Climbers + Coalminers Find Common Ground At Joe's Valley Festival
Located on the outskirts of Orangeville and Castle Dale lies Joe’s Valley — a bouldering paradise. With tens of thousands of unique rocks, fine grain sandstone, a wide variety of routes in every style and an unparalleled level of access, climbers from Salt Lake City began to develop the routes in this area in the mid-’90s. A landmark send of V13 Black Lung in 2000 caught the attention of the climbing community worldwide, and the buzz has never stopped.
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Photos courtesy of Joe’s Valley Festival
Perseverance, tenacity, struggle, love, community and resilience are all words one would use to describe the sport of climbing. Similarly, those words could be used to describe the people of Emery County, Utah, home of Joe's Valley and the surrounding towns. When Joe’s Valley was earning its claim to fame in the early 2000s, the cowboys and coalminers of Emery County were not thrilled to see a bunch of rag-tag vagabonds with punk rock haircuts and wild personalities coming into their towns. These very towns had been the same for hundreds of years, relying on the coal mining industry, which had started to fall apart. With Emery County going from 20-plus coal mines down to three, hardship engulfed the community. Families and businesses began to disappear, leaving empty homes and shops in their place, making the fear of this place becoming a ghost town all too real. The financial struggle combined with the tension building between the climbers and the locals was recipe for disaster, or maybe something beautiful.
It all began one Saturday in 2013, during the annual Orangeville and Castle Dale town clean-up. Unshowered, with taped fingers and dirt-covered clothes, the climbers who refer to themselves proudly as dirt bags, led by Steven Jeffery, showed up ready to work. Existing residents weren’t sure what to think, but as the day went on, they came to realize these dirt bags were here not just for the free food, but for the aid of the community. After the successful day of bonding and civic duty, Jeffery was asked by the city council to give a presentation on what bouldering was and why so many people were coming to Emery County for it. Jeffery gave his presentation on the valley, its routes, the “mattresses” on their backs known as crash pads and all things climbing in hopes that this would continue to bridge the gap.
He went back home and returned the following weekend to signs around the town saying “We Love Our Rock Climbers.” Suddenly, Food Ranch, the town grocer, had climbing chalk and kombucha on the shelves with crash pads at the register available to rent. It seems as though Emery County had begun to accept that the climbers were adding to their town instead of taking away. There was serious potential for increased tourism to bring their beloved county out of its economic slump. Jeffery and his partner, Adriana Chimaras, had just the idea to keep this blossoming bond growing for years to come — a festival. Not a festival just focused on bouldering but, rather, focused on bringing together the interests of the townspeople and the boulderers who were beginning to call this place home.
In 2015, the first Joe’s Valley Festival came to life with stewardship as its backbone. Patrick Bodnar, rock climber and marketing manager of the festival, gave some insight as to what the weekend entails and how its success has continued to help this community gain back financial stability.
“The festival can be broken up into three parts: clinics, climbing and community,” Bodnar states with a grin on his face.
Bodnar and the team behind the festival pack the weekend with a variety of activities. The festival offers trail building and bouldering clinics held by some of the industry's best climbers, such as Ethan Pringle and Conrad Cooper, jewelry making taught by local jeweler San Rafeal Works, photography and videography clinics held by professional photographers and making massive pizzas at the local favorite, R Pizza. The grand finale of the weekend is a good old-fashioned rodeo — where the climbers are encouraged to participate.
“It’s old mining roads with easy access to thousands of deposits of boulders that brings climbers here, but it’s the insane level of community and the love from the locals that keep climbers coming back year after year,” Bodnar believes.
You will find people climbing in Joe’s Valley no matter the time of year. With shaded climbs available in the summer to higher-elevation routes accessible in the winter, Joe’s has become a place for nomads to put their feet down. With the success of the festival and the added diversity to the community, the economic future of this area is beginning to look bright once again. This has resulted in Joe’s Valley Festival earning the Economic Impact Award from the Utah Office of Outdoor Recreation in 2018 and Emery County putting a bill in place that protects over one million acres of this very land for climbers and recreators alike to use for years to come. All of this growth and positive economic impact has led to “The Fest.”
As Joe’s Valley Festival continues to grow, so does its mission. With the festival holding 501c3 status as a non-profit, their big focus is continuing its advocacy group and adding more stewardship days throughout the year. The festival is held September 22-25, and tickets are in a choose-your-weekend type layout with custom gear and swag bags from sponsors depending on the level of ticket you select. This gives you the opportunity to customize your experience and truly get what you want out of the weekend. With Orangeville being less than three hours from Grand Junction, this place is a must-see on your upcoming fall road trip.
Originally published in the Fall 2022 issue of Spoke+Blossom.