Rock the Blocs 2016 Recap

Flashback to 4 years ago. On the way home from another carefree Leavenworth trip, I hatched an idea to host a bouldering festival in The Boulderfields. At that point, we were heavy into the development of the area and felt like it was time to share it with more than just the local crowd. Minutes after getting home, I floated the idea to Jay and not much later, all the local developers of the day were ready to roll. In June of that year, 70 or so stoked people made their ways into the Fields for a day of competition, fun, and excitement. The vibe was energetic and infectious, and we had a blast!

Flash forward 4 years to last weekend. The Fields parking lot was full and despite the threat of rain all day Saturday, people flocked to this year's RTB in record numbers. With over 200 participants, and by far the strongest field of competitors ever, Rock the Blocs was in full effect again! People traveled from all over Canada, the US, and Mexico, and we had great crews from Vancouver, Calgary, Lethbridge, and of course, the Okanagan. I believe that RTB may be the largest outdoor bouldering competition/ festival in Canada at this point and with the scorecards that were handed in on Saturday, it's gotta be the strongest. Even with the midday rain that forced an early end to the competition, the vibe of the festival was once again incredible. People were having a great time, crushing hard, trying tons of new problems, and making the boulders look good!

For four years now, I've been trying to put my finger on what it is about RTB that makes it so fun and special. The scene at the fest is unlike anything I've ever seen before. It's quite obvious that there is a competition happening, but at the same time, it's not obvious at all. The positive energy, support, mutual celebration, exploration, excitement, etc really take over the event, and unless you've experienced it, it's really hard to pinpoint what the experience is really like. Even after 4 years, I still have a tough time putting the great times at RTB into words. It's an event that we look forward to all year and put a lot of love into running. We just truly love sharing the Fields with other people and RTB lets us do that.




Anyway, as I said, this year was a HUGE year for the fest with the biggest participation ever, the hardest lines sent, and the largest sponsorship we've ever had.



We started the day earlier than normal, and this decision was made after a few days of anxious weather watching by the organizing crew, and a final call on Friday morning. We figured if it was gonna rain, we'd try and beat it. Luckily it worked out pretty well and with the competition starting at 8am, competitors had about 4 and a half hours before we blew the horn on the account of rain. That was enough time to see some incredible things happen.



First, this year, we decided to really open the comp up to new lines and included new gems from all over the Fields. We added more guides to the competition so that we could get people to these lines and our shiny new radios helped us keep things moving. It was amazing to see people all over the Fields crushing lines that may only get an attempt or 2 a year. On top of that, some lines saw their first repeats ever! Second, we got to watch what the new breed of indoor and World Cup competitors can do when they hit up RTB. Fresh off the Vail World Cup, our eventual winners (Eric Sethna and Alannah Yip) as well as other strong youngsters put together scorecards that blew those of previous years out of the water. Third, we once again got to move around and have a good look at the energy of the fest and how it all unfolded. This never ceases to amaze me because although we organize this beast, it's the climbers that really bring it to life.I always love to see everyone enjoying their time together in the Fields. That's what this fest has been about since the start.




At about 12:30pm we blew the horn and called the competition for safety reasons (that blacklichen is like ice when it's wet!). Soon after, the scorecards started piling in and we had winners for all categories. A pretty impressive list for sure...

Men's Open
1st- Eric Sethna (Driven- V11, Friends with Benefits Low- V10 (Flash), Detour- V10 (Flash)
2nd- Scott Eveleigh
3rd- Mark Derksen


Women's Open
1st- Alannah Yip (Detour- V10, Just Go Climb- V9/10, Shark Biscuit- V7)
2nd- Alyssa Weber
3rd- Staci White

Men's Masters
1st- Big Daddy Trent Hoover
2nd- Derek Salmon

Men's Intermediate
1st- Robson Wong
2nd- Justin Philips
3rd- Luke Warkotsch

Women's Intermediate
1st- Caroline Irvine
2nd- Ashlee Schmaltz
3rd- Vanessa Huegel

Men's Beginner
1st- Michael Franklin
2nd- Evan Johaneson
3rd- Stephan Pepin

Women's Beginner
1st- Vanja Scekic
2nd- Aletha Rice
3rd- Kira Anderson

Youth
1st- TJ Foley
2nd- Lola Vaaranpaa
3rd- Arya Culver




Photo Comp
This year, we also added a photo competition to the fest. We ended up with some terrific submissions, and I think with more rain-free time this category would have run even smoother and had more submissions. Regardless, we had a great winner for the first RTB photo contest and that was Jessalyn's baby climbing shot.

While day 2 of the fest wasn't our usual, more relaxed day of guided tours, clinics and just plain good climbing in the Fields, we were lucky enough to throw together a fun day of bouldering at gneiss climbing gym with Chris opening the doors for the community as he always does. There was again a great turn-out for this.


I'd also like to pass along some huge thanks to the guides and organizers for RTB. Planning for this event starts as early as January each year and without this dedicated group of local developers/ Okanagan Bouldering Society members, this event would not get off the ground. In fact, this group has already started planning for next year and has some ideas to make the fest even more of a riot! On top of that, a big thanks goes out to our safety squad who were ready to deal with any medical issues (but luckily didn't have to), so thanks Chrissy, Jessalyn, and Mike! And, who could forget our sponsors? What a list of supporters we had this year. They provided us with so much amazing prizing that I had a hell of a time giving it all away on Saturday. You guys are amazing! Here's a list of our 20 or so sponsors!

Blurr Stuff, Gneiss Climbing, Mad Rock Canada, True Outdoors, Preserved Light Photography, The Rock Garden Climbing Center, Flashed, MEC, Outside All Day, Friction Labs, The Hive, frE Clothing, Blue Lotus Shiatsu, Redpoint Climbing Holds, Prosper's Garage, Butora Canada, Okanagan Health and Performance, Hoodo Adventures, Beyond the Crux Climbing Gym

Finally, I'd like to say a massive thanks to all the participants at RTB 2016 for donating to the Okanagan Bouldering Society and taking such good care of The Boulderfields. Aaron and I drove up to the Fields on Sunday morning and I was amazed at how clean the parking lot was. Add in the fact that the main bouldering areas look no different than they did before the fest and I'm pretty proud to say I'm part of such a conscious and responsible community.