Climbers’ Pine Mountain Pulldown Press Release

Whatever you’re doing the weekend of October 8-10^th, cancel it. If you’re into remote locations, awesome and beautiful bouldering, meeting good peeps, watching awesome movies and dancing to live bands, get yourself to the third annual Pine Mountain Pulldown.

Situated about an hour north of Ojai and just about close to nothing lies the hidden bouldering jewel of California’s central coast. Quality sandstone routes offer plenty of variety and fun climbing for all levels – not to mention sweeping views of the surrounding valley and ocean. Set against a competition backdrop – you’re poised to do the best climbing of the year at this event with friends old and new cheering you on, getting inspired by established climbers and the up-and-coming.

But if the climbing’s not enough to get you here, how about free on-site camping at a venue filled with climbing-related companies hocking their wares and demoing their products, a free showing of the Reel Rock Tour projected onto a campy stage with a premium sound system, great eats, free beer, great swag, dyno comp, and the baddest of the bad rockabilly band on the Central Coast, the Cadillac Angels!

Stick around on Sunday and help us clean up the mountain for an Access Fund Adopt a Crag event – we do so well ever year the park service not only invites up back but allows for growth of the event by inviting more and more participants – but that number is still low: sign up now to make sure you’re able to come to this awesome event.

Feeling guilty about having such a good time? Don’t – we’re committed to making the event completely sustainable: we run on biodiesel, pack in everything we pack out, are committed to being a low-waste an event as possible, and work closely with the forest service to ensure a low footprint on the mountain during and after the event. In addition, event proceeds benefit the Allied Climbers of San Diego, a non-profit organization dedicated to climber advocacy for the San Diego area.

Entry into the competition costs $65, including camping and festival entry. Skip the competition and join the festival for $25. Day-of registration jumps to $75 for the competition and $30 for the festival. Food is available for purchase at the venue.

For additional information on the Pine Mountain Pulldown, contact All Out Events 805.541-0401 or visit www.pinemountaincomp.com.

Tech Tips from Kristin Tara McNamara, head clinician at SLO Op Climbing

Bouldering can be pretty tough on your tendons, and with the Pine Mountain Pulldown coming up, naturally you want to take extra care that you don't blow them out prior to comp time! Here's some tips on making the best of the time you have left to get in the best shape possible and have fun no matter what level you are:

• Follow a basic format of Eric Vorst's 4-3-2-1 training program:
  • Four weeks of endurance-only training while trying not to get pumped. This means laps on routes and hours put in.
  • 3 weeks of maximum power and strength (so you're working those hard problems the way you love and systematic training like training boards, weights, and complex training). 
  • 2 weeks of anaerobic exercise: think of this as climbing interval training - you are going to climb at a moderately high intensity with only brief rests between pumps. It should WORK YOU!
  • 1 week of total rest - let your body heal and watch the progress on the stone!
• Don't get intimidated by the concept of a "comp." No matter what you're doing, you're climbing, and nobody but your friends will be watching you. Comps, no matter your current level, work to push you in ways you didn't imagine - you try harder, you last longer, and when it's over you have left it all behind. You'll be sore and satisfied and had one of the best climbing days of your life! 
• Counter train! According to Dan Millman, of Way of the Peaceful Warrior, injury happens when we're not paying attention. I know you're paying attention on the rock, but are you paying attention to your body? Do you have that characteristic shoulder roll-forward? Stop that! Life is not all about pulling, and if you let those push muscles get atrophied, that's when pain's coming your way. Don't forget to do bodyweight exercises, stretch, eat well, and take care of yourself in all the other important ways.

Use these tips to show up on October 8th and have the best time possible!

California's Only Outdoor Climbing Competition & Festival Returns October 8-10, 2010

Event producer Yishai Horowitz and his company All Out Events brings their love of climbing to the community through the Pine Mountain Pulldown, a three-day festival held in Los Padres National Forest for a third year. We moved it back a month for cooler weather, and this year’s festival promises to be the West Coast’s greenest climbing event.

A combination of the unmatched views that contrast the rippling Los Padres range, high altitude pines, and ocean horizon and the quality of the climbing inspired Horowitz to put on the event. “I am just so excited to share the experience with the climbing community for a third year,” he said, “This promises to be the highest attended yet, both by festival attendees and sponsors – there’ll be plenty to see and do.”

There’s something for everyone at the Pulldown, but bouldering is the main attraction. Boulder, the scaling of smaller rock faces that usually don’t necessitate ropes for safety and requiring only a pair rubber-soled climbing shoes, is quickly becoming popular worldwide for the community atmosphere, constant challenge, and variety of locations.

Friday night will welcome climbers and vendors with an exclusive showing of the Reel Rock Tour – a collection of climbing video vignettes projected onto the stage.

On Saturday, registrants are bused up to the all-day bouldering competition set on the top of Pine Mountain; the event has many competition levels and plenty of beginner “problems” – what boulders call prescribed routes up the rock face – making it great for first-timers. In addition, big-name professional climbers and teams will be competing at the top levels, and it remains to see whether an out-of-area pro or a local, who intimately knows the mountain, takes home the top award.

Evening activities include tug-of -war, crash pad sumo (competitors strap themselves into padding used on the ground for impact protection), and a dyno competition sponsored by Ventura’s Vertical Heaven climbing gym. Dyno comps are spectacular events in which climbers, fueled with adrenaline and enthusiastic audience cheering, attempt to launch themselves ten or more feet in the air to reach a hold. We’ll finish out the evening with a live show from ever-entertaining Rockabilly masters, the Cadillac Angels.

Sunday wraps things up with a volunteer thank-you pancake feed and an Access Fund Adopt-A-Crag clean-up to remove inadvertent trash left behind and restore the area to its original state via land work and cleaning off of chalk (which climbers use to keep their hands dry) from the rocks.

Entry into the competition costs $65, including camping and festival entry. Skip the competition and join the festival for $25. Day-of registration jumps to $75 for the competition and $30 for the festival. Food is available for purchase at the venue.

For additional information on the Pine Mountain Pulldown, contact All Out Events 805.541-0401 or visit www.pinemountaincomp.com.

Photos by Adam Kimmerly – this is the general media press release

Race Reports

For CCAC's 12-hour: http://www.zdap.com/racereports/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=8593

For the 24-hour: http://community.active.com/message/773318?tstart=0 (not that exciting)

ANyone know any more?

Breathe Magazine Covers our 24-Hour Race

Yeah, that definitely looks like California, eh? Cool photo, though. Here's the article.

Press release for Coast to Crest 24 hour race

It's 2 am and we're heading back to the finish/staging area to get ready to receive the first finishers in the early morning hours when one of the SPOT units sends out a "we need help" signal. No! After 18 hours of setting up transition areas, checking in with minor injuries (hamstrings are a big problem), and helping motivate our already stoked competitors, this is the first time we're genuinely worried about a team. Sure, there were some seasickies on the kayak, and a couple teams bonked on the first stage bike ride, but all in all, the race was going smoothly. The competitors were spread out far and wide but we were keeping tabs on them with GPS, radioing to our manned checkpoints, and our manifests. But at 2 am the signal goes out. We're about an hour away from the point we'd have to get to in order to start looking for the team that needs help. As we're logging into the ranger stations' computers to find the exact location and team, the help call is canceled.

And thus goes All Out Events' first 24-36 hour adventure race.

Our teams met up at Santa Margarita Lake, dropping off bins and bikes that would be trucked to the various transition areas they'd need them throughout the race, and they boarded a bus for an hour-long ride to the beach.

Winding through the coastal mountains, through eucalyptus groves, and arriving at a beautiful cove, the kayaks were laid out and our racers set to preparing themselves for one heck of a long day.

After an eight-mile open-ocean kayak (well supported by local rescue organizations and fortuitously, a blue whale), racers landed at a beach in Morro Bay where they hopped on their bikes for a long climb and a fun, fast single-track descent leading into the area's college ag land.

The run transition area was set up at Cal Poly's poultry unit, where racers could stop, take a break, and go back into the hills they came from. Said one member from Team Hilarious, hailing from Calgary, Canada, "That was the second-best mountain biking I've ever done!" Her teammates then decided to weigh the merits of whether it was more like the best or not.

Racers came in looking tired, but stoked. Some stayed for an hour, some took off right away at a jog. We didn't see them until many hours later in the dark - fifty miles away at Lopez Lake, where they picked up their kayaks for a lake trip and then their bikes for another epic tour of the mountains.

Our first team came in just under 6 a.m. - Team DART/Nuun/SportMulti, a world-class adventure racing team. Teams trickled in from there, with our last team finishing at 2 p.m. Results are posted here: http://www.ccadventure.com/results.pdf

Out of a field of 13 teams, we had 5 non-finishers. Though healthy respect goes out to all our DNFers, most especially SLO local Ryan Tarver from Hopes and Dreams, who kept up with the winning team throughout the first three stages of the race before deciding he would bow out.

Watch our 24-36 hour Coast to Crest race live!

Thanks to TrackMe360.com and SPOT rescue units, you can log into the site below and watch the fun along with us!

http://www.trackme360.com/cara/c2c

password: "slovenia"