Beats for Books a success! Note from the Executive Director, Lizzy Scully

Wow, we really had a great turnout for Beats for Books, as well as an enthusiastic crowd. Before costs, we've cleared $6000, but it could be closer to $7000 as many people haven't paid for their silent auction items yet. This is fantastic. We are thrilled. We have so many people to thank... where to start?! I'll list all the amazing people below. First a recap of the evening.

We started out a bit late, with clinics beginning around 6. Oskar Blues beer and food from Sherpas and Whole Foods was served around that same time, as well as wine generously donated by Market Square Liquor and chai donated by Third Street Chai. Lynn Hill's fun and engaging presentation began around 8 or so. She showed video footage of an early ascent with Beth Bennett, along with footage of the Nose, and then, finally and most hilarious, a clip of her night on David Letterman. I always love when Lynn speaks because she captures everyone's attention within minutes. All she has to do is start talking and showing slides, and people stop what they are doing to watch. I want to extend a special thanks to Lynn for helping us out! She also taught a clinic, which received great reviews. I wish I could have taken it, but I was running around like a madwoman trying to answer questions every 2 minutes or so. Madness. But fun madness.

After Lynn's show, Heidi did a very short presentation on Girls Ed, and then Malcolm Daly, owner of Great Trango Holdings, led the Live Auction bidding. He was hilarious. He interviewed each of the athletes present and managed to get the audience to bid a minimum of $100 per athlete, but in some cases close to $300. Go Mal!

The silent auction opened when the doors opened. Few people bid initially, but by the end of the evening we had close to 100 people bidding, and that brought in a huge chunk of cash. Malcolm Daly and Isaac Savitz made the highest bid for Janet Guenther's painting of Jonny Copp with the Indian Guru. Thanks to all three of you!

Last but not least, Patrick Megeath, aka Dirt Monkey, played incredible music all night. The evening ended around midnight with volunteers still enthusiastically helping clean and put stuff away, while boogying to Dirt Monkey's beats.

Oh yeah, and I must not forget to let everyone know that this was a very low-waste event. We used all corn-based, compostable cups and utensils as well as compostable napkins and paper plates. We also recycled all the beer cans, Izze bottles, and pretty much everything. My truck is completely packed with stuff (and is also now totally covered with snow because of this monster snowstorm that just hit the Front Range). Thanks to Eco-Cycle for providing the zero-waste bins for free.

Special thanks to Eric Noll and Carolyn McHale for putting a ton of time into the event. We really appreciate your efforts!

Also, special thanks to our title sponsors...

The North Face has been a long-time supporter of Girls Education International, consistently donating high-dollar items for our silent auctions. In fact, they have donated the most high-dollar items to Girls Ed since we started. The North Face rocks!

The Spot Gym not only donated their space and their employees, but they also donated some money for silent and live auction items. Thanks so much Dan Howley, Jackie, Alex, Andrew, Brett, and Ashley Woods. You guys and gals are amazing and generous, and you have a rockin' bouldering gym!

Oskar Blues has been supportive of Girls Ed for the last year, supplying beer on a small scale to meetings and small parties. We welcome them on board as larger donors. Thanks especially to their marketing guy, Chad Melis. He served the beer and auctioned himself off, bringing $120 in to Girls Ed. Lucky winner Kevin McGarvey will be spending an afternoon with him mountain biking and then touring the Oskar Blues Brewery and drinking beer.

Thanks also to the following volunteers and athletes!
Justin Voorhees, who is the CFO for Girls Ed, and Brook helped out throughout the evening.
Madaleine Sorkin auctioned herself off, raising $225 for Girls Ed, and she taught a clinic and helped throughout the evening.
Annette Yuan made the delicious desserts and helped during the event.
Cary Jobe donated a beautiful picture and served wine.
Russell Holcomb took all the video and helped run the slide show & video presentations.
Roshan Roghani donated the fine Boulder Balm products and helped out at the event. Plus she is on our Board of Directors.
Melissa and Joel Love donated one of Joel's photos and spent half the night in the silent auction room with their adorable son, Elijah.
John Lloyd took photos all night.
Boulder Adventure Films provide films and Sam to help run them all night.
Katie Brown and Emily Harrington brought in close to $300 for the live auction, auctioning themselves off as a team.
Robyn and Shawn Ebesfield-Rabotou taught a clinic
Lisa McAlister, who is on the Girls Ed Advisory Board, spent a few hours in the silent auction area and helped close out the auction.
Eddie Clark donated a day of action photography.
Kelly Cordes raised $225 by being auctioned off for a day of ice climbing.
Caolan MacMahon spent Sunday afternoon with Girls Ed at Whole Foods and helped out at the event.
Malcolm Daly did a fantastic job of being the auctioneer for the live auction.
Alex Honnold donated a day of his time to climb with a lucky person from The Spot Gym. He brought in $225.
Chris Weidner brought in $100 to support girls ed by auctioning himself off for a day.
Majka Burhardt brought in $100 in the live auction as well.
And thanks to all these volunteers for being available throughout the evening: Victoria Mata, Mike Newlands, Aly Nicklas, Heather Swallow, Sarah Watson, Brook from Lulu Lemon, and Kestrel Hanson.
And thanks to the Boulder Rock club for loaning us tables and selling tickets, and to Neptune Mountaineering and The North Face store for selling tickets.
Last, but certainly not least, thanks to all our donors and sponsors: Clif Bar, Stonewear, Neptune Mountaineering, Boulder Balm, Eddie Clark Photography, the American Alpine Club, Jetboil, Green Guru, Izze, Hugger Mugger, Julbo, Boulder Rock Club, Ames Adventure Outfitters, Manduka, Evolv, Climbing Magazine, Adventure Medical Kits, Glassworks of Estes, Boldface Design, Pacific Outdoor Equipment, Suunto, Market Square Liquor, and Third Street Chai. The art donated by: Suspended Stone Designs, Dan Gambino, Topher Donahue, Pattie Lee Becker, Janet Guenther, Emilie Lee, Renan Ozturk, Joel Love, Celin Serbo, Keith Ladzinski, Cary Jobe, and a wonderful man named Tim (whose last name I did not get, sorry Tim!). He brought two paintings in last minute.

I'm sure I'm missing some people. So sorry if I am, but you know who you are. All of you are ensuring that Girls Education International can maintain our programs in Liberia and Nepal and start our new program in Pakistan in 2010.

HUGE THANK YOU!

Photos to come soon.

Silent Auction Items Cont'd...One Week Left!

Are you psyched yet?

Goodie bags from Lulu Lemon for the first 25 people contain Wigwam socks, Pixie tea, coupons and lotions from Pangea Organics, Justin’s Nutter Butter, magazines and various hats and gifts from our sponsors.

One of the events title sponsors, The North Face donated three winter jackets and hiking boots, hats, and climbing shoes, as well as a gift certificate for $50.00. For more information visit their website: (www.thenorthface.com)

Hugger Mugger donated some a complete yoga kit, including bags, mats and blocks, as well as a complete meditation kit, which includes a meditation cushions, eye bags, and bolster. For more information, please visit their site: http://www.huggermugger.com/

Manduka provided a yoga kit, complete with a yoga mat, bag, and yoga towel. To read more about Manduka, please visit their site: http://www.manduka.com/

Evolv threw down several pairs of their comfy flip flops and stellar chalk bags. To check out the full range of the gear they offer check out http://www.evolvesports.com/

We’re auctioning off 2 pairs of sunglasses by Julbo. Website: http://www.julbousa.com/

Jet Boil donated a bunch of their high-quality stoves. To read more about Jet Boil, visit their site: www.jetboil.com

Wigwam socks will keep your toes warm this winter. Visit their site for more information: www.wigwam.com/

Ames Adventure Outfitters donated a variety of products, from T-shirts and hats to Osprey Backpacks. For more information, please visit their site: http://www.goaao.com/

With American Alpine Club memberships, you’ll get a American Alpine Journal plus insurance should you have an accident in the mountains. http://www.americanalpineclub.org/

Urban Climber, Climbing Magazine, and Rock & Ice magazine all donated copies of their magazines and subscriptions.

http://www.urbanclimbermag.com/

http://www.climbing.com/

http://www.rockandice.com/

A Brief Chat With Legendary Rock Climber, Lynn Hill--8 days until Beats for Books fundraiser!

A conversation with Lynn Hill…

Legendary rock climber Lynn Hill will be doing a presentation and teaching a clinic at the annual Beats for Books fundraising event at The Spot Gym, Tuesday, October 27th. Funds for this event will support Girls Education International’s scholarship programs for girls in Nepal, Liberia, and Pakistan. Hill will be teaching a clinic from 5-6:15 or so and then between 7 and 7:30 she will speak and show video clips documenting her life in climbing, including footage of her doing a first ascent with Beth Bennett in 1981 and her climbing over a hot air balloon in flight for ‘That’s Incredible. Girls Education International recently sat down with Hill to chat about what she’s up to.

GEI: What are you up to these days?
Hill: Right now I’m putting together a presentation for a show I’m doing in Italy. I have slides from beginning of my life as a climber. I have pictures of Joshua Tree, climbing in Arizona and Las Vegas, and then my travels to Europe. I moved to France in 1988. I wanted to learn another language and culture. It opened my mind to a lot of things I didn’t know about climbing. Then I speak about my time in Yosemite. I decided to quit comps and apply all my skills and experience to big wall free climbing. I had no idea free climbing the Nose would be the big deal that it was. I just had this idea that I would combine traditional and sport climbing … put those things together on this masterpiece climb. That launched me on a whole new aspect of my career that I didn’t anticipate.

GEI: What did that new career look like?
Hill: I realized it wasn’t going to be as big a deal as I originally thought to be a top competitive climber. It’s a branch of climbing that isn’t as well respected as doing something significant in the real environment—the natural world. Climbing the Nose gave me a lot of opportunities to travel and do even bigger climbs, such as in Kyrgystan, Morocco, Vietnam, and Thailand.

GEI: How did that shape your climbing career and life?
Hill: It became really clear to me that I didn’t want to become an alpinist, doing the biggest mountains in the world. That was never my focus. The media wanted that from me, but I said no to it. I learned to stick with what I loved to do and not to be convinced to do something because the marketing department liked that image of me!

GEI: What are some of the most notable things you have done since you climbed the Nose?
Hill: I wrote a book as a way to document the history of climbing from a woman’s perspective. It’s good for young girls, or anybody really, to have those role models. I didn’t have many. Writing a book had a lot to do with that perspective … it was exciting to be a part of that era of climbing development. Then I had a baby. That has been a big journey.

GEI: What are you working on now?
Hill: I’m working on a climbing technique video, which will use video graphics. I’m trying to show visually how I think about climbing, and how to break down climbing so that people can better understand the mechanics of movements. It will be a teaching tool, but also entertaining and pretty to look at. Teaching climbing camps really convinced me that videoing people and going it over the video with them was a good idea. To me it’s really obvious when people are making mistakes, but it’s too hard for them to tell while they are climbing. Video gives people a conscious, rational way to look at climbing and then they can try to incorporate that on an intuitive level. They have to understand it first before it can be intuitive about it.

GEI: What else are you up to?
Hill: I’m a full-time mom, I travel for speaking engagements, I do design and events for Patagonia as an ambassador, I do one or two things for Petzl each year, and I’m working on this book thing with John Long. I teach, on occasion.


GEI: Well, thanks a lot Lynn. See you in a week!
Hill: I’m looking forward to it.

As part of her work as an ambassador for Patagonia, Lynn is also trying to rally people to join events happening all over Boulder, Colo., that are raising awareness for the issue of climate change. On October 24, people from all over the world are taking a stand for a safe climate future. For more information on Boulder activities related to this cause, please visit the 350.org Website.


For more information about what Lynn is up to, please visit her blog.

Have you ever wanted someone to take actions shots of you while biking, running, fishing, or bouldering?

Well now you have your chance. Professional photographer Eddie Clark, frequent contributor of Mountain Flyer mag, has donated a day of his time to the Beats for Books live auction fundraiser, Tuesday, October 27. He will spend a day taking action shots of the highest bidder (or a friend of the highest bidder). Check out his photos at: Photo-Cycle.com. All proceeds will benefit Girls Education International's two scholarship programs in Liberia and Pakistan.

23 days until annual Girls Ed fundraiser, Beats 4 Books

Only 23 days remain for you to purchase your tickets (purchase tickets here!). Come see world-famous rock climber Lynn Hill speak at The Spot Bouldering Gym on Tuesday, October 27th! Lynn has been on the cutting edge of rock climbing since the 1970s, as both one of the first women to climb the very difficult grade of 5.14 and the first climber to free climb El Capitan in a day. She continues to climb at a difficult level, but has also become a public speaker, author, and mother. For more information on Lynn, please visit her blog.

26 days to Girls Ed's annual Beats 4 Books fundraiser!

Rock star, Daily Camera writer, and Climbing magazine contributing editor Chris Weidner recently agreed to be auctioned off during our Silent Auction at Beats 4 Books! Ladies, we'll start the bids off with $20 for this good looking fellow! But we expect bids to jump from there!

For more information on Chris, please see his profile on 8anu. To see more images of Chris, click here.

Countdown begins today for Girls Education International's annual BEATS 4 BOOKS event

Girls Education International's annual BEATS 4 BOOKS event will happen in just 27 days! This event includes speakers such as Lynn Hill, music from local DJs, including Dirt Monkey, art from well-known painters and photographers, and films from Boulder Adventure Film! We will also be auctioning off days with famous climbers, including Matt Segal and Madaleine Sorkin. Come on down to the Spot Gym on Tuesday, October 27th, for some fun and fundraising for Boulder's only nonprofit exclusively supporting girls' education.

A bit about Matt Segal...
Girls Ed will be auctioning off a climbing day with Matt Segal. See tomorrow's countdown blog entry for more information and photos. Check out a Girls Ed interview with Segal next week!

TICKETS ARE FOR SALE ON THE GIRLS EDUCATION INTERNATIONAL EVENTS PAGE. BUY TICKETS NOW!