So this blog is about a week late due to computer screwy-ness... I'm hoping that it stays on long enough to post this and hopefully all the awesome photos that I got from the Rendezvous.
I don't know about everyone else but I had a BLAST.
Headed over to Burnwood Thursday night to visit with some friends that were already camped out and the place was already packed. I'm used to there being a handful of tents set up and a few cars but it looked like everyone was so excited about the weekend that they showed up early to get the party started.
Friday was cold and rainy ... not great weather for climbing, but it cleared up a bit in the late afternoon so that everyone could walk around and browse the vendor tents, practice some slacklining, and start waiting in line for the best part of the first day of the Rendezvous ... Dessert-a-palooza!
The desserts this year were amazing; I made sure to sample quite a few as I was volunteering. There were some amazing little bug shaped cakes, strawberry chocolate mousse cake, rasberry chocolate tarts, key lime pie, rasberry bars, vegan chocolate mousse balls, oatmeal raisen cookies, rice krispy treats, and so much more. They were all delicious and original. I can't believe how much everyone went through. Some people even went through the line a few times! It was a lot of fun being behind the scenes for this part of the event and everyone did a great job of setting up and cleaning up (all those desserts made for a bit of a mess!)
After that I watched a bit of the slideshows and then crashed out to get ready for climbing on Saturday.
The weather was much better for the day of the comp. Still a little cold, but at least it was sunny. And I'll take a cooler day at the New over one of those unbearably hot, humid days. Headed out to Endless with some friends ... though I got a bit of a late start. I'm not much of a morning person and sleeping in was just soooo nice. Being that I had to be back at Burnwood at 4 to set up the No-Booze Bar and that I didn't get out to Endless till after 12 ... I didn't get much climbing in. I caught the biggest lead fall ever on a nut though, which was interesting. I was up at the first piece and my friend (who was climbing) was right next to me. Fortunately, he was ok. And Jim Donnini was right there to comment on the fall, which was kind of cool, and also amusing.
Then it was back to Burnwood to do some set up, but when I got there, several other volunteers had already gotten things started and had pretty much taken care of everything and were already serving sugary drinks to the people that were milling around.
So I took a little break before my shift started and wandered around. I got a free Chaco belt, which was pretty awesome. The Chaco rep was giving out a belt to everyone who showed up wearing their Chacos. Yay! I love their belts because they double back (does that make me an ultra-nerd?)
Serving drinks at the No-Booze bar is always amusing. You have the underage kids who can't drink and get all hopped up on sugar, the adults who just want a nice mocktail, and then the people who have brought their own "stuff" and want us to make mixers for them. It's generally pretty amusing seeing the variety of people who come by, especially as it gets later on in the night. Our tent was also set up perfectly to view the Dyno Comp. The holds looked pretty cool since they used glow in the dark ones, but, either the dynos got harder or the climbers were weaker because it didn't seem to be as impresseive a show as last year. Then at around 10:30 pm we ran out of syrup at the bar, which was nice because I was definitely ready to close up shop. It was perfect timing because just as we got done cleaning, O-Dub got on stage. O-Dub is the "rapping climber" or... "climbing rapper"... however you want to look at it. He's pretty awesome and just a cool guy in general.
I stayed to watch a couple of his "songs" ... (do you call them songs? I don't know) but couldn't keep my eyes open much after that and headed back to my mobile camp (the minivan!) and fell asleep about as soon as I got in my sleeping bag.
I hear that Sunday morning went well, but once I again, I slept in. The Trango Pancake breakfast was rumored to be a success, and from having gotten up early and worked it before, I definitely believe it. Everyone said their goodbyes, packed up their tents, and headed back to their respective corners of the earth after another awesome New River Rendezvous.
(And, yay, my computer stayed on long enough to type up this blog!)
I'll post up all my awesome photos so you can live the event if you didn't go, and re-live it if you did. See you all there next year! :)
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