breakfast we boarded buses and vans and headed off to the pull-outs and meeting places. More than thirty elite climbers awaited the 330 climbers at the First and Second Pull-outs, Calico Basin, Willow Spring, and Sandstone Quarry. It seemed that the biggest crowd pullers were: Tommy Caldwell, Beth Rodden, Peter Croft, Mark Synnott, and Shelly Presson-Dunbar. Once we had all assembled, like a croupier to his dice, the athletes gathered their climbers and headed off to play.

We trekked to our first climb at Stone Wall, like gamblers lured to the roulette wheel. It wasn’t long before the day’s rain began. Some groups, like Roxanna Brock’s Advanced Sport Technique, were lucky enough to be climbing in overhanging areas, so their rock remained fairly dry. Others were less fortunate, including Scott Cory’s Sport Climbing, where I spent my morning.

Scott’s clinic exemplified the age-defying nature of climbing. The participants, one of whom could have easily been Scott’s father, gave the modest wunderkind (Scott is only fourteen) their undivided attention. Scott shrugged off the rain showers, as he demonstrated proper clipping technique. None of the climbers at Stone Wall let the rain get in the way of having a good time and learning a ton of new techniques.

Despite the continued downpour, a good amount of people attended Saturday evening’s party. The all-you-can-eat buffet certainly helped to draw hungry climbers out from under the sponsor tents, as did Greg Child’s slide show. The auction benefiting the Access Fund, the American Alpine Club, and ASCA was a great success, raising over $1600. The main event of the evening was Timmy O’Neill. He’s to climbing rendezvous what Elvis is to Vegas: the star of the show. His presentation really brought everyone out. He had ‘enhanced’ Mountain Gear’s descriptions of the athletes with his own commentary and photos. In between the scheduled events, we danced between the rain-drops while others huddled around the fire. Everyone went to bed that night dreaming of a sunny Sunday.

Thankfully, Sunday was sunny, and the temperature rose slowly through the day (I even managed a sun burn while at Lauren Lee’s Women’s Climbing Clinic at Calico Basin’s Cannibal Crag). Thanks to Lauren’s infectious enthusiasm, within a half hour our group had gone from a mix of climbers to a group of seemingly old friends out for a day of climbing. The participants’ varied in climbing experience – from a few months to several years. When the clinic was over all of the climbers hadn’t yet gotten to try all of the routes, so Lauren offered to stay and drive everyone back to the main event herself. After another hour we exchanged email addresses, squashed into Lauren’s car, and headed back to Spring Mountain.

By the time we got back to Camp Mad Rock, the Rendezvous was winding down. Sponsor tents were all but packed away. With the sun finally shining, athletes and participants relaxed on the grass, finally stretching out and enjoying the sun. The Rendezvous epitomized the essence of the climbing community: in the end, it didn’t matter if you were a clinic instructor or a novice climber, if you were under twenty or over fifty. All that mattered was that you were there, and that you loved climbing.

PARTY INTERNATIONAL

The climbing party never stops. If you missed the Red Rock Rendezvous or the season’s other events, there’s another wild weekend coming up. Lander, Wyoming is hosting the 12^th International Climbers’ Festival from July 7-10. Lynn Hill will be the keynote speaker, and will also host a sport climbing clinic. Arno Ilgner will share his proven mental techniques in two clinics – one for boulderers and one for roped climbers while Kevin Thaw presents his latest film. There will be a trade fair, a film festival, partying, and, of course, climbing. Tickets are $40, but if you pay up before June 1 you get a 10% discount, so hurry on over to www.climbersfestival.org!

ACCESS, ACCESS, ACCESS

If location, location, location is the mantra of developers, then access, access, access is the climbers’ equivalent. In UCMAG#04 we reported rumors that access to Oak Flat, home of the Phoenix Boulder Blast and some of Arizona’s best climbing, was being threatened by miners. Current status is this: Resolution Copper Company (RCC) is understood to be lobbying against an executive order protecting the area through a proposed land exchange bill. The Access Fund has reported that, if enacted, this bill could lead to the largest climbing closure in history. The Access Fund and Friends of Queen Creek believe that the copper under Oak Flat can be mined without destroying the surface. Both organizations are working hard: forming coalitions, lobbying congressmen, local officials, and other industry leaders; as well as consulting extensively with experienced mining engineers and public interest law groups who specialize in mining issues. For more information log onto the Access Fund website www.accessfund.org and www.friendsofqueenscreek.com.

POSTER CHILD

The Access Fund’s Boulder Project is launching a new membership campaign, targetting gym to crag climbers. The new campaign brings in some fresh new ads and a three posters series. Starting with UCMAG#05, the posters will be exclusively available in copies of UCMAG. Grab the first poster in this issue, it’s somewhere around page 99!

24 HOURS FOREVER

From noon April 22 to noon April 23, dedicated climbers raised over $8000 for tsunami relief in Creativethatcares’ first annual 24 Hours of Climbing fundraiser. Together, participants at the Redmond Vertical World climbed over 176,000 vertical feet – the equivalent of climbing Mt. Everest 6 times, Mt. Rainier 12 times, or more than 33 vertical miles! Even though the event was an overwhelming success this year, Creativethatcares is already looking at linking up with gyms across the country to make next year’s event bigger and better. To get your 24 Hours of Climbing in next year or for more info on this year’s event check out www.creativethatcares.org.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

They say that timing is everything and whoever they are, they are right! FORTRESS™ watches are scheduled to launch this summer into what they describe as the "adrenaline outdoor” sports of climbing, kayaking and mountain biking. The line is rumored to be quartz analogue built from marine grade stainless steel and depth tested to 330ft. With a bulletproof construction designed to withstand all the excesses you can throw at it, this tick tock bling will survive the fiercest rock slapping.

COOPERS ROCK

The Coopers Rock Regional Climbers’ Coalition celebrated its inauguration with a kick-ass kick-off party April 10^th. The group aims to promote and protect climbing in Coopers Rock State Forest, West Virginia’s best bouldering area with trail clean-up days and events designed to educate and entertain. Discover Coopers Rock and the CRRCC at www.coopersrockclimbers.org.

SENDFEST

In conjunction with the Outdoor Retailer trade show and The Front Climbing Club, the first-ever SENDFEST will be held from August 12^th to 14^th. The event will feature national and international rock climbing champions competing for cash and glory under the beautiful Utah sky. All events are public and free to spectators and the Final events will be held on outdoor artificial climbing walls. The organzier, Scott Rennak, promises spectacular climbing action with Pro Bouldering formats including Onsight, Redpoint, Speed and Freestyle. The specific schedule will be announced any day. The event website contains all pertinent information including travel arrangements, registration details and official rules: www.SENDFEST.com.

Link-ups
http://www.8a.nu
http://www.boldering.com
http://www.ukclimbing.com
http://bleau.info/
http://www.australianbouldering.com/
http://www.climbing.com.au/
http://www.hongkongclimbing.com/
http://www.0friction.com/
http://www.cragx.com/
http://www.udini.de/
http://www.planetfear.com/
http://www.planetmountain.com/English/home.html
http://www.johnnydawes.com/
http://www.drtopo.com/
http://www.johngill.net/
http://www.climb.co.za/
http://www.vertvideo.com/
http://www.bouldering.co.za/
http://www.modump.com/
http://www.uiaa.ch/index.aspx
http://www.prana.com/
https://www.revolutionclimbing.com/main.html
http://www.atomikclimbingholds.com/
http://www.benmoon.co.uk/
http://www.evolvesports.com/index.htm
http://www.mammut.ch

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