Hueco Rock Rodeo

The Hueco Rock Rodeo is a bouldering competition held annually in February at Hueco Tanks State Historic Site in the extremities of El Paso, Texas. It is highly competitive and attracts professional rock climbers from all over the world. The proceeds go toward conservation and access.

The following are excerpts from Rock and Ice magazine by Melissa Strong:[1]

In 1989 the El Paso Climbers Club (EPCC) started the Rock Rodeo before any restrictions came into place at Hueco Tanks. Dave Head remembers fondly some of the early Rodeos: “We would get Croakies and give them out—then the next few weeks you would see all of the people at Hueco wearing their Croakies. It was simple back then. There were trophies, velvet Elvis posters and the most injured climber got a bottle of tequila.” For six years the Rodeo continued to attract up to 150 participants including Dale Goddard, Hans Florine and Matt Samet. There were some changes in the Rodeo’s format because of ongoing access issues due to over use and vandalized pictographs, but the Rodeo went on still hosted by the EPCC and held at Pete’s. In 1995, due to continuing problems, the Rodeo was suspended. In 1996 the Rodeo continued, but was called the 7th Rock Rodeo. The 8th and 9th Rock Rodeo occurred before the Public Use Plan (PUP) was put into place in 1998. After the PUP went into effect, the Hueco Rock Rodeo tradition was put on hold in 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002. In 2003 Rob Rice appealed to the park and was able to put on the 10th annual Rock Rodeo–the first Rodeo hosted by the Rock Ranch.

The extreme competition was not the original intention of the event but with the growing popularity of climbing it has turned into one of the most difficult and coveted competitions to win.[2] After 20+ years it is still a mainstay in the climbing community and is as much a festival as it is a serious competition.