New River Rendezvous

Last weekend I joined a 1000 of my closest friends in Fayetteville, WV for the 9th annual New River Rendezvous.  The 'Vous is the New River Alliance of Climber's largest fundraising event, taking place every year in May at the Burnwood Pavilion.  I've always heard the event is a great time but I'd never made it up until this year and I had a blast.  The event starts off low key with the campground opening on Thursday.  People slowly filtered in, setting up tents and getting into the swing of things.  The weather on Thursday was a little nasty with cooler temps and some rain but the forecast for the weekend looked great.

Scene from Friday Morning.  For some reason I love this picture.

On Friday we headed to a slightly soggy Cirque.  The New has been inundated with rain this Spring which, coupled with some condensation/rock sweating issues, led to some seepage and slimy holds.  I had a mostly chill day, sampling some new routes and hanging with friends.  This was a common theme throughout the Rendezvous as I got to reconnect and hang out with lots of friends that I hadn't seen in a long time.  We headed back to Burnwood in the early evening in anticipation of the Desertapalooza.  Desertapalooza is a crazy feast of sweets donated by local businesses, sponsors, or made by climbers.

Desertapalooza before the masses descended.

As my sweet tooth has been well documented, I was definitely not going to miss this.  I wasn't disappointed with all manner of cakes, cookies, and treats available, everything being delicious. 

The beer also started flowing that night with four different varietals donated by the Bridge Brew Works.  Everything was incredibly orderly and well run, a testament to the planning and organizational skills of the dedicated volunteers who put this thing on.

Tenting in the Field

Vanland

Random artsy picture.  The New sho' is purdy.

On Saturday we headed to the Meadows.  One of my goals for the trip was to try a route called The Project at Area 51.  We made the drive out there only to find most of the routes there wet at the top.  We decided that it wasn't worth it and headed to the First and Second Buttress areas of the Meadow River.  I had been worried that many of the crags would be crowded during the festival but we saw only a few other people on any given day so crowds certainly weren't an issue.  We had a fun day at the Meadows but had to deal with a little heat in the afternoon (the heat, the heat!) as the area bakes in the sun. 

We headed back to Burnwood for dinner, graciously provided by Patagonia, and more free Bridge Works beer.  After dinner the dyno comp and the sumo pad wrestling were both fun to watch but the real star of the evening was still to come.  Around 10P the jamtronica band FreekBass took the stage and kicked the party up to a nice, respectable level.  There was lots of dancing, drinking, and good vibes all around as the band tore it up.  I'm not sure how late they played, I headed to bed at 1A, but they were still going strong when I turned into a pumpkin.  Pictures tell a thousand words so....

FreekBass

Party On, Contest Winners (*Futurma Reference)

Artistic Attempt

The Energy Was Still High at 1A

Edgardo Mugging

The Alabama Crew

On Sunday I head a short day at the Cirque before heading home to the girls with a smile on my face.   Overall I was amazed at how well run the Rendezvous was and how much fun I had.  I'm looking forward to going back with Theresa next year and hope to see you there!

This, That, and the Other

 Here’s a quick recap of the latest and greatest events that have shaped history since my last post.

I met my friend Peter for 2 days at the Obed.  It had been quite a long time since I had last been and I had forgotten how good the climbing is there.  Plus hanging with Peter is always a blast so the weekend was way fun.  We spent a day at Y-12, mostly climbing on the Vision Buttress, getting pumped on the steep jugs.  The next day we journeyed to North Clear, an area I had never really climbed at.  We started with two long, airy, and excellent routes, Saddam Hussein and Rumors of War.  From there we headed up to the Rasputin Ledge.  It was my first time on the ledge but the logistics were pretty obvious and not as annoying as they could have been.  After doing Scalded Dog we had had enough of ledge life so down we went.  Both of us wanted to leave earlier than later for the drive home so we headed toward the hike out and the Inner Circle.  Four quick routes there and we were homeward bound, tired but happy.

The Rasputin Ledge.  Image taken from Mountain Project

For Mother’s day we hosted Theresa's mom and dad, her sister, husband, and daughter, and my parents.  We were in charge of the food and booze and managed to pull everything together with mostly success.  The menu was heavy on finger food with 5 different sandwiches.  I was less than pleased with some of these, too much time in the oven on warm left the meatball sliders a little dried out.  A three tiered chocolate cake for dessert put everything right and overall I think everyone had a good time.

This last weekend we went to Las Vegas, staying at our usual haunt the Flamingo.  Despite having been there many, many times, we still love Vegas and have a great time.  There’s so much to do and so much energy in the air that we never fail to have a good time.  On this trip we experienced some interesting weather dichotomy that only the desert can provide.  On Saturday we hung out at the pool, trying to avoid getting too sunburned while sipping fruity drinks.  Sunday we drove out to climb at Mt. Charleston, 45 minutes from downtown.  With highs forecast for the 70s in Vegas, I knew that it would be cooler at Charleston as we would be climbing at 8000 feet.  The weather turned out to be cold rather than cool with snow on the ground, highs in the (low?) 40s, no sun and high winds.  We had fun but thoughts of the previous day’s poolside warmth certainly were not far from our minds.

Perfect place for cool drinks.  Unfortunately, we forgot the beer.

Playing with the camera's timer.  Note the hand in motion, I'm quick like the Flash!

Random artistic shot.  45 minutes from Vegas yet it feels so very different.

This weekend I’m headed up to the New River Gorge’s annual fundraiser, the Rendezvous.  It’s been many years since I was last at the New so I’m very stoked.  Hopefully my next post will be a recap of that with more pictures.