Tuesday night was a great one for the Charlotte climbing community.  It proved to me once again that NC climbers are a special group of people!  A few weeks ago, Garrett Gossett from the Charlotte Chapter of the American Alpine Club invite me to attend their next “Pint Night” to promote my new guidebook.  Once we put our heads together, we decided to take things a step further – why not turn this shindig into a fundraiser to benefit the Hidden Valley land acquisition?

Let the raffles begin!

Sycamore Brewery was kind enough to host our event, and the Bleu Barn Bistro’s food truck was parked right out front, offering delectable (and climbing-themed) local fare!  Raffle prizes were donated by Trango, REI, Skratch Labs, Hannah’s Coffee House, Misty Mountain, and Inner Peaks.  I also threw in a couple of guidebooks to be raffled off as well.

Katerina J. was the lucky winner of the Trango Crag Pack!

Sycamore had a great set-up.  Outdoor picnic tables with festive stringed lights were a perfect backdrop for a fun, family-friendly evening.  I even found a beer I liked, which is rare.  (The Salty Coconut, for anyone interested…)  The evening started out with me saying a few words about the guidebook writing process, then I hung out at the book table for a bit while everyone bought raffle tickets.  I was stoked to sell several books, and even signed some for donations (that also went towards Hidden Valley.)  The kiddos managed to make it ALMOST til the end before turning into pumpkins (thanks to the hubster for handling bedtime duty by himself that night!)

Memories of highschool yearbook signings at the book table

Since donations were coming in from a lot of different directions, it wasn’t until the next day that we found out how much money was raised…and the total came to $1100!!!  Way to represent, Charlotte!  For anyone that couldn’t make it out to the event but is planning on heading to Hidden Valley this summer, please consider giving online here.  The CCC is currently a little over halfway to paying off the purchase.

And for anyone that is interested in purchasing a guidebook, you can do so in a few different ways. 1) Buy them directly through me (infoATcragmamaDOTcom.)  2) Buy them at select retail locations – Inner Peaks, Triangle Rock Club, to name a few.  3) Buy them from the Earthbound Sports Publishing here.