After four long years, the Neptune Mountaineering Horsetooth Hang Bouldering Festival is back and here to stay. On October 23^rd, 160 climbers and volunteers from all over Colorado came together for a spectacular day of festivities and fun at Horsetooth Reservoir near Fort Collins. Participants of all ages, abilities, and philosophies gathered to share a beautiful fall day, clean up trash, climb on Horsetooth’s amazing boulders, watch a great Lynn Hill slideshow, and party into the night at an after party hosted by Washington’s bar and grill.

Climbers collected a massive amount of trash. Local Ken Gibson collected a giant pile of junk, including a box of broken glass and cigarette butts, several trash bags of random plastic, cardboard, and metal goodies, as well as half a rotting elk carcass. We happily gave him a brand new Misty crashpad for his determination. Derek Peavey and Natalie Foss were runners up in the trash collection and got a free pair of Chaco sandals each. Thanks to all who collected trash and helped us to be responsible for our local climbing area.

The Horsetooth Hang is a bouldering festival, and we warmly welcomed climbers like Jaci Bartlow, who just began climbing, Cameron Kelley at 5 years of age, and Tom Wilson, 51. Competitors of all abilities cheered each other on and many of Horsetooth’s test pieces like Pinch Overhang, the Left Eliminator, Cheathook, Lower Punk Rock Traverse, and the Moon Aréte saw ascents, as well as many others. Props go to Johnny Goicopchea and Ashley Lloyd for scoring the top five hardest climbs for the men’s and women’s divisions.  Other entertaining festival activities included a slackline, and Captains of Crush grippers that competitors tried to close for prizes.

The after party was a huge hit with free dinner, New Belgium Beer, well over $8,000 in raffle prizes, and an awesome slideshow by legendary climber Lynn Hill that was followed by live music. Thanks to generous support from all our sponsors we were able to host an incredible day of fun, laughter, community, and resource stewardship. I am already looking forward to sharing next year’s event with everyone. See you there!

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