An unusual remix to the classic story “The Night Before Christmas” wrapping up the Triple Crown Stone Fort Competition. By Ian Achey of La Sportiva.
– Enjoy!
It was the night before Stone Fort in Chattanooga, Tennessee
The comp was all ready, competitors psyched as can be
The forecast was dismal with a strong chance of rain
But compared to what these folks have seen, the weather seemed tame
At Rock/Creek was a slideshow by Conrad Anker himself
Who described how he likes to make his life living hell
Spending weeks on the big walls with smaller rations each day
And with just a few pitches left, the mountain turned him away
The presentation inspired and motivated the crowd
Giving a thunderous applause that would make the most humble man proud
On Saturday morning the rain wasn’t late
It sprinkled the venue with a gray, icy glaze
The vendors were present, participants slow
Nobody knew if Stone Fort was a go
La Sportiva put demos on 25 people’s feet
A bit lower than usual but consider the sleet
At 9 o’ clock in the morning they gave the green light
And a train of school buses vanished from sight
The competitors scattered into a maze grey rock
Trying as fast as they could to knock all 10 problems off
There were breaks in the weather, a breeze dried out the field
Conditions were perfect when Daniel Woods sent the Shield
Jimmy Webb hiked the circuit racking thousands of points
Sweatshirts and puffies helped loosen the joints
A few spotters were drop-kicked a few ankles were rolled
But there were no major injuries in the rain and the cold
The comp was called early by an hour or two
But most of the climbers only had a few left to do
So back to the gym that they call Urban Rocks
For dinner and prizes and a pair of dry socks
La Sportiva sold Tech Tees, about 25 from the booth
People loved the design, from the old folks to youths
We raised 300 dollars for the SCC
Added to the total already it’s almost 2G’s!
Daniel and Jimmy then stopped by at six
To autograph T-shirts and talk to the kids
The festival ended on the speed climbing wall
Participants launched to the finish hold and took the big fall
There were raffles and prizes, drinks and food all around
Stone Fort a great finish to a great Triple Crown!
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