6th annual Butte Bouldering Bonanza

Hey ya'll, we're two weeks out from the Butte Bouldering Bonanza, Crested Butte's only bouldering/climbing event of the year. We're doing it right again with a BBQ, costume contest, dance-off, slacklines, climbing comp, and for the first time ever, a townie takeover. Here's the press release, hope ya'll can make it!

The Butte Bouldering Bonanza (BBB) will celebrate its sixth year this September. This will be the first Bonanza hosted in the fall, to take advantage of the awesome changing colors.

Take the challenge on Saturday, September 10th to climb as many boulder problems as possible on the unforgiving Skyland boulders in Crested Butte from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Or, just come up to enjoy the fun, positive atmosphere for free. Held by the WSC Climbing Club with United State Forest Service permit.

Registration will take place the day of, from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the 4-way stop, in front of the Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce building. Entry fee is $10. Free to spectators and casual climbers. There will be recreation, intermediate and advanced categories.

Spectators and casual climbers are not only welcome, they are essential to the vibe of the event. A shuttle will run from 8 a.m to 9 a.m. from the 4-way stop to the boulders for everyone, free of charge. Better yet, bring a bike and join the first-ever Bonanza townie takeover up to the boulders. The townie takeover will blast off from the 4-way at 9:00 a.m.

The WSC Sustainability Coalition will be hosting a barbecue at the main hang-out area at the boulders with local food, some from the WSC Community Garden. We'll also have a slack line, a dance off, and a costume contest!

Access to this area is very sensitive. Parking is not allowed in the Skyland residential area. The best way to access the boulders is from the east end of Elk Avenue in Crested Butte on mountain bike or by foot. Follow the road as it turns to dirt through the McCormick Ranch for about a mile until the junction of Tony's Trail (on the left). Note dogs are not allowed on this trail. Follow up Tony's Trail to the Upper Loop, where you take a right. The boulders are all located off the Upper Loop trail.

Funky costumes are highly encouraged for the Butte Bouldering Bonanza.

For more information contact Spenser Li at spenser.li17@gmail.com or (240) 889-8725 or Luke Mehall at lmehall@yahoo.com or (970) 376-3116.

A Blast from the Past, Underwear Model Story

This is a piece I found while cleaning out an old thumb drive. I totally forgot about my dream to become an underwear model until I stumbled over it. Anyways, I submitted it to Patagonia, but they didn't ever publish it. Maybe I'll resubmit. Hope you like it, it's quite different than anything I've ever wrote.

The Underwear Story (You can rename the story)
By Luke Mehall
March, 2008

My dream job would be being an underwear model. A friend helped me figure this out one day after I’d just purchased some new undies, and we were looking at the models on the packaging.

“What a job that would be, wearing underwear for a living.”

“You could do it,” she answered. “And since you’re a climber you could model for Patagonia.”

A quick check of the Patagonia catalog showed that they didn’t use the same advertising technique that we imagined, (my visual image was Victoria Secret style for the female models).

Winter. Salt Lake City, Utah. I’m on a date. Her house: throwback, psychedelic, complete with record player, Polaroid camera, and a little fireplace we sat next to and talked. She’s the intuitive type, the kind of girl who references her dreams often, and talks of love and living in harmony with the planet.

In her room later she’s showing me energy stones, and waxing poetic. For some reason I mention that I’m going to the Patagonia outlet store in the morning for a sale.

Then she begins to tell me about a dream she had. The focus of the dream: me just wearing a fire red pair of underwear.

The next morning my friend Sara and I are up at the crack of dawn, waiting in line behind a hundred or so shoppers as the line pours out winding around the store.

Later, waiting in line to check out, we’re behind a hundred and fifty or so people, and there’s a box of underwear. I tell Sara about the dream. She looks in and sees a fire red pair, tosses it into my bag, and says, “Maybe you’ll get lucky.”

The following night, I’m taking off my clothes. Clear sky, the stars above and mountains blanketed in snow. Sara and I are at the Midway hot springs. The scene is strange; Lynyrd Skynyrd blasts out of a trailer-truck. A fellow, who appears to be on some sort of crack, is doing flips in the 110 degree water. A fog emits from the springs and I can’t identify my surroundings other than the Skynyrd and the people in the springs. It feels like the beginning of a horror movie.

The idea of kicking back in the hot springs doesn’t seem relaxing anymore. Still there is hot springs to be soaked in. I strip down, almost all the way down to what else, my new red underwear. Was this the scene that my ladyfriend imagined? In my new underwear I then slipped into the heat and the weirdness of the hot springs.

I never got to hang out with the young psycadelic woman again, but I think of her every time I wear my red undies. I feel like I would feel comfortable in them in many different situations, and after the odd hot springs experience being in front of a camera would be pretty chill. So Patagonia if you have an opening for some underwear models, give me a call.

Rest Days are the Best Days

I heard this phrase from a climber in Joshua Tree one time, and I like it!

The older I get the more balanced I feel with climbing. We climbers tend to be really fiendish and obsessive, and I think its important to remember how awesome it is just to be alive. Anywho, here are some photos of rest day activities, from this summer.

Picking raspberries, always a good time. Shaun Matusawicz stockin' up in Spring Creek Canyon for his famous muffins.

Mountain biking, always a popular rest day activity. This is Greg Pettys on the road up to the 401 trail in Crested Butte.

Of course, writing and reflection is one of the best rest day activities. Write it all down before you forget is something a wise man once told me. Often I'll go back to my journal entries to revisit the past, whether its a crush on a new woman, or recalling a breakthrough climb.

Chillin at a lake is always awesome when you're worked! Here's my boys Ben Johnson and Al Smith III hiking up to Long Lake in Crested Butte.

Can't beat boomers, or a parade for a rest day activity. This is from the Fourth of July parade in Crested Butte.

Ha Ha Ha...You know what I want!

Partying always fun for a rest day, just don't hit it too hard, especially in Sin City!


And on that note, I'm going bouldering! uuuuuhhhhhhhh

Chillin' at the Stokelab

For the last three weeks I've been engaged in about the coolest gig ever: posting material for Stokelab.com.

The Stokelab is the brainchild of Mike Horn and Justin Cash, and the sole purpose of the lab is to provide positive, inspiring content. There is a magazine (see issue number three, pages 76-84 for my piece on the dishwashing/climber life in Joshua Tree) videos, product reviews, Q and A's and photo essays over at the lab.

Today I posted a video about Dean Potter from the folks at Prana called Falling to Fly.

Earlier this week I also posted a video of the first ascent of Supercrack, worth a watch if merely to see what they were using for protection (hexes) back in the day, in the desert.

If you make it over, I hope ya'll enjoy your trip to the lab! Cheers, Luke

Visit the Stokelab

Cracked Canyon Photos

Last weekend my friend Scott and I traveled down to Telluride for a weekend of climbing and fun. We visited Cracked Canyon one day, a chossy, yet aesthetic little canyon, just down from the Ophir Wall. Here's some pics.

Julie (left) on Tobacco Road, and Scott Borden on Orange Peel.

Borden climbing Orange Peel.

Jonathan Schaffer onsighting Tick Fever. Damn son!

Dave Marcinowski climbing Blood on the Tracks.

Julie on Tobacco Road.

Another shot of Schaffer on Tick Fever.

The chossy gully...

Marcinowski finishing Blood on the Tracks.

A moderate dihedral, can't recall the name of this one, but a guided party was on it.

Love you, Telluride!