OOOOOOOOOOH YEEEEEEEEAH! Here we go again. Rock the Blocs #7 comin' at ya! 7 seasons ago, we got the ball rolling on this bouldering festival in Kelowna's Boulderfields, and to this day, we still get all fired up about it!
Since the beginning, this fest has been about local developers engaging the bouldering community, spreading a bit of that Okanagan community love, and sharing what is one of the largest and best bouldering areas in this part of North America. With such great support over the years, Rock the Blocs has become the largest outdoor bouldering competitions in Canada, and local developers and organizers look forward to this event every year. We love this event and what it's all about.
Below you'll find all the key beta and registration for the 7th annual Rock the Blocs Boulderfest, once again brought to you by the Okanagan Bouldering Society. I love how many people get psyched for this event every year and the amount of people asking months in advance about dates. This year's fest is looking even bigger again, so come on out and see what it's all about!
Here are the basics...
When: Saturday, June 22nd and Sunday, June 23rd
Where: The Boulderfields- Kelowna, BC
What: A festival including a bouldering competition/ area development projects/ clinics aimed at getting the climbing community together for a whole lot of fun.
Cost: FREE, but this is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Okanagan Bouldering Society (cough, cough, the group that works hard to develop, preserve, and maintain access to bouldering areas around here), so donations and supporting the many, incredible raffle prizes are much appreciated
The Specifics...
Bouldering Competition- Saturday, June 22nd with Sunday, June 23rd as a backup day in case of poor weather. Assuming all goes well, clinics and tours occur on Sunday.
Time: The rules meeting/ explanation of the competition will be held at 9:45am on Saturday with the competition starting at 10am and finishing for the day at 5pm. Prizes will be awarded following the comp.
Categories:
Men- Beginner (V0-V2), Intermediate (V3-V6), Open (V7+)
Women- Beginner (V0-V1), Intermediate (V2-V4), Open (V5+)
Masters Men and Women (Age 40+)
Kids (Age 14 and below)
Registration:
To enter, please follow this link and submit your details.
Explanation/ Scoring: Essentially, we hand pick over 100 of the best or newest problems in the Boulderfields from V0-V13+, and projects above, for competitors to crank on for the day. The goal is to send your top 3 problems (open) or top 5 problems (all other categories) by the end of the comp. Once again this year, we'll have local developers guiding people around The Fields to help get them where they want to go.
Prizes: Because of our amazing sponsors, there are tons of prizes up for grabs throughout the festival. There are prizes for category winners, big-ticket raffle prizes (proceeds supporting The Okanagan Bouldering Society), and a bunch of draw prizes up for grabs for all competitors/ volunteers/ participants involved in the festival.
Extras- While we calculate final scores on Saturday, enjoy a number of events such as the pull-up contest, pad toss, pinch comp, etc. There's also the usual post-event social on Saturday night (please bring whatever food and beverage you desire).
Logistics- Camping at the Fields is free as always. However, The Fields is now a provincial rec site with the Okanagan Bouldering Society as a managing partner. We ask that people camp in existing spaces as much as possible and don't lumberjack new spots. If competing, you'll need a new Okanagan Bouldering guidebook to get around to the problems. Beg, borrow, steal, just get one, so you can find all the goodies. I'll have some for sale at the fest (and they are for sale at Gneiss Climbing Gym, MEC, and Beyond the Crux in Kelowna, The Rock Garden and Valhalla Pure Outfitters in Vernon, and Hoodoo Adventures in Penticton, as well as a number of places around BC, Alberta, and Washington State), and we'll have a number of locals guiding people to the newer/ harder lines not listed in the guide. Please also don't forget to carpool up to the Fields as much as possible to minimize our impact and to ensure we have enough parking for everyone! We will have volunteers helping with parking again this year, and we ask that people follow their lead to load up the parking lot and park tight against the side of the approach road. Parking will be tight!!! Oh yeah, don't forget to bring the dolla dolla bills (cash) to support the bouldering society and get your tickets for the awesome raffle prizes.
Okanagan Bouldering Guidebook (shameless plug)- As mentioned above, the comprehensive guidebook for bouldering in the Okanagan Valley, including 1800 problems in 9 locations (with The Fields being the largest of these), will be used to provide all the info on the problems in the competition on Saturday. They are sold for $45, so if you don't have one, borrow, share, or snag one before or at the fest.
Development Projects- We have a number of projects in mind for this year's festival, so if you're not too keen on competing on Saturday, please feel free to lend a hand with this year's projects.
Pad Rentals- Yes! You can now rent pads in Kelowna at Gneiss Climbing, and you may even be able to snag a pad from Flashed Climbing or Mad Rock Canada at the fest. Book pads early from Gneiss Climbing if you need them to make sure you've got one for the fest. http://www.gneissclimbing.com
Volunteers- If you would like to come up and help out with the festival, we have a number of things that we could use a great deal of help with. Please just sign up to help out on the registration form.
Clinics- There are a number of very experienced local boulderers who will offer clinics on Sunday (providing the comp proceeds on Saturday) on topics such as boulder problem development and considerations, introduction to bouldering, women's bouldering, guided tours, flora and fauna, etc. Please register on the same form as the competition registration
Oh yeah, I can't forget this...
Directions to The Boulderfields:
Start by finding your way to Summerhill Pyramid Winery in Kelowna. Once you've passed Summerhill Winery, continue up the hill on Chute Lk. Road. When you get to the top of the hill, Chute Lk. Road makes a sharp right turn. Instead of following the road to the right, go straight onto Upper Mission Dr. At this point, there will be a housing development on the right. All distances are calculated from here.
Drive up Upper Mission Drive for about 250m and turn left. You'll wind up a steep paved hill to the beginning of a gravel road. This is Gillard FSR. Turn left onto the gravel road. In a couple minutes, you'll pass the Kelowna Mtn. development on the right. Keep going on Gillard FSR generally trending uphill and southeast until you reach about the 8.8km mark. You don't need to turn off the main road at any point before this.
At this point, you'll come to a 4-way junction. Go left here onto the historic Kettle Valley Railway road. Follow this road passing through a rocky corridor, making a big loop around an old, burnt trestle on the left (Lorna Trestle), passing through another rocky corridor and eventually reaching a straight-away to the 10.6km mark. At this point, you are at The Fields road, and you turn left to descend to the parking lot.
At this point, you'll come to a 4-way junction. Go left here onto the historic Kettle Valley Railway road. Follow this road passing through a rocky corridor, making a big loop around an old, burnt trestle on the left (Lorna Trestle), passing through another rocky corridor and eventually reaching a straight-away to the 10.6km mark. At this point, you are at The Fields road, and you turn left to descend to the parking lot.
If you'd like any more info, please email me (Andy) at okbouldering@gmail.com
Sponsors- Amazing as always!
And, of course, we have to throw a huge shout out to this year's sponsors (and more to come). They are a massive help and we greatly appreciate their support.
Anyone know if there's plans for one this year? I couldn't make it last year, and I'd love to check it out.
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