Owltoberfest 2017

Saturday, October 7th: Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong

Sunday, October 8th: Owl Tor

Hope to see you there!

Owltoberfest 2016

"The Chopin International Piano Competition is every five years and they didn't award gold medalists in 1990 and 1995. Brutal - same way it should be at the Tor."

-- Antonio Labaro               

With this in mind, the concensus is to not award a Lord of the Forest this year. Again, as I wrote in my last post, 2016 sucks.

Owltoberfest 2015 & 2016 and other stuff

Sorry for the delay in writing this up, my excuse: 2016 sucks...

Owltoberfest 2015 almost didn't happen.The night before, rains made the road impassable. I notified everyone I could about the situation; but, undeterred, I drove up Saturday morning, as planned, and by the time I got there, the river was significantly reduced. There's no cell service at the Owl Tor, but I learned that if you drive east on highway 166 past the usual turnout about 3 miles, there is a spot with very good cell reception. So I went there and notified everyone I could that the event was back on. Still, this significantly affected turnout.

Moderates for Owltoberfest!

Santa Maria is not known for its moderate climbs. There is one 5.11a at the Owl Tor (the left-most route), but then the climbing jumps to stiff 5.11d. What most people do not know is that about 20 years ago we did put moderates up at the back area, a.k.a. Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong. These routes were never given the love and attention that routes in the area need and thus fell into obscurity. But thanks to some elbow grease and a little teamwork, they have been revitalized and are better than ever. There are 14 routes (and counting) between 5.8 and 5.11d and here is your guide to them.

Owltoberfest 2015 & Tarantula Hawk Wasps

The third annual Owltoberfest will be this October 17 & 18. Saturday we'll be at the Owl Tor, camp that night, and climb at Mr. Lee's Sunday. Six great companies have sponsored the event:

Maxim Ropes
Fixe Hardware
Misty Mountain
Kilter Climbing Grips
FrictionLabs
Santa Barbara Rock Gym

So we'll have a good prize for...

Owltoberfest 2014

Redpoints, redpoint failures, perfect temps, friends old and new, a good cause, and, of course, the Lord of the Forest: we had all the necessary ingredients for a great event. We also raised $750 towards Scott Cosgrove's recovery — get well soon my friend! Many local (and pseudo-local) regulars were in attendance, as were crankenfranks Steve & Dee Lapen from LA, and the legendary Randy Leavitt. Hopefully his presence will convince more climbers to pay Santa Maria a visit.