The Goal of this event is community involvement. We've had a ton of new boulderers come join our community over the course of the year and we want to have a super fun event that is not so much focused on climbing prowess as it is on getting together all skill levels.

For this event, we wanted to come up with a format that would even the playing field as best as possible. Every age category is playing for the same prize – one of five CRASH PADS! It would be an absolute possibility with this format for someone in their first season of climbing to win! In fact, your poker strategy may even be more valuable than your dyno abilities.

The boulder will be broken down into 13 sections with 4 climbs each. Of those 4 climbs, two will have the playing card face up, and two face down. So you will know where 26 of the 52 cards are located.

You can score only 1 climb in each of the 13 sections. So as soon as you complete a climb in that section, that card 'goes in your hand' and you cannot come back to that section. So ideally, at the end of the night you will have 13 cards 'in your hand'. So, as an example, in section 3 you may see the Ace of Spades climb and the Two of Diamonds, but have no idea what the other two cards are. If you don't need the Ace or Two, you may try your luck by completing one of the other two 'hidden card' climbs.

Yes, a higher level of climbing ability opens up more choices to you in each section. If the revealed card is on a hard climb in that section, only a strong climber would be able to score it. If the revealed card is on an easy climb, the strong climber could send it or they may not need it and could choose to take their chances on a hidden card climb. However, high cards will not necessarily be associated with hard climbs.

Once the final whistle blows, we will reveal what cards were associated with the other 26 climbs. Then you will 'build' your best TWO poker hands out of the 13 or so cards that you have. If you have scored in all 13 sections, you'll have 3 cards left over, which may need to be used as 'high card' to break any ties.

Our guest setter for the event will be your good friend and mine, Ray Hansen. Even though he is out of the area now, he is a valued member of our community that many of you know well. He has to fly home on Friday, so we wanted him to be able to see you all.