A personal history of my encounters with something unapologetically old school.
“You gotta come to this comp. Well, its not a comp. Its an epic. 5 hours man. Routes, slabs, dynos, boulders, its got it all, even a top-out boulder.”
And so, Tylor suckered me into my very first “Sunburn”. I’ve been thinking about them a lot – 2020’s was cancelled (f*** COVID), and I just received notice that PRG Valley Coatesville will be closing its doors. It was a very special sort of place, and I’m sure the regular members will miss it far more than I will, but I feel compelled to share my history with it – Sunburn was as much a part of my summer as the Harford County Farm Fair was (if you know me, you know that makes it a big deal). I want it noted that I visited Coatesville for more than just Sunburn events – they also held the “Winter Burn” there, but those are less vibrant in my mind.
For anyone that wants to read the gratitude-laden punchline but has no interest in my rambling semi-autobiographical recounting of the last decade, click here.
2009
In my first year, right inside the door, I met Paige. Head of the In The Light Fund, she was selling earrings to benefit families fighting cancer and other diseases. Her drive made an impression, and I’ve tried to make it a point to snag something from her table when I got a bit of spare coin.
With only 3 categories, Novice\Advanced\Open, I stepped up for Advanced. I got whupped by a tall strong fella named Jase, but notably beat soon-to-be rockstars Steve Neff, Jesse Grupper, and Solomon Barth.
2010
After a string of 3rd and 4th place finishes over the winter season, I was feeling strong, going 1-2-4-5-5 in the 5 categories, and 1st place Advanced overall – a close tie-break finish over fellow ET wunderkind Eric Marsh. I got the pleasure of spending a good bit of it hanging out with my close friend Amy and her father, and took home a sweet Metolius Simulator 3D hangboard I still use. Also, check out these sweet prizes from the individual categories!
2011
After more podium finishes in Men’s Advanced over the winter, I stepped up and threw my hat in the ring as an ‘Open’ competitor for the first time. I have no idea how I placed, only that I’d missed finals and was somewhere south of 8th. I’m fairly certain this is around the time the mythical bridge closed, leading Tylor and I to becoming very familiar with certain neighborhoods in rural PA as we drove “the long way around” for several years.
2012
A little weaker, a little humbled, I checked back down to the Advanced category, and in a spectacular outing, Tylor and I went 1-2 on the podium. At that point, having won twice, I vowed it was Open or nothing from there on out, and went home with some bitchin Rock Rings. If I remember correctly, this was the year Virginia Hardman Jeremy Hardin took a whip nearly to the deck while making a desperate lunge for the final hold.
2013
I’ve got slightly better records from this year, and they show I finished 13th, in esteemed company – just 3 spots behind the Tom Meehan, and two behind the inspirationally strong Brandon Cirkus. Pretty sure I wouldn’t have been eligible for finals – I had punched into the chains going for the last hold of the only route I stood a chance of topping, and was far too gassed to get back to my highpoint and latch the hold proper. I distinctly remember one Jeremy Little feeling bad for me as I held my hand, but sometimes that’s just how it goes.
2015
Tylor absolutely crushed, winning Advanced. Fellow ET-er Steph crushed as well, making finals, and despite her unease on the sharp end, put on a brave face to take on the Finals lead route (proud of her for that). I was completely ineligible for finals, again having completed no routes. In order to soothe my bruised ego, I pulled onto the Finals routes as we took our dinner break and all those more worthy had already been taken to isolation. From behind me came a booming voice, scolding me to get down and continuing to (rightfully) scold me after, sending me from “zero-to-bitch in a half second” as one onlooker later commented. And that, kids, is how I met Chris Palmer. I spent part of finals keeping the company of Sarah, the lone desk employee left to guard the front door, far from the action – if your into movies you should check out her podcast. I will always appreciate her patience with me in a moment that I needed a distraction from life.
2016
Maybe I was strong, maybe there weren’t enough registrants, maybe they took pity on the old guy (seriously, at 30, I was 11 years senior to the next oldest), but I made it into Finals, finally. Coming out, and after immediately abandoning my shirt (as one does), I flashed the first boulder problem, and somewhat immaturely gave setters Steve and Tom the finger after. They got their revenge 5 minutes later, as I was stumped only a few moves into the next problem. Entering the lead route, all eyes were on the stronger climbers still bouldering, and thank God for that. Pulling on, I botched the traversing ninja-kick just 3 moves in and “fell” all of a foot to the floor. My belayer looked around, realized none of the “judges” were paying attention, and after shrugging, offered me a mulligan which I politely declined – the Gods had spoken, Justin does not belong on a rope.
2018
Another year without topping a route – the crew at PRG sets consistent, progressive, routes that always end in a desperate thrutch to the finish (editors note: anything with more than 8 moves is thrutchy for Justin). It was a little bittersweet – Justin and Tylor ride again, one last time. After accepting a job in the Dirty South, this would be the last time we pushed each other through 5 hours of sweaty July plastic-pulling. The only two idiots to shout “more time!” in unison at the 5-minute warning. The only two with their shirts off at 10:05AM. The end of an era.
2019
Without Tylor, I had to con someone else to make the hike with me so I would have a belayer – I’m not good with strangers. I managed to convince my friend Kelly to fill the role, as it meant she got to do this “ropes” thing she enjoys (that I don’t understand). Despite my mental deficit, I finished a route for the first time in years, maybe even 2 or 3. I’d legitimately spent weeks training in a harness to not have that empty spot in my card, but alas didn’t make the cut for finals. My friend Zoe and a cooler of White Claw kept me company through finals, closing the evening on a high note. Little did any of us know, this was truly the end of an era.
*****
The competition was always fierce, and while the balancing of 5 separate comps to qualify for an overall spot is taxing on the body AND the mind (What’s the optimal strategy? Do you do boulders first? Routes? Surely slabs are last, right?), PRG knows how to treat its attendees. Everyone gets a meal ticket and, for the over-21 crowd, 2 beer tickets. While we were waiting for results to be posted there was a parking lot cookout with burgers, hot dogs, salad, chips, cookies, and soda – and the fight for a shady spot was on (no ketchup on the pads!). The organizers say “one meal ticket per participant,” but they never fell short on food and seconds were always available (see Step #35 from our previous post). I had just climbed for 5 hours with nary a rest in the middle of summer, I’d earned it. Once the running order for finals was announced, it was beer o’clock with some of the best local craft brew that’d been hiding in the back on ice all day. A 12-oz. ice pack never felt or tasted so good. With that, it would be time for us mortals to watch the literal three-ring circus that was finals: two stellar and sprawling boulder problems and a final lead route up the main wall complete with big falls and bigger glory. It’s was never just a comp. It really was the epic the advertisement promised it’d be.
PRG Coatesville will always hold a special place in my heart, even if I was only there 1-2 days a year. In a way the brevity of the encounters made it more special – unlike other gyms, I never associated it with the slog of training, or the average, mundane bouldering comp. The angles, the shapes, the culture, and most of all the people I met created so very many memories, and the long car ride to get there became a tradition in it’s own way, the build-up to introducing countless gullible people over the years to the glory of sweatily pulling over the lip of the Gravitron using only one greasy jib.
Thank you to PRG ownership and staff, for all the memories. 2020 was brutal on all of us, but I’m excited to see what the future holds, and to continue to stop up to see you all a few times each year.
*****
A huge thank you to all the people who I met at Coatesville, or who made Sunburn memories with me:
Tylor Streett, Dave Rowland, Paige Rowland, Matthew Smith, Michael Davis, Brandon Cirkus, Zoe Steinberg, Bailey Peterson, Sarah Jeanne, Amy Norton, Mike O’Donnell, Devin Cooley, Steve Neff, Chris Palmer, Solomon Barth, Jesse Grupper, Tom Meehan, Brianna Wagner, Zaius, Bill Willingham, Eric Marsh, Eric Jerome, Jeremy Little, Kelly Mundle, Gerrit Spieker, Rusty Ford, Chelsea Sharnik, Brenna Miller, Liz, Jacob Woods, Simon Morris, Nick Picarella, Lelani Peralta, Gabby Peralta, Kevin Celommi, Connor Gourley, Izzy Gourley, Brooke Weil, James Pesce, Derek Transue, Steph Carras, Leo Kates, and so, so many more.
Selected Scores from years gone by:
| Overall | Dyno | Route | Slab | Boulder | Topout | |
| Tylor ’09 | (32) | 7th (6) | 9th (4) | 10th (5) | 13th (9) | 2nd (8) |
| Justin ’09 | (41) | 4th (8) | 7th (5) | 5th (7) | 5th (13) | 3rd (8) |
| Tylor ’10 | 9th (13) | 8th (4) | 3rd (6) | 10th (3) | 23rd (1) | 8th (6) |
| Justin ’10 | 1st (39) | 4th (5) | 5th (5) | 2nd (6) | 1st (15) | 5th (7) |
| Tylor ’12 | 2nd (37) | 7th (7) | 2nd (7) | 5th (6) | 8th (7) | 4th (10) |
| Justin ’12 | 1st (39) | 8th (6) | 4th (6) | 1st (7) | 2nd (10) | 5th (10) |
| Tylor ’14 | 2nd | 4th (5) | 2nd (3) | 10th (5) | 6th (6) | 4th (5) |
| Justin ’14 | DNF (11) | |||||
| Tylor ’15 | 1st |