I met my co-worker, Kevin in Vegas’ slot-stuffed McCarran Airport. We hightailed it to my friend Craig’s house nearby. Craig is a performer in Cirque du Soleil’s LOVE (cirquedusoleil.com), a surreal, psychedelic dance performance scored with Beatles music. Craig’s been playing Sergeant Pepper in the show as of late, but used to play the Queen of England, too. Besides being a world-level performer/modern dancer and a Columbia-trained Doctor of Physical Therapy, Craig’s also a burly hard climber. He’s ticked some of the harder sport climbs and boulder problems around Vegas in the years since he moved there. We crashed at his place and bounced early to set up the Climbing stand at the Rendezvous.

To briefly recap: the online retailer Mountain Gear (mountaingear.com) put on the event, inviting climbers to party, mingle and check out some of the outdoor industry’s latest wares. Professional guides and climbers offered clinics in everything from bouldering, to setting up toprope anchors, to climbing photography for attendees. Food, beer, dyno and slackline competitions, slideshows, beat boxing, and music from a DJ in a giant solar-powered flying saucer were also offered to entertain. The event was smooth and successful (there was even enough food for all the hungry climbers who eat like they don’t know where their next meal’s coming from) all the way up till Sunday when, just after the pancake breakfast and eating contest, a gusty cold front laced with rain rushed across the outdoor venue, blowing huge tents, folding chairs, and small women about. People packed up their stuff, lest it be scattered to the boreal regions.

Kevin and I, faced with an empty event grounds, headed to the nearby Red Rock Casino (redrocklasvegas.com). I slipped a dollar into a game where I pushed buttons and watched glowing icons dance around the screen pointlessly until my hundred pennies were exhausted. Bored after 15 seconds of “high rolling” we took in the movie “21” (sonypictures.com/movies/21), about MIT students drawn by their smooth-talking professor (Kevin Spacey) into a Vegas card-counting scheme. (The theater was packed by tourists hoping to pick up some tips on how to beat the system.)