You may have wondered what the large gathering is by the park’s overflow lot. The American Alpine Club’s Annual Smith Rock Craggin’ Classic moved down the street for its annual 3-day climbing festival the weekend of September 30- October 2, 2022.
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The 9-foot Steinway grand piano hidden in a flatbed trailer pulls into a wide open space punctuated by sage and rabbitbrush at Smith Rock State Park. Slowly the set-up crew raises the platform and reveals the instrument that has traveled for 6 years all over the west, as part of IN A LANDSCAPE: Classical Music in the Wild™, an outdoor concert series where America’s most stunning landscapes replace the traditional concert hall.
The Smith Rock Group is back after a COVID hiatus with its annual Smith Rock Spring Thing, a volunteer park maintenance event that has attracted about 200 people per year. Since 1993, this non-profit organization organizes projects with the park staff that has replaced wooden steps, rebuilt rock walls, repaired fences, pulled weeds, and much more. Each year volunteers show up bright and early, eager to repair the well-worn trails from such heavy visitation to Smith Rock.
Normally the Winter Solstice kicks off storytelling across the Northern Hemisphere for Native American tribes. Here at Smith Rock, the stories got kicked off earlier, thanks to an event sponsored by The Bend Environmental Center.
Didn’t snag a ticket to this year’s sold-out Smith Rock Craggin’ Classic brought to you by the American Alpine Club? Fear not. While Smith Rock TV won’t be streaming all of the clinics and hours of events, we have a line-up of interviews with climbing icons such as Tommy Caldwell and Alan Watts, on a wide range of issues from advocating for climbing resources at a state level to the existing “climbing culture.” Plus we’ll give you a taste of the 3 days of the gathering where climbers come together to celebrate, learn new skills, and give back to the crag.