Bouldering competition rolls through Kelowna this weekend

KELOWNA – For the second year in a row, rock climbers from around the world will come to Kelowna for Rock the Blocs Bouldering Festival.

Bouldering is similar to traditional climbing, except instead of mountains, climbers scale large rocks as quickly as possible. The Okanagan is getting a reputation for having some of the best bouldering in the world.

The Festival will take place this weekend at the Boulderfields, which lie south of Kelowna in Okanagan Mountain Park. It is a relatively unknown area littered with thousands of boulders ranging in size from less than a metre to bigger than apartment buildings.

Last year the inaugural Rock the Blocs attracted around 70 participants and organizer Andy White says they expect even more this year.

“We have amazing bouldering here in the Okanagan,” he says. “The Boulderfields is an impressive geological structure and this festival is just a way to get people out to the best spot for bouldering in the valley.”

The competition takes place Saturday and will be divided into six categories according to skill level and gender.

The festival is free to attend and includes a climbing equipment raffle and pig roast Saturday and free climbing clinics Sunday. Volunteers will also be doing upgrades to the site, Sunday.

“We have some amazing people coming again this year,” White says. “Members of our National World Cup indoor bouldering team from Vancouver will be here as well as a media group called The RV Project from California. We’ve even got a guy coming out from Spain.”

For more information about Okanagan Bouldering and Rock the Blocs, visit their website.

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To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.