Pittsburgh’s screening of Reel Rock 12, held on Thursday 11/9, was once again hosted by ASCEND Pittsburgh and co-sponsored by the Explorers Club of Pittsburgh and the CMU Explorers Club.  Thanks to their collective and continued generosity, the Pittsburgh climbing and outdoors community was given free admission. Well over 400 people were in attendance - which is more than ever before!

Like previous years, the free screening featured a raffle to help raise money and awareness for the Access Fund and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Climbers Coalition (SWPACC), two very important local and national climbing organizations. The Access Fund is a national non-profit dedicated to the conservation of climbing areas and preservation of climber access, while the SWPACC is our LCO (local climbing organization) with the following mission: to promote the responsible development of climbing and bouldering in southwestern Pennsylvania, to disseminate information about development and conservation of the resource, and to gain and preserve access. To stay up to date on the progress of the SWPACC please follow the group on Facebook or become a member HERE.

Prizes for the raffle were generously donated by local sponsors like 3 Rivers Outdoor Company, The Climbing Wall, Climb North, RESL Science, ASCEND Pittsburgh, SWPACC, Venture Outdoors, and Water Stone Outdooors (Fayetteville, WV), as well as national retailers and climbing organizations FrictionLabs, Rock Candy Holds, Access Fund, Chakstone Skinworks, Barnana, Neon Climbing, Petzl, Evolv, Flashed, Wolverine Publishing, Friendly Foot, and Patagonia.

The event netted $2,500.42 (MOST EVER, by a lot!) in donations, of which $1,250.21 went to the Access Fund and $1,250.21 to the SWPACC. Thanks to all of our attendees, sponsors and volunteers for making the event possible and a huge success!

Prior to showing the film, the audience heard from a few sponsor organization representatives who all play integral roles in the local climbing community: Nancy Tran - Explorers Club of Pittsburgh, Kerrek Stinson- CMU Explorers Club, Paul Guarino - Ascend Pittsburgh, Paul Guarino (via Bob Value) - Access Fund, Mike Varolotta and Bob Coblentz - Southwestern Pennsylvania Climbers Coalition, Christine Iksic and Chris Kaminski - 3 Rivers Outdoor Company. Additionallty, the crowd had the opportunity to view the 5Point Film Festival trailer. The film will be shown at ASCEND on February 3rd and is hosted by 3ROC, ASCEND, and Cultivate.

In additional to the folks listed above, this event wouldn't have been possible without the help from the following: Paul Guarino, Todd McCormick, Sherman Lam, Alex Gotsis, Alex Bernstein, Aaron Gilmore, Jim Schuring, Bill Holman, Lauren Endicott (photographer) and everyone else we forgot!

Looking forward to seeing everyone next year for the new installment of Reel Rock!