Emery County in the Eastern-Central Utah desert has a population of about 10,000. Each day, throngs of drivers pass through the west of the county on U.S. Highway 191 on their way to Moab, most never stopping off on its eastern side. But ask your nearest climber friend and they’ll tell you East Emery County is home to some of the best bouldering in the world, in a place called Joe’s Valley.
Bouldering is climbing, but without ropes, though it’s not as dangerous as it sounds; boulder routes typically aren’t taller than 20 feet, and if you fall you’ll land on a crash pad, a specially designed mat boulderers place on the ground.
Joe’s Valley is 10 miles from the county seat, a town called Castle Dale. The valley is framed by plateaued peaks that are crowned with pine trees, and below it runs the Lower Seeley Creek which follows the valley’s winding features.
Joe’s contains a seemingly infinite number of large sandstone boulders; every shape and size imaginable scattered along its foothills. It’s an endless resource of good bouldering which has made it a pilgrimage site for climbers around the world, attracting 15,000 people to Joe’s Valley and in turn the local communities every year.
The ninth annual Joe’s Valley Fest was held this year from Oct. 5-8 in the towns closest to the valley. During the commotion of Saturday’s climber games, Julie Janice, the executive director of the festival, told me that about a decade ago climbers were looking for a way to bridge the gap between themselves and the locals.
“The climbers were coming down here and just felt there was kind of a divide between the climbers and the locals because we are these crazy climbers coming down here looking weird, dirt-baggy, and we're coming into a very rural setting where they're not used to seeing these crazy climbers. So there was a little bit of tension between the communities. So the climbers were looking for a way to bridge that gap,” Janice said.
Janice said Amanda Leonard, who works for Emery County’s tourism board, was already looking to start a festival in the county around 2014. From an internet search she discovered that Joe’s Valley is famous for its bouldering, so she reached out to two female climbers, Adriana Chimaras and Vikki Glinskii. Together the three dreamt up the idea for the Joe’s Valley Fest.
“And so a few years after they started, they set it up as a nonprofit. And so we operate that way to run the fest. And then year-round, we do stewardship activities on the trip for trail maintenance at the boulders, and we do in town volunteer projects, kind of working to help out our mission: to bring those communities together to support the local economy, and then to also drive sustainability," Janice said.
The festival began on Thursday night and ended on Sunday. Each day is designed to facilitate interaction and the sharing of ideas between the two communities. Thursday started with a fun run, cornhole tournament and a climber movie night. Though Janice said the festival’s biggest draw is always the climber rodeo on Friday night.
“And we've got climbers out there riding steers, which are just little tiny bulls. Which look terrifying to me. But the locals kind of laugh at us. And so the climbers are out doing these things that you know locals do from when they were little growing up. And the climbers are out there on the struggle bus. So it's a good way for everybody to come out and watch it and its super fun,” Janice said.
Saturday was climbing focused. Saturday evening was the trade fair which hosted climbing vendors and local artisans. The night ended with the annual raffle which gave away thousands of dollars worth of climbing gear and outdoor equipment.
On Sunday morning, climbers met for the festival’s stewardship activities. A group of about 40 climbers met in the parking lot of Orangeville’s iconic Food Ranch, the only grocery story in town, and a one-stop shop. Unlike most grocery stores, at Food Ranch you can buy climbing implements like grip chalk and carabiners. And any climber will tell you no trip to Joe’s is complete without stopping for one of Food Ranch’s famous donuts.
During the morning, I talked to John Alex Vespa, a Salt Lake City resident and a third-time Joe’s Fest attendee.
“There's so much magic that happens here. I feel like I meet new people from the community every year. It's just cool. You get to build like a little relationship, even if you only see them once or twice a year,” Vespa said.
More than anything, Janice said she thinks the stewardship activities have the most impact on local attitudes towards climbers. She's been coming to Joe’s Valley since 2006, and since the first festival in 2015 she says the change in attitudes is noticeable.
“You could see the effect that the festival had had because people were approaching me. It is the first place I've ever been where I was out in the canyons. And then another time, I was just parked at the Food Ranch grocery store and these locals started walking over to me. On both occasions, they came up and said, 'Hey, we just wanted to tell you, we really love you boulderers. We're really happy that you're here. And we're stoked that you're here. And we just wanted to let you know that.' I've never encountered that anywhere else in the world," Janice said.
Janice said the festival was moved from its typical dates in late September as to not create congestion in the valley when cattle are still coming down from the mountains.
