A big thanks to Caillum Smith from Preserved Light Photography www.preservedlight.com for the beauty poster again this year!
Here we go. This year marks the 5th annual Rock the Blocs Boulderfest in the Boulderfields, Kelowna. As always, it's about locals sharing what is now one of the largest and best bouldering areas in this part of North America, and the fest has become what is likely the largest outdoor bouldering competition in Canada. We love this event and what it's all about.
Below you'll find all the key beta and registration for the 5th 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 big again, so come on out and see what it's all about!
Here are the basics...
When: Saturday, June 17th and Sunday, June 18th
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 17th with Sunday, June 18th 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. https://goo.gl/forms/0Ymo00ZPMRS3jBWJ3
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.
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, 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). I also wouldn't be surprised to see some impromptu crash-pad wrestling as the evening unfolds?
Logistics- Camping at the Fields is free as always. If competing, you'll need a Boulderfields bouldering guide 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 and True Outdoors), 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! 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.
***Please also note that there is a bike race of over 400 people occurring on Gillard FSR on Saturday, and they will be on the road by about 8:15am, so it is best for Rock the Blocs traffic to be traveling on Gillard by 8am, or you may experience delays getting to 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 this year, Climb On from Squamish will also have pads for rent at the fest. Book them early if you need them to make sure you've got one for the fest. http://www.gneissclimbing.com/ http://climbonsquamish.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. https://goo.gl/forms/0Ymo00ZPMRS3jBWJ3
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 outdoor bouldering basics, boulder problem development and considerations, introduction to bouldering, women's bouldering, guided tours, flora and fauna, etc. This year, we also have an acro-yoga clinic offering from the talented duo of Alexandria and Andreas from Vancouver. Please register on the same form as the competition registration https://goo.gl/forms/0Ymo00ZPMRS3jBWJ3
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.
If you'd like any more info, please email me (Andy) at okbouldering@gmail.com
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.
