This past weekend we grabbed our gear, packed up the vehicles and started the 8 hour drive north to Loon Mountain Resort in Lincoln New Hampshire, The site for this years Nor’Easter Festival put on by Eastern Mountain Sports.

For those who don’t know, The Nor’Easter is a 3 days festival focusing on Sports, Music, and Conservation. There was trail running, The Unified Bouldering Championships held finals, and there was a Cyclocross race. The music was plenty, Bands such as Alberta Cross and The Gaslight Anthem took the stage and had the crowd churning. The only disappointment was the conservation aspect of the event which in my opinion was lacking. Sure there were the recycling bins and what not, but they were overflowing and not well organized. In my honest opinion the event should have been organized with a more pack in pack out mentality and bringing your own plate and cup for food and drink would have helped reduce the trash. The New River Rendezvous had this model and the lack of garbage at the end of the event was amazing. That said, this was this a great even and still much more green than your average festival.

Tiffany Hensley Going For It

One of the highlights of the event for me was getting to watch the Unified Bouldering Championship Finals. World class boulderers such as Alex Johnson, Daniel Woods, and Angie Payne put on quite a show for the crowd. The comp started on Friday night with qualifiers then closed up Saturday afternoon with the Finals. After a great show and some great effort by all the contestants, Ethan Pringle took first in the mens devision and Alex Johnson sealed the deal for the women.

The Bouldering Wall At The Nor’Easter

Saturday evening was the highlight for the music portion of the event in my opinion. With bands like Chk Chk Chk and The Gaslight Anthem stirring the crowd and providing great entertainment. I even found myself jumping into the pit and doing a little slam dancing to “The ’59 Sound” by The Gaslight Anthem.

The event closed out a great weekend  on Sunday with a trip to the Nor’Easter Advanced Base Camp located at Rumney where The American Alpine Club fed everyone with delicious pancakes and coffee, The major shoe brands offered up demos, and of course there was climbing. Rumney offers a plentiful sport climbing experience and was a good choice for this event despite the distance from Loon Mountain Resort.

With the climbing done, the vendors packing up and the storm clouds moving in we decided it was time to make a break for it. I’ll see you next year for sure Nor’Easter, Keep the awesome coming.