The whole thing starts out at a giant party around 7pm, this year in Sandy. There's a stage, some fun music, and lotsa tents/booths all over with llamas, slacklines, giant beer pong, stuff to sell, etc. From there we visited a nearby mall to throw some paper airplanes, compliment some strangers, hug some others, and just get some of the early stuff out of the way. We went on a quick hike to a reservoir, making a few stops on the way, shaved Aaron's hair into a mohawk, designed a llama tattoo, and ended up sleeping in a hand-made shelter in a local miniforest.
After about 3 1/2 hours of sleep, we got an early start and through a series of phone calls, we were able to meet up with a mascot at a park(Shout-out to Paige Fullbright, Zach Boynton, and Guzz Guzz, the Copper Hills High School mascot, for making this happen), cleaned up some trash, did some pull-ups, and made our way to downtown Salt Lake City. Here we made a stop at Liberty Park and took some pictures of birds, then ran back to Brickyard to get a celebrity to say "Cotopaxi makes gear for good." (Thanks to Eli McCann) And then back up to Trolley Square, and then the Grand America Hotel to get a high vantage point. I'm gonna go into more detail here because this turned into quite the ordeal.
I've been on the roof of the Grand America a number of times just for fun, and it was decided it was probably the highest place to easily get while downtown. I followed my usual path up the elevator, and into the attic stairwell, but this time there was a twist. The door to the attic was locked. This had never been an issue before. Then when we went to go back in, the door out of the stairwell was locked. There was no re-entry. We ended up having to go back down all twenty-something flights of stairs to floor one. Before we gave up, we stopped to ask a worker and she told us in her broken English to "find room B. It's that was of the cafeteria" while making some weird path gestures with her arms. So we decided to settle and go across to the Little America Hotel instead.
Once in the Little America, we got onto the roof with no issue. Despite being a few stories shorter, this one is scarier. There's a wall, about ten feet high around the roof. You have to jump on top of that, and it's not like another platform you can just stand on up there. It goes instantly to a slick, steep metal slope for a couple yards, and then straight down. Anyway, we got the picture, and went back into the stairwell. Again, we ran into no re-entry and had to run all the way to the bottom of the building. BUT this time, the door on the bottom floor wasn't usable either. It was clearly labeled that it was for emergency exit only, and alarms would definitely go off if we opened it. We were trapped.
So we started going back up, checking doors to see if any happened to be left unlocked. I gave Aaron my jacket so I could run ahead without dying. I decided I didn't think I would have any luck with the doors, so I went all the way back up to the roof. I lost track of Aaron and Andrea, but Jamie and Russel were pretty close behind me for the time being. I got to the top again, ran across the roof, and found a door on the other side. So I ran back, told Jamie and Russel that it was worth it to make it to the top, and ran back to the far side. I tried the doors again on the first couple floors down, and then guessed that the rest would all also be locked.
I sped up, flying down the stairs, trying not to collapse of heat exhaustion(Thanks for having my jacket, Aaron), and I finally made it to the lobby and escaped the treacherous stairwell. I took a moment to recover, and then called Russel.
No answer.
So I called Aaron.
Aaron: Hello?
Me: What floor are you at?
Aaron: We're pretty close to the top
Me: Coming down?
Aaron: No, coming up.
I stopped for a bit, wondering how on earth he could still just be on his way up the stairs. I would later learn that he decided to stop at a floor and just knock on the door for a while, hoping someone would open it up. Also, I'm not sure why, but I just assumed he was with Andrea.
Me: Okay. Well if you go across the roof, there's another door that takes you to more stairs, that you can get out at the bottom of.
Aaron: Okay bye.
Just then I had a great idea. I could hop in the elevator, go up several floors, and open the door to the stairwell to this side to let everyone in and save them some stair time. So I got in, went up to floor 12, and called Aaron again.
No Answer.
So I called Jamie, who I assumed was still with Russel.
Jamie: Hello?
Me: What floor are you at?
Jamie: I'm not sure...
Me: What?
Jamie: I don't know what floor.
Me: How do you... Where are you?
Jamie: On some sort of viewing balcony.
Me: What? How did you get there? Where is that?
Jamie: I just opened a door and there was this balcony. It's not an exit, but it's nice to have the fresh air.
Me: Okay. Well I got out at the bottom of the far stairwell and now I'm on level 12. Are you close to that?
Jamie: Oh, you got out? Hang on.... Oh! I'm close. I'm on level 2. I think I'm good.
Me: Is Russel with you?
Jamie: No.
Me: Okay bye.
So then I call Russel. He doesn't answer again. So I call Aaron back.
Aaron: Did you get out?
Me: Yeah. I'm on level 12 now.
Aaron: Level 12??
Me: Yeah I took the elevator back up to let you guys in. What floor are you at.
Aaron: 7... 6... 5...
Me: I can come let you in.
Aaron: Hang on
Me: ...
Aaron: I'm real close.
Me: Okay, see you there.
So I went BACK down to the lobby, where I found Jamie and Russel standing together. Less than five minutes later, we were all united and exhausted.
Finally with that all over, we moved on. We went around the city, taking pictures with sculptures, visiting museums, riding elevators, interacting with strangers, feeding each other street burritos with our elbows, taking pictures of weddings, and all kinds of fun stuff. At one point, we saw an elderly couple ride up near us on some bikes. The woman was on a tandem bike. One of the challenges was to fit our whole team on a tandem bike. It was so convenient. So we asked the lady if we could use it for a second, explaining our situation:
Lady: Oh sure, go ahead. I'll just run down this way for a bit and come back when I need it.
Aaron: Oh we'll be quick, don't worry.
Lady: Nah, I trust you guys! Just put it over there when you're done with it.
Aaron: Well... Do you have a bike lock or something we should use..?
Lady: Oh! there might be one in the bag in the back there... Oh, nevermind! Don't worry about locking it up! If someone else needs it more than I do, then that's okay!
All of us: Really..? You serious?
Lady: Yeah! Good luck!
Then she just ran up the stairs and disappeared. We fit our whole team, had someone else video us riding it, and then right as we finished, she reappeared. So we thanked her, left, and that was the end of it.
This was either the most selfless lady in all of North America, or it wasn't actually her bike. Either way, it blew all our minds.
After we left Salt Lake, we went to an Outdoor Gear Expo, visited some vendors, got some stamps, and rode some bikes. We ended the day in a rec center in Cottonwood Heights, going off high dives, holding our breath, and reenacting a scene from The Sandlot. Our time then ran out right after Aaron finished swimming lots of laps, and we could no longer submit challenges.
It was a very nice rec center. Good variety of stuff. Pools, ice rinks, a track, several kinds of courts, but I had one major complaint. I saw a room that caught my attention:
Ice Party Room. Sounds very exciting, right? Naturally I wanted in. I wanted to see exactly what life was like inside an Ice Party Room. What was an Ice Party even? I wasn't sure, but I was sure that it should be fun. But no. What did this room have in it? A couple stacks of chairs. Some windows. That's it. No ice. No party. It was just a regular room. I'm not sure I've ever been so let down in my entire life. I explained my situation to the girl at the front desk:
Girl: [Looking very confused] The Ice Party Room..?
Me: Yes! You guys don't even know about it?? That's how lame it is??
Girl: Oh! Yeah I know that room! But weren't you guys here for the pool..? What were you doing in the Ice Party Room?
Me: I'M JUST SAYING THAT IT WAS VERY DISAPPOINTING
Girl: Well did you bring the party?
Me: What?
Aaron: Yeah, Dallin. You're supposed to bring the party with you.
Girl: Yeah it's only fun if you bring the party with you.
Me: No! I shouldn't have to bring my own party to a party room! That's the point of a party room, it's supposed to provide the party! I can bring a party to any regular room!
Someone told me it was time to go. So I decided to let it be for the time being and leave. We piled into the car and headed home to crash. Our ending score: 271 out of 748 teams. So not too shabby. But most importantly, we all had fun. If you ever get the chance to Questival, do it.
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