PBC

[Peter_Puget]

Cancelled

[specialed]

Bouldering Comps are lame. But the PBC was an exception. How ridiculous that the event was cancelled because of pressure from outdoor retailers. The same folks who claim to support the "soul of the sport," and shit like that. How hypocritical, espescially since the original PBC was just a bunch of bros hanging out and drinking beer and cranking.

[IanOutThere]

The PBC will be missed by many many people in the climbing community (not just boulderers). The comp. was always secondary to the whole event, and it always seemed like true climbing family those few weeks around Oak Flats in the spring. The letter from Waugh really makes me wonder which retailers caused the fuss (if that is what truely was the reason for the shut down)... if I remeber correctly couple years ago I was drinking sangia out of a 60gal cooler that Petzl had brought along, swilling margaritas poured out of Patagonia's booth by their climbing team (yeah, Brittany Griffith), got a couple other tasty beverages from the FISH porducts booth. Always seemed like the vendors were happy to be there? did get better than pro-deal buys there sometime, offset the cost of travelling there !

Everyone should also remember that the whole entire Queen's Creek area (where the Phoniex Bouldering Comp is held, and the site of some of the last great free climbing capsites) is up for a huge public lands swap so they can mine the hell out of it and close the area to the public:

 

http://www.accessfund.org/programs/Queen_letter_6_04.html

 

Although Jim Waugh promises in his letter to step up to another future PBC, that may never again be possible if we loose this excellent Arizona climbing area to a multi-national copper mine.

 

Every year we loose a few more chunks of climbing history to progress. Long live Queen's Creek!

~ian