By Joe Rousseau

On Saturday, Oct. 4, Fayetteville rock climbing gym and coffee shop Boulders and Brews hosted “House of Cruxes,” their third annual Halloween-themed bouldering competition, and their seventh competition since opening in November 2022. 

In total, 125 climbers showed up to compete. Some came from as far away as San Antonio and Salt Lake City, but most were NWA locals, and many were students at the University of Arkansas. As many climbers as there were, there were even more spectators and volunteers; during finals, the entire venue was packed tight, with attendees standing shoulder to shoulder to watch or help facilitate the grand finale.

The event was open to climbers of all ages and levels of experience: climbers could choose between the recreational, intermediate, or advanced divisions, each with a separate category for male and female. There was also a dedicated non-binary division, and males had an additional “elite” division for the most experienced climbers.

In “bouldering,” as opposed to more traditional types of rock climbing, climbers do not use a rope or harness, and climb to only about 10-12 feet off the ground above a padded floor. Because each route, or “boulder,” is so much shorter than in traditional climbing, the moves are typically more difficult. Where traditional climbing is primarily a test of technique and endurance, bouldering is a test of technique and strength.

At House of Cruxes, the gym was set with 40 boulders, numbered 1-40 in order of difficulty, with more difficult boulders worth more points. Participants had three hours to attempt whichever boulders they wanted; the point values for the top 5 most difficult boulders that each climber successfully completed were added up, and the four highest-scoring climbers from each division moved on to finals.

All through September, the gym was full of competitors training, hoping to be in peak form for the competition. Some went as hard as they could, pushing their abilities and bodies further than they ever had. Beau Baldwin, who competed in the male’s advanced division, took a different approach.

“I’ve been climbing just as often, but for shorter sessions,” he said. “I’ve mostly kept to easier climbs, so I’m still getting the work in, but I’m staying fresh and not wearing myself out.”

Most climbers who competed did so primarily for the fun of the event, and for the spirit of the competition itself. Mason Rheay, who won first place in the male’s intermediate division, said he only wanted to perform better than he did last year. His primary goal was to make the podium; he had forgotten about the winners’ prizes altogether.

But prizes there were. At the front of the gym was a table full of them – tee-shirts, sweaters, chalk bags, hand lotions, fully decorated cakes, nail clippers, concert tickets, gift certificates, dog toys, candies, stickers, and more. These prizes were ostensibly meant for the competition’s winners, but there were far more prizes available than there were winners – more even than there were participants. So, all 125 competitors were entered into a raffle. Names were called for the better part of an hour, and when everyone had taken something, and the table was still full, the names were thrown back into the hat, and another round began. 

“We try to make it so that nobody leaves empty-handed,” said Pat Randall, co-owner of Boulders and Brews. “We’ve always been more focused on spirit and community than the competition. Of course we want the competition to go well, but it’s still mostly a community event. The prize for best costume is as significant as the prize for best climber.”

Community is obviously an important part of Boulders and Brews’s identity. Randall made clear that, though he is running a business that is meant to make money, the parts of the job he finds most rewarding have to do with what the gym provides for its customers. Even the competitions, according to him, make little to no money; but because of the relationships they help forge between the attendees, he believes they are indispensable.

Randall said that he’s had other jobs that made more money, but that he’s never felt more satisfied with his work than he is at Boulders and Brews. He loves seeing people find a space where they can get stronger and make new friends.

“Sometimes, behind the counter, I feel like a friendly NPC in a video game,” he said. “My job is to increase their social skills – and their climbing skills too, if they can.”

But Boulders and Brews’s commitment to the community goes beyond supporting their climbers.

“For the competitions, we keep all of our sponsorships local because he want to highlight small businesses,” said Randall. “Many are struggling right now because of the tariffs and the state of the economy as a whole.”

When the gym began hosting competitions, it struggled to secure sponsorships. They had to reach out to potential sponsors with offers to trade benefits, and relied on those businesses’ generosity to fuel their events. But over time the gym has solidified its place in Fayetteville, and has developed a more credible, established presence: on October 5^th, the day immediately following House of Cruxes, the gym hosted a youth competition officially sanctioned by USA Climbing, the official governing body for rock climbing in the United States. Here, competitors of ages 11 through 15 competed to qualify for USA Climbing regionals, and a chance to represent the United States in international competition.

In November Boulders and Brews will reach its 3^rd anniversary. In those three years it has become a beloved third space in Fayetteville.

“I love this place,” said Rheay. “Sometimes I spend entire days here. I can do homework for a few hours, and then climb when I get bored. And I have so many friends here, it’s easy to lose track of time just hanging out.”

In the future, Randall hopes that Boulders and Brews will continue putting on events, and will remain the close-knit community space it is.

“I just love it here,” he said. “When you have the entire gym chanting for one person to top-out on a boulder they’ve been working on all week… man, that just fills my cup. That’s being a human. What else could you ask for?”