The Rock the Blocs Boulderfest - That's What Bouldering Is
The Rock the Blocs Boulderfest is a 3rd annual bouldering festival was created in 2013 by a local climber Andy White as a way to showcase and promote the world-class bouldering in the Boulderfields (near Kelowna, BC, Canada) while also getting the climbing community together for a great time. The Boulderfields is a massive boulder field caused by an ancient geologic collapse. This has left a huge playground for boulderers, filled with thousands upon thousands of boulders and seemingly limitless potential for new lines. With the area experiencing a bouldering development boom over the last 5 years or so, Rock the Blocs has become a perfect way to share the blooming destination with others. So mark your calendars, the Rock the Blocs Boulderfest is coming back to the Boulderfields!
Andy has consistently been promoting and developing the region and the sport and without doubt he's been the driving force in the massive development of the Okanagan bouldering scene. We definitely recommend to check this guy out - if you want to know more about what Andy represents watch The Fields - a short documentary film following Andy's story below.
November 4, 2023 – Val Verzasca, Switzerland – The Verzasca Dam, an engineering marvel nestled in the picturesque Val Verzasca of Switzerland that stands 220 meters tall, became the stage for the climbing elite. Red Bull Dual Ascent, now in its
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But back to the Boulderfest. The festival itself involves a weekend of bouldering competition and area development/ maintenance aimed at getting climbers onto the incredible rock of The Boulderfields and providing an opportunity to improve the area. Since the inaugural year, the festival has grown quickly. Attendance and sponsorship more than doubled last year with about 150 climbers coming from all over the world to participate, and this year is looking to be even bigger.
With bouldering in the Okanagan region of BC booming, the Rock the Blocs Boulderfest in the Boulderfields is a great way for people to experience the hype. Come out and see what all the hype is about! Below you'll find everything you need to know about this great event.
Here are the basics...
When: Saturday, June 20th and Sunday, June 21st
Where: The Boulderfields- Kelowna, BC
What: A festival including a bouldering competition/ area development projects aimed at getting the climbing community together for a whole lot of fun.
Cost: Free, but donations to the Okanagan Bouldering Development Fund are much appreciated
The Specifics...
Bouldering Competition- Saturday, June 20th with Sunday, June 21st as a backup day in case of poor weather
Time: The rules meeting/ explanation of the competition will be held at 9:45am 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+)
To register, email Andy at okbouldering@gmail.com and let him know your name and category
Explanation/ Scoring: Essentially, we hand pick over 100 (out of the more than 800+ established lines) of the best problems in the Boulderfields from V0-V12 and projects above for competitors to crank on for the day. The goal is to send your top 5 problems by the end of the comp.
Prizes: There are prizes for the winners in each category, plus a bunch of draw prizes up for grabs for all competitors/ volunteers involved in the festival.
Extras: Post-event social on Saturday night (please bring whatever food and beverage you desire). It wouldn't be surprising 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. There will be some for sale at the fest (and as always they are for sale at Beyond The Crux Climbing Gym and True Outdoors), and there will be local developers 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 enough parking for everyone (look for the Rock the Blocs Carpoolers group on FB)! There will also be a limited number of loaner crash pads available for those without, still, if you don't have a pad, just get to the fest and there will be support to make sure you can get out climbing with someone!
Development Projects: There are 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.
Volunteers: If you would like to come up and help out with the day, we have a number of things that we could use a great deal of help with.
Clinics: There are a number of very experienced local boulderers willing to offer clinics on Sunday (providing the comp proceeds on Saturday) on topics such as outdoor bouldering basics, boulder problem development and considerations, improving technique, an intro to the Fields, etc.
If you'd like any more info or are interested in clinics, volunteering, or helping with development projects, please email Andy at okbouldering@gmail.com
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