The Pocatello Pump

Friday afternoon we hopped in the car and headed to Salt Lake, the drive went quick and we crashed at our friend Katie’s house for the night. An early wake up call, some coffee and bagels and we were off to Pocatello! We got to the event as the second heat was in progress, so we got our bearings and found our friends. The format of the pump is that on Saturday there are three heats, each lasting an hour and half, in which you try to climb as many routes as possible. Hence the name, the Pump. It’s a great atmosphere, with everyone pushing themselves hard, lots of helpful beta being thrown around, and good energy. After Tracy climbed in the third heat, we spent the rest of the day chilling out until the big party that night, which is thrown in conjunction with the town, so there are hundreds of people that show up. A decent cover band rocked out some fun Dead covers and other crowd pleaser’s under a crisp, starry sky.

Sunday is the lead day, you can try 9 climbs and count the top 8. Points are doubled on the lead day, so this is a big one. You have to do some strategizing, because while you can get more points for harder climbs, if you fall off more than one, you are not going to get as much as if you did a slightly easier climb. Good fun. Not nearly as many people compete on the lead day, so the vibe was mellower, but everyone was still super amped and encouraging others to climb their hardest.

When the dust cleared, Tracy won here division for the fourth year in a row. Way to go T! The awards ceremony/raffle is the highlight of the event for many folks. Regardless of how well you did, anyone can walk away from the raffle with some great gear. The amount of stuff they had was overwhelming, and everyone who competed got a least one thing! Peter Joyce does an incredible job putting this thing on, it’s one of the coolest comps I’ve been to and I’d highly recommend it to anyone who wants to go have a great time with some good folks in Idaho.

Tracy sporting the new SplitterChoss stickers. Available at Bristlecone Mountain Sports in Basalt or if you see me out at the crags.