Rock the Blocs 2024
The Rock the Blocs bouldering festival in the Kelowna Boulderfields is back for another year in September 2024!
This year marks the 10th edition of Rock the Blocs, which started in 2013 as a way for local developers to engage the bouldering community and share one of the largest and best bouldering areas in this part of North America. With support from all of you and climbers travelling from all over the country and even internationally, Rock the Blocs has become the largest outdoor bouldering competition in Canada. Now proudly brought to you by the Okanagan Bouldering Society.
When
The event will be held over the September 7-8 weekend, right in the middle of prime climbing conditions in the Okanagan. The bouldering competition will be held on Saturday with Sunday as a backup day in case of poor weather. Assuming all goes well, clinics and tours will occur on Sunday. On site registration and welcome will start at 8:30 am on Saturday. The welcome speech/rules meeting will be held at 9:30 am with the competition starting at 10:00 am and finishing for the day at 5:00 pm. Prizes will be awarded following the comp.
Where
The event will be held at the Okanagan Boulderfields Recreation Site in Kelowna, BC. There is a campground at the site that is managed by the Okanagan Bouldering Society on behalf of Sites and Trails BC. Camping is free; however, we ask that people camp in existing spaces and don't cut or damage vegetation to create new spots.
Please carpool up to the Fields! We ran out of parking space last year, despite our volunteers packing all the cars in like sardines. There are limited spots on the drop-in road since we need to maintain access for emergency vehicles and we are not allowed to park on the KVR. Parking will be a real challenge this year!
To navigate around the Boulderfields, you’ll need to get your hands on a copy of the (out of print) Okanagan Bouldering guidebook, follow one of the locals, or use the soon-to-be-released-for-the-Okanagan Kaya app.
What
A festival including a bouldering competition and clinics aimed at getting the climbing community together for a whole lot of fun. The categories for the friendly bouldering competition will include Men's Open, Women’s Open, Men’s Intermediate (V6 and under), Women’s Intermediate (V4 and under), Men’s Beginner (V3 and under), Women's Beginner (V2 and under), Boys (13 and under), Girls (13 and under), Masters Men (age 40+), and Masters Women (age 40+). Or, if you are not keen on competing, feel free to spectate or volunteer to help out! Whichever way you choose to participate, please let us know in the registration form here so we have an idea of numbers.
For scoring, essentially we hand pick over 100 of the best or newest problems in the Fields from V0 to V13 for competitors to crank on for the day. The goal is to send your top 3 problems (open categories) or top 5 problems (all other categories) by the end of the comp. Once again this year, we'll have local developers guiding people around the Fields to help get them where they want to go.
While we calculate final scores on Saturday, enjoy a number of events such as the pull-up contest, pad toss, pinch comp, etc. There's also the usual post-event social on Saturday night (please bring whatever food and beverage you desire).
On Sunday, a number of experienced local boulderers will offer clinics on topics such as boulder problem development and considerations, introduction to bouldering, women's bouldering, guided tours, etc. Please let us know which clinics interest you when you register below.
How much
The event is free! We do not charge any kind of admission fee in an effort to promote participation. But, as this is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Okanagan Bouldering Society (the group that works hard to develop, preserve, and maintain access to bouldering areas in the Okanagan), donations and supporting the many, incredible raffle prizes are much appreciated.
Because of our amazing sponsors, there are tons of prizes up for grabs throughout the festival. There are prizes for category winners, big-ticket raffle prizes (proceeds supporting The Okanagan Bouldering Society), and a bunch of draw prizes up for grabs for all competitors/volunteers/participants involved in the festival.
If you don't have pads, you can now rent them in Kelowna at Gneiss Climbing. Book them early from Gneiss Climbing if you need them to make sure you've got one for the festival.
Directions
Start by finding your way to Summerhill Pyramid Winery in Kelowna. Once you've passed the winery, continue up the hill on Chute Lake Road. When you get to the top of the hill, Chute Lake Road makes a sharp right turn. Instead of following the road to the right, go straight onto Upper Mission Drive. All distances are calculated from here.
Drive up Upper Mission Drive for about 250 m and turn left. You'll wind up a steep paved hill to the beginning of a gravel road. This is Gillard Forest Service Road (FSR). Turn left onto the gravel road. In a couple minutes, you'll pass the Kelowna Mountain development on the right. Keep going on Gillard FSR generally trending uphill and southeast until you reach about the 8.8 km mark. You don't need to turn off the main road at any point before this.
At this point, you'll come to a 4-way junction. Turn left here onto the historic Kettle Valley Railway road. Follow this road passing through a rocky corridor, making a big loop around an old, now collapsed, burnt trestle on the left (Lorna Trestle), passing through another rocky corridor and eventually reaching a straight-away to the 10.6 km mark. At this point, you are at the Fields road, and you turn left to descend to the parking lot.