Basically, there's this new brand of outdoor gear named Cotopaxi (also the name of a volcano in Ecuador, so they say). For their brand launch, they created this event called the Questival. They explain it better on their website, but pretty much you make a team of two to four people (we had four: me, Colby, Gab, and Bri), check in at a location (ours was a Provo apartment complex), and then try to complete as many of the challenges as a team that you can in 24 hours, which are all worth varying amounts of points from one to 30. You had to post to social media to prove that you were doing the challenges, and all of your team's backpacks had to be pictured in each post. Challenges could be anything from hiking the Y (10 points), to eating a bug (3 points), to doing an hour of service (12 points), to "clocking" in a public place for 15 seconds (5 points). We had to Google that last one.
Upon arriving in Provo, we started out with a bang, immediately heading to a film festival at BYU for a cultural event (3 points) and to visit a museum (2 points). In the car on the way there we ate a few chocolate covered bugs, supplied by Bri, since we could eat up to three for up to nine points. I ate a cricket and it was gross. We then practically ran to the top of the Y which I definitely would not recommend. Thirteen switchbacks is twelve switchbacks too many. At the top we did some yoga and some yodeling for a few more points. Clearly Colby does not understand yoga.
From there we booked it to a Peruvian restaurant and ordered an appetizer for four more points. It was amazing and I need more Peruvian food. Unfortunately, this adventure set us back on time more than we had planned, so we rushed to the top of Provo Canyon with two longboards, a scooter, and a pair of rollerblades in tow. The challenge was to ride any human powered vehicle for 30 minutes, and we did that in style with phone flashlights and glowsticks on the Provo Canyon Trail. We even managed to warn strangers of a broken bridge (random act of kindness: 5 points) and climb to the top of an avalanche to get a picture of a waterfall (3 points).
We were planning on hiking the G in Pleasant Grove that night as well, but circumstances led to us ditching that plan and going straight to my parents' house to camp, where we started a fire without matches or lighter fluid and Colby made some pretty bomb tin foil dinners (reason number 242 to marry a chef). We set up a hammock and some sleeping bags and by the time we woke up, we had obtained about 150 points and had nine and a half hours left to go.
The first thing we did on Saturday was hike the G, also at record speeds which I double don't recommend. Seriously, that hike is straight uphill and it doesn't help at all when you have sore glutes and calves from riding a scooter for an hour. Plus, I'm pretty sure the G itself is made of recycled lawn furniture. We were all pretty happy when we finished that hike.
After the G we went to Thanksgiving Point to join a "service flash mob." This new challenge was posted on the app by Cotopaxi while we were on the hike - to spend half an hour picking up trash along the Jordan River Trail between the hours of 11:00 and 12:00, and it would earn us ten points. While in Lehi we also made a quick stop for a picture of Colby and Gab making the letter "L" with their bodies.
Next was Cotopaxi Headquarters in Cottonwood Heights. They had ski lift chairs and a bouldering wall in their office, which was pretty cool. We also got to look at some of their gear that they released on their website that day. Proceeds from every purchase go to help people in some part of the world. For example, every Cambodia water bottle sold helps provide someone in Cambodia with clean water for six months.
From there we went to hike the U. Thankfully, the U barely qualifies as an actual hike, which was good because all of our legs were screaming for rest. We hiked over to the letter in spandex to earn more points, and we were pretty pumped when we got there because it also meant we had spelled UGLY: the U in Salt Lake, the G in PG, making an L in Lehi, and the Y in Provo. A bonus of 20 whole points! (See what I mean about lawn chairs? Top right in the picture below.)
The State Capitol Building was next up on our plans, also known as the perfect place to do handstands, as well as plank and clock on top of beehives. Okay, doing it on top of the beehives wasn't a requirement but it was still cool. We saw a few teams there picketing for llama rights even though that wasn't a challenge (it was on the original released list, but then got removed for unknown reasons). Llamas are people too, obviously.
Following all this hiking and running around we were literally starving. Cotopaxi had been posting the top ten teams every two hours or so and we were not part of that list, and then after some social media stalking of the teams that were in the top ten, we determined we weren't really close to being on that list, so we decided to take a lunch break. We went to City Creek and devoured Chick-fil-a, and may or may not have stopped at Vans and H&M as well. When in Rome...
By this time it was about 3:30 pm and we had to be back to Thanksgiving Point by 6:00 so we decided to make one last stop in downtown and get a few more challenges done, starting with taking a picture in the elevator at the Salt Lake Library and donating a dollar to the Leonardo. When we came out of the museum we saw a guy planting seeds in a little planter box. Since planting a flower or tree was one of the challenges, we asked if we could help him plant a few. He was pretty pumped and proceeded to give us some seeds, let us choose where to put them, and tell us all about the yellow olendorf beets we were planting. So, if you're in downtown SLC in the next few weeks, check on my beets for me, eh?
For one of the last few challenges, we had to observe nature silently for 30 minutes. Being in the city, this wasn't easy, so we observed human nature as well. We also silently set up a slackline and did that for a while for a few points, and then made a rope swing out of it too. I ate a dandelion (horrible) and we took a picture on Trax. It was time to head to Thanksgiving Point and check back in for the end of the Questival.
When we got there, we realized there were still a few more challenges we had time to do. One was to take a picture in front of the waterfall at Thanksgiving Point Gardens. When we got there, we saw the perfect opportunity to complete the challenge to jump into a body of water with all your clothes on (10 points). We were at 290 points so it was the perfect way to end with 300! What we didn't know is that one of the best Vines ever created would emerge from it. If you haven't seen it, look it up on my Vine feed by clicking here. (You can also watch a few of our other Questival videos... Entertainment at its finest.)
We got to the finish line just before six and did one final challenge - take a selfie with a llama for 5 points - before checking in and submitting our score. Come to find out, we only got half the amount of points that the winning team got (I blame our lunch at Chick-fil-a... worth it) so we let ourselves relax and enjoy a few of the bands that Cotopaxi brought in for that night. And of course, to take a few more pictures with llamas, which are the company's mascot and symbol.
We got to the finish line just before six and did one final challenge - take a selfie with a llama for 5 points - before checking in and submitting our score. Come to find out, we only got half the amount of points that the winning team got (I blame our lunch at Chick-fil-a... worth it) so we let ourselves relax and enjoy a few of the bands that Cotopaxi brought in for that night. And of course, to take a few more pictures with llamas, which are the company's mascot and symbol.
Even though we didn't even come close to winning, it was one of the most fun weekends I've had in a while and definitely the perfect way to end my college days with a bang. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Long live team #gethitched.
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