August 27th was the first annual Rifle RendezSPEW and Clean-Up at Rifle Mountain Park, CO. The Rifle Clean-Up is yearly event where locals come together and help maintain Rifle as a world-class climbing destination.
This year however my boyfriend, Andrew Bisharat, and I took the reins with the objective of making it the biggest and most fun clean-up yet. The goals were simple, provide a ridiculously fun day of climbing and cleaning followed by an after party not to be forgotten.
After watching the ski video GNAR, Andrew has been dreaming of a way to bring the game of G.N.A.R (a game that allots a point value to ski runs as well as a variety of bonus and penalty points throughout the day) to Rifle. The annual clean-up provided just that opportunity. Thus was born the game of S.P.E.W (Send Points for Elitist Wankers).
In the game of S.P.E.W you earn points for sending routes throughout the day and for participating in sanctioned clean-up activities, such as replacing bad bolts and biners, building belay platforms, participating in trail work, etc. . . You can also earn bonus points for doing anything deemed awesome (i.e. brushing holds, calling the send, onsighting, wearing a costume to the party, and so on). But, you can lose points for doing anything deemed “unawesome” (ie. driving your car from one parking lot to the next, calling the send and failing, wearing a daisy chain thong, etc. . .) For a complete list of rule visit http://eveningsends.com/2011/08/the-rifle-rendezspew/
The day of climbing and cleaning was followed by what I’m sure will be considered the best Rifle party of all times, at least until next year. The challenge of dressing as a Rifle route was met by many, with such amazing costumes as Living in Fear, Glue Fairy, Merry Maids, The Beast, Le Specimen, several versions of Euro Trash, several member of the Bad Girls club, Mouse Trap, Quick Draws, Brown Chicken, Firearms, King Fisher, Gay Science, and I’m Not a Philistine to name a few.
The after party left everyone happy by providing copious amounts of burgers and brats, as well as lots and lots of beer, provided by the always generous Adam Avery and the Lander Bar. With full bellies everyone enjoyed the biggest raffles I’ve ever seen, and a dance party complete with a DJ, disco lights, and a fog machine!
When all was said and done, the Rifle RendezSPEW was a huge success. We raised $3000 to be used for future improvements to Rifle Mountain Park. We also completed a number of clean-up projects which included, cleaning out the fire pits in all of the camp sites, building a bigger and better belay platform under the project wall as well as a picnic area across the stream in an effort to keep people out of the road. Old ratty quickdraws were removed and new steel ones were added to many routes, bad bolts and anchors were replaced throughout the park, several routes received a shiny set of glue in bolts, and trails and downed trees were addressed and improved.
I hope to see more people and even better costumes next year!
Thanks to the Access Fund, Big Agnes, Black Diamond, Backbone Media, CAMP, ClimbTech, Cypher, Deuter, Edelweiss, Five Ten, Grivel, La Sportiva, Liberty Mountain, prAna, Patagonia, Rab, Rock and Ice magazine, Singing Rock, Sterling Rope, Summit Canyon Mountaineering and Wolverine Publishing for the amazing support!!! Special thanks to CAMP, ClimbTech, Liberty Mountain, and the American Safe Climbing Association for their donations of steel hardware that is being used to keep Rifle safe and user friendly. Thanks to Avery Brewing and the Lander Brewing Co for supplying the beer.
~Jen Vennon, prAna Ambassador
For more pictures, visit Steph Davis’s Facebook Page
Breath, life, vitality of the spirit.
