24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell - 2009

2009 marks the fourth annual 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell. This year’s weekend of fun will kick off on September 25-27th, 2009, and promises to be the biggest and best yet. Hell is an endurance style climbing competition held at the ever popular Horseshoe Canyon Ranch near Jasper, Arkansas. Teams of two partner up and take to the steep, gritty sandstone to endure what can only be explained as severe fatigue, dehydration, bloody fingertips and an unforgettable climbing experience. These teams will have 24 continuous hours to put in as many clean climbs as humanly possible on the hundreds of sport and traditional routes on the Ranch. There is a point system for the various grades and all climbs must be put up on lead in clean style. Night climbing is key, and certainly allowed/encouraged.

Hell began as a new concept to the world of climbing comps where the preference is typically power, strength and technique. 24HHH tests endurance, pain tolerance and mental stamina as you log continuous routes in a 24 Hour time frame.

The growth that 24HHH has experienced over the first three years has been exponential. 2006 was our inception. It was born as an idea amongst some rag tag buddies from Oklahoma, started as a pipe dream and grew into 130 climbers, some cool swag and a write up in Rock and Ice. In 2007, registration numbers were forced to close at 194 for fear of overcrowding and 2008 was no different bringing hundreds of climbers and spectators from all over the country. And even a guy named Trotter from Canada, eh? 2009 is on the table. New routes at the ranch. New ideas. New faces and competitors. New year. New energy.

2009 EVENT SCHEDULE

(note earlier pasta dinner time this year)

Friday, September 25th:

• 2:00 PM - Start packet pickup in front of pro shop. Bring your ID. Either bring a completed waiver form or be prepared to fill out. Competitors will receive swag bag, ticket for pasta dinner, and stamp on hand for New Belgium Beer at dinner (limit 2 drinks per person). Vendors will begin setting up booths in the barn loft area where pasta dinner will be.
• 4:00 PM - Begin serving pasta dinner in barn (provided by Barry at the Ranch and New Belgium Brewing). Dinner is free for competitors and volunteers, $5 per person for non-competitors. All registered climbers/volunteers must present ticket for dinner, and hand stamp for New Belgium beverages. Begin sign up for slackline comp.
• 5:30 PM – Lost At Sea takes the stage in the loft. Packet pickup at the pro shop ends.
• 6:00 PM - Slackline Comp with winner’s prizes put on by Slackline Express.
• 7:30 PM – Big Smith takes the stage. (bigsmithband.com)
• 8:00 PM – Speleo Box time trial by Horseshoe Canyon Ranch. Free to all registrants.
• 9:30 pm – After-hours party hosted by Pimpin’ and Crimpin’ (pimpinandcrimpin.com).

Saturday, September 27th:

• 8:00 AM - Packet pickup begins again for late arrivers.
• 9:00 AM - Mandatory climber meeting in front of pro shop (go over rules, hand out scorecards, questions) Volunteer check-in.
• 9:30 AM - Medical meeting in front of pro shop (Nurses, MD's, EMT's, wilderness first responders, etc.)
• 10:00 AM-Shotgun start...suffering begins.
• 4:00 PM - Mandatory climber check in at one of 3 stations (The North Forty near Crimp Scampi, in front of pro shop, or off road trail down hill from Magoo Rock).
• 10:00 PM–Mandatory climber check in at one of 3 locations.

Sunday, September 28th:

• 4:00 AM - Mandatory climber check in at one of 3 stations. Note the change from last year. This check in will be open from 3:30 to 4:30 am. At this check in, all climbers will turn in their scorecards and receive a new scorecard with all routes blacked out that they have already climbed in the first
• 18 hours. Be patient during this time, as it will take volunteers time to tally and black out cards.
• 10:00 AM-24 HHH ends. Climbers turn in score cards for their final check in at pro shop. Awards soon to follow in barn loft.

Visit TwoFourHell.com for more information. Don't forget: Registration opens August 4th and it will fill up FAST!

UPDATE 8/03/09

24HHH registrants will have the opportunity to pre-purchase "Rock Climbing Arkansas: Comprehensive Roped Climbing and Select Bouldering" by Cole Fennel at a discounted price of $35. It will only be available to the select climbers who pre-purchase it at registration, and will be the basis of the scorecard routing system this year in 2009. This is Arkansas' first full color comprehensive color guidebook and will include nearly 2,000 routes! See samples at http://www.fixedpin.com/Arkansas.html

7/30/09 - 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell UPDATE - 2009 rules and printables are up!

A quick reminder that registration Registration opens august 3rd at 9 am for those climbers who endured the entire 24 hours in 2008 and received a headlamp award. For all others, registration opens on august 4th at 9 am. www.twofourhell.com

• 2009 registration costs are $45. This includes admission to the friday night pasta dinner (food and drink), slackline comp, speleo box time trial, free camping at the ranch, the 24 hour suffer fest, and a goody bag that includes over $100 in swag (even more than last years). During registration, you’ll have the opportunity to pre-purchase fixed pin publishing’s new comprehensive arkansas guidebook by Cole Fennel.
• Also, we've got up some new and crucial information on the website. 2009 rules are up, and there are a couple of minor changes this year in addition to adding a couple of categories such as Rec, Int, and Adv team categories for equally yolked teams. We also have the 2009 Schedule of Events, Climber Waiver, and What to Bring Checklist on the printables page.
• September 5th the Arkansas Climbers Coalition is planning a trail clean up at Horseshoe. We are asking anyone who can to come out. We'll be clearing trails for most of the morning, and doing some climbing that afternoon. I'll see you all there.

I say this every year, but 2009 is going to be the biggest and best yet. The stage is set, and even if you don't plan to climb come out to the ranch and hang out, fellowship, and watch some climbing. Bring me some sweet tea....

See you in September,
Andy Chasteen