Joe’s Valley Bouldering Camp

Joe’s Valley Fest and Carbon County Events and Recreation have collaborated with a Bouldering Camp which is being held weekly, Monday through Thursday, until mid-august. The camp has a capacity of 12 climbers each week.

“We provide lunch and snacks as well as all the gear necessary for the camp. At only $25 per student, we have done our best to make it as accessible as possible, including a pickup location in Carbon and Emery County. This would not be possible without the $15k grant we received from the Utah Division of Outdoor Recreation, a $3k donation from Joe’s Valley Fest, $1k from the Elements Wilderness Program out of Huntington and the partnership from Carbon County Events and Recreation,” said one of the founders of Joes Valley Fest, Adriana Chimaras.

The kids’ activities will include classic camp games like Red Light Green Light, then move on to a climbing movement lesson on the CD Main Street climbing wall. This will be followed by climbing on boulders and end with more games and lunch. They will focus on climbing movement, as they will be doing bouldering rather than rope climbing. Discussion on outdoor ethics, like staying on the trail or finding areas better than you found them by picking up trash, will be had. Attendees will also learn how to be a supportive group member for other climbers and how to learn from their successes and failures, which are all important aspects of climbing and life.

Chimaras added, “The bouldering in Joe’s Valley is named after the nearby reservoir but the climbing actually happens in the canyons before it as well as an area closer to the old pageant site. The camp’s main post will be right behind the Castle Dale Main Street City Park’s visitor center. There is an artificial climbing wall there that has been reset in collaboration with the city to be a perfect spot for lessons before going out to the boulders. We have a permit for BLM areas so we will be at the bottom of Cottonwood Canyon, the “Right Fork” for climbers, and the hillside near the old Wilberg Mine, or “New Joe’s” to climbers.”

When asked about safety precautions, Chimaras stated that each camp is led by a Wilderness First Aid (WFA) certified coach. There is also an emergency plan that all the coaches are trained on. All of the coaches were part of the High School Climbing Club at Emery High School. Most have been in the club for a year, but there is one coach that has been climbing for three years. The coaches also work at the local pool as lifeguards, so they are experienced in working safely with kids’ activities.

“We will also be climbing in areas that have service as well as having two vehicles at the boulders in case there is an emergency,” assured Chimaras.

“We feel very lucky to have such a dedicated group of local teens, and recent graduates, on our staff. As one of the founders of the Joe’s Valley Fest, this has been a dream of mine since the inception of the organization. I have been coaching youth in climbing for 10 years, as long as the fest has been around, and I am so grateful for everyone who has been able to make this dream a reality. Being able to open the climbing to kids as young as 9 and create more summer jobs in different industries for our local youth means so much to me,” concluded Chimaras.

To sign up visit http://joesvalleyfest.com/registration or on carbon country recreations website at https://carboncountyrecreation.activityreg.com/selectactivity_t2.wcs?leaguesid=211.