Roctoberfest, horrah!
It’s been a pretty miserable summer here in Toronto, and pretty much everywhere else on the east coast. It’s either raining or hot and humid, not really ideal conditions for doing anything but sitting at home with a cold drink watching videos of Dani Andrada doing pinky pullups, or completely owning Picacho (9b+?).. i swear, the man should just change his name to The Hulk.
Whenever the weather lets up a bit, I’ve been heading down to The Glen for some bouldering, where I’ve been working on a neat little cave problem with my buddy Daren. I’m not really much of a boulderer, but the Glen is nice and shady, so on those hot humid days, it’s so much better than a sun baked crag. That being said, I still haven’t made it up to Lion’s Head this summer, what a shame. I am on the other hand absolutely frikin’ stoked about Rocktoberfest down in Red River Gorge. It was an absolute blast last year, and I will kick you in the left nut if you try to stop me from going this year. Day 1 last year went something like this:
Friday, 9am: Wake up. Decide to skip work to get a bit of rest for the long drive ahead…. try going back to sleep… fail. Get up, pack up stuff.
12pm: Have some food… harass John and Justin to get off work early so we can hit the road. They both agree, and we decide to head out at 3pm.
3pm: Get to John’s place, tip toe through hairballs and other indistinguishable floor ornaments (for lack of better word). Pack up car, call Justin. Find out that Justin’s stuck at work. Try to sleep… fail… again.
8pm: Meet Justin at Bar Burrito. Declare that they should be ranked somewhere above taco bell, but somewhere below “recommended eating”. (see notes on Transitive Properties of Inequalities“)
12:30am: Cross the US border at Detroit, drive through some shady neighbourhoods while trying to link back onto I-75. Realize that going for burritos immediately prior to sitting in a car with Justin is an olfactory nightmare.
4:30am: Hand off driving to Justin. Try to sleep… fail… again.
6:30am: Pull into Miguel’s Pizza. Try to sleep… fail… sigh.
7am: Breakfast
8am: Hiking up Roadside Attraction.
9am: At the top of my first route ready to clean anchors. Look at my harness, no draws, no atc.
9:03am: Guy on the route next to me tosses me an ATC and a sling. Thanks, random guy on route next to me… Game on!
9:06am: On the ground again. time for another 5 hour energy drink 
The rest of the weekend just got better and better with a great party, bouldering comp, free schwag, clinics, a screening of the Sharp End, and a whole bunch of money going toward the RRG Climbers Coalition. Be there, or be somewhere else. But be warned, if you’re somewhere else, you’re missing out.