Friday, 2023-09-15

I pick up the rental car through Turo (AirBnB for cars) and Disney and I drive to Governor Dodge state park. This park is located in Wisconsin and is way larger than I had expected.

The camping is at the group campsites, which are conveniently located near some of the bouldering.

Saturday, 2023-09-16

The day of the competition! The WCA did a great job hosting the event. Volunteers took the new boulders around and showed them how to setup crash pads, how to spot, and took folks to the boulders and helped them have a great time.

The organizers let the Open category start before the other groups. This was so they could knock out the warm-ups before the problems were mobbed by other climbers. This was a nice touch.

Disney and I climbed along the ridge behind Group Campsite B. Some of the problems we climbed include:

• Picasso Center, v3
• Picasso Right, v1-2
• Belly of the Beast, v0+ (SO MUCH FUN)
• Picasso Pillar, v2 (hardest of any climb in the Picasso area).
• Nameless Slab, v1-2
• Sandstone Violence, v8 (did not send)
• Forgotten Finger Crack, v2
• Twelve High, v2 (maybe? might be confusing this with something else that starts at the same spot)
• Leaning Rock, v3 (very sick)
• Another Warm-up, v0

We did not get on the Nameless arete next to Sandstone Violence but it looked sweet.

I don’t think I’ve ever smiled more than when climbing Belly of the Beast. It was so fun squeezing up that problem.

It was a great day. So many folks were out having a blast and we were able to get on so many problems

Rain cut the competition short and severely reduced the number of folks hanging out after. It was still a good time though.

Sunday, 2023-09-17

We spent the day going around the park and looking at other boulders. Due to the rain, we were hesitant to climb on anything.

End

Overall, a great time and I’d very happily go here again.