🚀 go-pugleaf

Easter 2007 is getting close now and heaps of events and speakers have
been confirmed for the Australian Climbing Festival. A massive amount
of effort has gone into the festival already from many individuals from
all over Australia and it is shaping into a great event.

This is a bit of a long post as we haven't put much up about the
festival until now - we wanted to wait until lots of events were
confirmed (rather than lots of ideas).

Below are some highlights from the line-up of events, and some of the
comps that you can enter! (more info can be found on
www.climbingfestival.com.au)

18 SPEAKERS ALREADY CONFIRMED
·	Peter Croft, HB, Jon Muir, Ben Heason, Tim Macartney-Snape, Glen
Singlemann & Heather Swan, Simon Carter, Garth Miller, Louise Shepherd,
Bob McMahan, Jonathan Clearwater, Chris Bray & Clark Carter, Arno
Ilgner, Kent Jensen, Gemma Woldendorp, Erik Monasterio... and more in
the works!

OZ MOUNTAIN FILM FEST (non-stop adventure films all weekend)
·	Adventure film competition - with over $1000 worth of prizes.
·	Best of Banff Mountain Film Fest - Climbing Selection.
·	Heaps of new talent and old favourites

CLIMBING COMPETITIONS
·	Escalade Climbing Championships'07 - invitational sport
climbing competition on a spectacular custom-built twin wall
(difficulty, speed and dyno comps).
·	Beal Slack Lining comp - over an outdoor pool ($1000 worth of
prizes)
·	Diverse range of comps to test the quirky talents of Australian
climbers (gear placement, table traversing, big wall skills, rope
coiling and more)

CLINICS (clinics have limited space and can be pre-booked by FULL PASS
holders)
Clinics from experienced climbers such as:
·	Garth Miller - Training
·	Simon Carter - Climbing Photography
·	Julian Saunders - Injury Prevention
·	Ben Heason - Trad Climbing
·	Monique Forestier - Training
·	Arno Ilgner - Mental Training for Climbers


MOUNTAIN MUSIC AND ARTS
Now is a great time to enter one or more of the creative comps
(Photography, film, writing) to be in the running for some great prizes
(more than $7,000 worth of prizes already!)
·	LIVE MUSIC from Midday 'til late both days - a mini music
festival for climbers - a great place to catch up with friends.
·	Lowepro Vertical World Photography Competition -with over $5000
worth of prizes.
·	Lowepro Vertical World Gallery - high-quality mounted prints of
some of Australia's best adventure photography.
·	Art of Climbing Gallery showcasing the creative talents of
climbers.
·	HIGH TIMES Short Story Comp - with over $1000 in prizes.

LOCATION:
The Blue Mountains have 3400+ climbs - that really says it all!

FUNDRAISING
·	To contribute to the international community the festival will be
hosting a Giant Outdoor Gear Garage Sale, with all proceeds going to
the Australian Himalayan Foundation. Donations of gear please!
·	10% of all festival profits will go to the fledgling Australian
access fund, preserving cliff environments.

ALSO:
Debates, huge gear area with bargain prices and lots more...

The best way to get the most from this huge weekend is to buy a EARLY
BIRD 'FULL PASS' for the whole weekend @ $79.95 (down from $99.95).
These are limited in numbers and include all events except clinics
(which are limited to 10-30, are pre-booked and are only available to
FULL PASS holders) and competition entry fees.  For up to date
information on what's on at the festival go to
www.climbingfestival.com.au

Please let us know if you have any feedback on what's going on at the
festival and any ideas - this is a festival for the whole climbing
community so the more people who get involved the better it is going to
be!

It's been 8 years since the last Escalade, so we've got some
catching up to do! 

Adam and Claire Donoghue (Festival Co-ordinators)