Out of all the pinball events that I have been to (including PAPA and Pinburgh), there is a little known pinball event held every year in Colorado the week after Labor Day that is my favorite pinball event anywhere. The Dory Hill pinball weekend has been going on for 6 years now. This event is different in many ways. The location is amazing. Being at over 9200 feet above sea level means that the environment plays a huge part of the experience. We have had gorgeous sunny late summer days, thick fog, rain, sleet and even morning snow. Another great aspect of the event is that most (this was the first year that all) of the games are brought in by local collectors. There is a wide range of games and the play requires quite a bit of adaptability by the attending players.

This weekend features two official IFPA endorsed tournaments. A Friday night double elimination or a best of 2 out of 3 games format. Saturday and Sunday is filled with pin-golf. This year featured an 18 hole qualification on Saturday and Sunday was split into A and B divvys with 9 holes played on separate courses for each division. Not to mention side bets or 4am sessions.

I'm posting pics with this string (when pinside will let me, tech issues) as well as a link by Gene X Hwang (pronounced Wong website url: store.orangephotography.com/p328863282) which shows even more photos of this righteous event to illustrate what this event experience is like. Thanks Gene!

My sincerest hope is that other pinthusiasts will take this as inspiration for their own events in their own locales. Here is the FB page for this event and Steve Trujillo is the man who puts it all together (Thank you Steve! https://www.facebook.com/pages/High-on-Pinball-J-S-Coin-Operated-Services-LLC/181701325222016). Contact him to play 20 questions for what you might do in your own area. If you do put together and event, please note it here on this string/ pinside and msg. me about it as well. I may have to come on out and visit your event. For the past 2 years we have had pinheads travel from all 4 of the American timezones to this event. If you really want to know what Colorado pinball culture is really about... here it is!

Be well.

C2S

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updated link here:

store.orangephotography.com/p328863282

Borygard - Just mark your calendar for the weekend after Labor Day. We will see ya there. Msg me if you need help or a spot to stay before/after the event.

More sweetness straight from Gene himself!

http://papa.org/2014/09/10/the-6th-dory-hill-pinball-campout/

Twister if memory serves.

Oh shit! The ninja is on board! I may just have to come out and go camping with Shaggy (and Norm?) this upcoming May.

Zach Smith is the man who brought out the super sweet JD with the custom tranny. Zach also has had the best themed tent for the past two years. This year's tent featured Judge Goose from Top Gun-Mega City One!

Event details for lodging/ camping here:
http://vfwpinball.com/?p=128#more-128

And a game list of nearly 225 games (no dupes) here!!!:
http://vfwpinball.com/games.php

I'll see y'all there in May!

Ryan,

Your Fishtales was way sweet! Can't wait to trade/swap some decks with ya!

Whisper, do you have facilities like this on your continent? If so, make it happen.

Here is some footage from Ffej showing the campground, a number of games, interviews with participants and silly drunken commentary. Enjoy!

2015 pin-camping weekend... ACTIVATE!!!

It starts tomorrow. All the event info can be seen and is update here.

https://www.facebook.com/High-on-Pinball-J-S-Coin-Operated-Services-LLC-181701325222016

The entire campsite is entirely sold out!

Talk to the Golden Gate campground owners!

It is always the weekend after Labor Day.

Yes. The one that is available.

It'll probably be Joker Poker.

Follow the string as the weekend progresses/ends. We can give you more info then.

Yes there is a cabin decorating contest. You can see what I did a few years ago here:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/twilight-zone-owners-club

Some images from this past weekend's festivities!

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Here are some shots from this past weekend in Colorado. It was frikkin' gorgeous this weekend! These are pics of some of, but not all the sites from the event (Including the "Best Cabin" winning cabin put together by the Carroll LCP crew with the 007 theme featuring Goldeneye, popcorn, jelly beans and the choice of gin/vodka martinis. Skaken, not stirred of course). I did get pics of the northern cabbins including my own cabin with Barracora and Zach Smith's cabin featuring BOTH Elvira pins. Since I wasn't able to catch all the sites before the weekend was out, I'm hoping that other attendees will post their pics of the 7th annual Dory Hill weekend as well.

See y'all there next year!

C2S

The weekend after Labor Day.

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Here's the group photo with the competitors!

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I find it hard to believe that no one took images of the most righteous 007 cabin!

and around the corner behind the gray tarp was the open martini bar!

This is great! You can see the Martini Bar in the back!

More photos from other attendees!

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Please do. It's the best. Check the FB page and talk to Steve. He can help you with the learning curve he went through for the past 7 years of this event.

Just in case: https://www.facebook.com/High-on-Pinball-J-S-Coin-Operated-Services-LLC-181701325222016/timeline/

It begins...

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The mischief is already afoot!

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Big ups to Steve Trujillo for putting on this event and Ryan Wanger for handling TD duties. Also, Rob Lawrence fixed a bunch of table on the spot to make sure the tourney went on. all in all, This year went super smooth!

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Added over 8 years ago: Apologies to Rob. I got his last name wrong. Thanks to Rob ANTHONY for his awesome work to help make this event a success!

We'll meet again... See y'all next year!

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Made the top 5-8. Had all the chances to advance into the final round, but didn't make the shots. Still, I made my entry fee back and had a fantastic weekend!

This year's title list (I believe I am missing a few specifically between EBD and Lectronamo):

Machine: Bride of Pinbot, The
Williams, 1991

Defender
Williams, 1982

Surfer
Gottlieb, 1976

Eight Ball Deluxe Limited Edition
Bally, 1982

Lectronamo
Stern, 1978

Shadow, The
Bally, 1994

Party Zone
Bally, 1991

Big Buck Hunter Pro
Stern, 2010

Viking
Bally, 1979

Jungle Queen
Gottlieb, 1977

Medusa
Bally, 1981

Target Alpha
Gottlieb, 1976

Doctor Who
Bally, 1992

Blackwater 100
Bally, 1988

Game Of Thrones (Pro)
Stern 2015

D'oh! corrected his name in initial post. Thanks for the lookout!

I don't believe this for a single moment. We have had attendees from 5 US timezones last year (yourself included) and the previous 3 years from 4 US timezones. And who is this NIMBY CO crew you are referring to? Would that include me? Because I believe I was the one that told you about this event and while I am not running this event, I cannot believe for a moment that this is what was said by the people who run this awesome weekend.

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Once again, it begins...

You can bring a trailer, tent or get a room at nearby blackhawk at one of the casinos. The cabins and sites go on sale again in jan 2018. Hope to see you there!

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Call as of January 2018 to the campground. This is exactly what I was told when I tried to book my cabin next year before I left.

Pertinent info is here: http://basecampco.com/home-page/contact-us-2

Steve is doing everything he can to work with the campground and the Dory Hill event. He has agreed to be a guest on the Little Kings Pinball Podcast and one of the things that I plan to talk to him about is what he has learned over the past 9 years of holding this one of a kind event that can be passed on to other pinheads who would like to create something like this of their own. But to call this plan unfair is exactly that. You may not like it, but that is the way access to this event is right now. This is Steve's event and he does everything he can to make it the best it can be. Every year things get smoother and with Ryan Wanger running the tournaments, Steve an focus on making sure that the rest of the event runs without a hitch. Every year it is the weekend after labor day. Every year this event gets better. Steve and his decisions are the reason why.

Consider talking to him and seeing if you can learn from his experiences. But blaming your scheduling issues on Steve would be like me blaming you for having jobs that require 6-12 months out for getting time off. If you feel like this sucks for you, I can either say that this sucks for you or you can create one of these events yourself in your own neighborhood. I'm hoping that events like this will start popping up all over where pinheads can find the locations and resources to do so. Heck, I may have to take a trip to your neck of the woods to play pinball now.

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