The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Support KBUT and get your yank on
Not since the days of Fight Night have I been more excited for a local sporting event than now.
On Friday, January 30 at the Talk of the Town, KBUT brings women’s arm wrestling to Crested Butte.
While the event is a fundraiser for KBUT, it’s also an opportunity for local women in the Gunnison Valley to showcase their strength and for men to sit back and watch.
Prizes will be awarded to the woman with the best nickname, best costume and best cheering section. The champion gets an official belt as well as a cash prize.
The cost to enter is $5. The cost to observe is $8. Pre-registration will be at KBUT on January 26-30 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Registration the day of the event starts at 9 p.m. at the Talk of the Town with arm wrestling to commence at 10 p.m. sharp upstairs at the Talk of the Town.
If you can’t make it upstairs, the tournament will be broadcast on the big screen downstairs.
The event gained fame in the Roaring Fork Valley as a fundraiser for KDNK in Carbondale. KBUT events and volunteer coordinator—and now arm wrestling tournament director—Josh Elmer caught wind of the idea at a radio conference when Amy Kimberly, development and events coordinator for KDNK, tuned Elmer into the grandeur of women’s arm wrestling.
“Amy pitched the idea to me, telling me it’s got to be done,” says Elmer.
Kimberly saw great success with the event as 30 to 40 women would show up to compete, complete with nicknames such as the Croatian Princess and Ginger Snap and adorned in an amalgam of outfits.
“Women of all ages and sizes would dress up and create their own nickname,” says Kimberly.
Furthermore, it was always standing-room-only at the events, as fans would pack the house to see hard bodies, hippies, horsewomen and hometown girls arm wrestling for prizes and prestige.
“It’s a great spectator sport,” says Kimberly.
Plus it’s legitimate, as there will be an official arm wrestling table with pegs, an arm wrestling official and Johnny “Mex” Mardesich as the emcee.
As for technique?
Kimberly, who has seen her fair share of amateur arm wrestling, says it comes down to one thing.
“It’s all in the wrist,” says Kimberly. “And climbers usually win.”
That said I’m putting money on my wife. Not only is she a climber—she just gave birth, so you know she’s got a threshold for pain.
Furthermore, we could use the cash prize; our newborn is going through diapers like nobody’s business.
