The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“Best Sunday ever”
Strolling through the Crested Butte Farmers Market with a bagel and an iced coffee concoction in his gut, Pete Giannini thought it would be just another Sunday in Crested Butte. That is until he came across the Peach Pit Spit.
Thirty minutes later, he was on top of the world.
It was an international field of competitors at the 6th Annual Peach Pit Spit Sunday, August 12. After taking last year off from the event, organizers and managers of the Crested Butte Farmers Market, Kevin and Jen McGruther, brought the event back.a
“Last year we were too busy but people missed it and we got asked about it all winter long,” explains Jen.
Doug Duryea took the first Peach Pit Spit title back in 2006 with a 32-foot spit. Darren out of Buckhorn Gardens in Montrose has a title to hais name and “Kyle from Paonia” set the record two years ago with a 64-foot spit.
“We line it out for 50 feet and his pit rolled past that and through two tents,” says Jen.
Contestants were treated to fresh organic peaches from Delicious Orchards in Paonia and the Palisade Peach Company out of Palisade, allowing for two size varieties. There were smaller peaches, and therefore pits, for the kids and larger peaches, with larger pits, for the adults.
Contestants were literally salivating at a shot for the coveted Peach Pit Spit title, whacking back juicy peaches to get to the right competition-worthy pit.
There was a slight headwind and competitors discussed spit strategies.
“You gotta get the aerodynamics right,” explained one expectorator.
Since the distance is determined by “final resting place,” some spitters opted for low shots hoping for a good roll while others just let them fly and land where they might.
Rookie spitters made the mistake of leaving peach detritus on their pits, causing some significant co-existence of friction and leaving their pit spits desperately short.
Katie May, hailing from Munich, Germany, set the tone early with a big spit but was soon outdistanced by Drew Canale, who spit his pit 35 feet, six inches.
Canale’s effort looked like it would stick until Peter Schreiber out of Denver took the lead with a 37-foot pit spit, causing a stir among contestants for potential blood doping by Schreiber.
But Giannini put the field to shame as he stepped up late in the competition to let loose a gastrothorasidynamic launch of 43 feet.
No one could match the effort and Giannini was crowned the 2012 Peach Pit Spit champion.
“I was feeling pretty good about the day and I heard about the pit spit,” says Giannini. “Something vile, involving food, I’m in.”
Giannini took mental notes, closely watching the work of his competition and took a page from Canale’s spit plan.
“I liked Drew’s strategy, run up and huck,” says Giannini.
But he took it one step further, meshing Canale’s approach with some strategy he’s learned over the years of playing pool in a local watering hole.
“I used the Talk of the Town pool table strategy—play the angle of the course,” explains Giannini. “I used a spit draw and it worked out for me.”
Giannini took home two tickets to Telluride Blues and Brews, compliments of the Crested Butte Farmers Market.
“I had no idea I would come out of here with this kind of loot,” says Giannini. “Best Sunday ever.”
Ben Garrett out of Marble Falls, Texas took the kids title with a spit of 19 feet.
