And thats the news...So now ya know.....lol
LOL....warning this is a very long report and my POV.
Thunder in the Mountains
Well it all started with a little call from Isabelle90. Please, please, please,……..She wants to go to Thunder in the Mountains…….but doesn’t want to go alone. She would be too nervous and….. LOL…….needed a chaperone. So I thought about it for a while and booked my flights and got a room at the host hotel. I give Isabelle a call and told her it was a date and I’m all booked. Woohoo!. She called back in 20 minutes and we were both good to go………
Well the world moves and things change. Plans that were once good will no longer fit into the demands of the vanilla world that she lives in….and she had to back out. The question remaining was if I was going to cancel or go alone. Well……I didn’t cancel. You know me….have corsets will travel…….lol!
Knowing I was going to have more time on my hands then before, I contacted the Thunder organizers and left an email offering to volunteer my services if they still needed anyone.
The hotel offers free shuttle service from the airport. Next time ill take it! The Crown Plaza is just off airport property. The cab ride from the airport to the hotel was less then 10 minutes and cost 40 bucks.
Thunder takes over the hotel completely, and for good reason, its no children allowed. Yes we are all told to behave in the public spaces, but you never know what sensitive eyes may see, and who wants to be giving someone an advanced education. The rooms are sold at “group” rate, very reasonably priced, and compared with rooms I normally book, a very good deal.
What I booked was a room with two queen beds. Not my first choice but that was all they had at the time of booking. I checked in the day before the event and highly recommend that to anyone planning to attend in the future. As always its first come first serve with rooms, at check in I asked for a single non-smoking king….and got it. Now checking in on Friday may have been a different story because the line guests and unavailability ready of rooms was evident. I’m usually not a fan of lower floor rooms but if you come try and get a room at ground or the second floor level. The elevators get packed with people and sometimes (most of the time) it’s faster to walk.
The Crown Plaza was a great hotel, not top flight but adequate. It is currently undergoing upgrades, transforming from a Holiday Inn to a Crown Plaza, so detailing the décor is a mute point, as it was changing while I was there. The staff was friendly and helpful, a big bonus and something that I always look for. There were a few minor problems with my room that were handled without fuss and in a timely manner. The rooms were clean and tidy with a standard “hotel” feel. The beds were very comfortable, very big pulse, because it’s never a good thing when you wake up and feel as if you are a pretzel.
My single king, surprisingly enough, was bigger then your average postage stamp. It had a small sofa with cocktail table and a desk. The room came with free wireless internet…woohoo!
Ok, so I’m a bit of a bug freak and always check hotel beds for signs of bed bug activity. No bed bugs, but to my amusement, the bed was equipped with a waterproof mattress pad….over the regular mattress pad. I guess they thought that there was going to be substantial debauching going on….lol
The hotel restaurant was only fair. The staff was fabulous! Now to be fair I only had the same waitress every time I ate, and I was staff, so I’m not sure if that made a difference or not. Don’t eat off the menu!!! The food sucks!!! Have the buffet, eat out, or walk across the street and get a subway sandwich. The prices were outlandish for the food produced. An appetizer, dinner salad and iced tea was $45. If you are coffee freak…this is a bad place to be. I am so used to having a premium coffee shop in the lobby of hotels or at least within walking distance, I was even taken aback being told there was no where to buy a cup of coffee. I’m not a big coffee person and I don’t need it to function….but there are times when I like it. This was the caffeine desert and Yuban hell! The rooms are equipped with small coffee pots…so if you like coffee…bring your own …..lmao!
The appearance of the hotel is deceiving, it’s huge. They have a small pool and large workout room. The public space is enjoyable as it has a large water fall cascading down “mountains” and the sound is relaxing. There is a small bar in the lobby and several good seating areas for conversation.
The conference area is enormous! There are several smaller rooms and one with theater seating for lectures. The main room is I believe 55,000 sq………big. And that was the dungeon……weg.
It’s Thursday afternoon, the hotel is empty, and I go and hunt down the volunteer coordinator to let her know I’m there and at her disposal. She tells me that all of the shifts are covered but would let me know if they needed me. I knew what she was thinking…I wanted to get out of paying for the event. Volunteer staff got in free if you worked a 10 hour shift. It wasn’t about the money I assured her, I didn’t want a refund, and I was very happy to work. I think it’s a character flaw, I like to work and I enjoy helping.
Thunder recommends pre-paying your membership to speed up the registration process. Big mistake…huge. There were two lines that formed at the stroke of 12 on Friday to register. One line for those that have pre paid and one for those who need to register. The line for pre registered members was more then 100 people long by the time I got there…..and it took about and hour to get my badge. The line for unregistered members…took about a minute….there was no line. And as with any good convention you got a lanyard with a name tag…which I hate…and you must carry your ID inside with your badge….because you don’t get anywhere without both of them. And a bag full of flyers, the map/program and a pin. I was a bit annoyed with carrying my ID for all to see. My name tag said thrall, if I had wanted to tell everyone who I was, I would have run under my own name. Now here was something that not only had my name but more information then I was willing to share. I made a copy of my ID, cut it out and black lined all pertinent information. That worked for Thunder and for me. I thought it was interesting that it was split about 50/50, people using a name or a nic. And I wasn’t paranoid; several people wondered why I had blacked out the information. The only they would know that was if they were looking.
On the schedule for the Friday…. The vendor room opens, a meet and greet event, a fun and games room consisting of vanilla board games…..and the dungeon party!....Woohoo!
I thought the vendor area was small and lacking in variety. Several vendors selling floggers and whips, a couple of fetish wear booths, odds and ends really, nothing special, and nothing that I hadn’t seen or already had. I was disappointed; I was hoping at least too see something that I didn’t know, or something that would make me drool. Or better still…..something I couldn’t live without!!! So can there be shopping and no shopping going on? No. I had to get something. There was a woman there who made nice rattan canes and I bought a few.
To dress or not to dress for the meet and greet….an age old question. ….oh what the hell…I had a corset for each night of dungeon. So on with a corset and off I went.
The meet and greet was not what I expected. I was thinking that it was going to be more of a gathering of the members…somewhere to mingle and get to know one another before the play was to begin. What it was, was more of and introduction of the head staff members, instructors and lecturers. I could have skipped this part. The only thing good about it was the outfit Midori was wearing…..a great little red latex suit. She told me later where it came from.
There was an intermission between the meet and greet and dungeon. Megan the volunteer coordinator found me and yes indeed they needed me, she gave me the name of the contact to find in the morning and told me that I needed to pick up my staff shirt at registration before they closed later that night. Unfortunately it was for the slot when dungeon was to be Saturday night, 6pm-3am……but oh well….I did volunteer!
The Dungeon was amazing. There were 153 stations set up. One entire length of wall was St. Andrews crosses...there must have been 30 of them. They had several different areas with different types of suspension rigs, cages, chairs, benches, many varying types of tables, a wrestling mat, a pillory, and swings. On thing that was very different was a 15 foot geo-dome. Think of it as a kids jungle gym, sort of a three dimensional multi player structure, inside, outside, all around and on top. There were men’s and women’s only areas that were screened off from the main dungeon. Two carts for pony players, but unfortunately the dungeon wasn’t set up well for their use. The dungeon was well staffed and well stocked with necessary needs, condoms, lube, first aid, gloves, sanitizers and the like.
There was plenty of room to play in, spread out, walk around and watch. No getting in the way of other peoples scenes. If you paid attention there was tape on the floor that was the stand back and out of range mark, but then again, not too many people were looking at the floor.
You name it and it was going on somewhere in the dungeon. This was a voyeurs dream come true and I knew that Isabelle90 was going to be very upset and disappointed she missed it. There was wax play, fire play, medical play, blood and water sport, fisting, rope bondage, suspension of all kinds, cling wrap play, electro play, piercing/needle play, knife play, and fucking machines. And of course there was the full compliment of spankings, floggings, whippings and canings going on. The pop of a whip was ever present and the squeals of pain and pleasure were all around.
This was fetish wear on parade and I loved it. There was a group with two women in latex cat suits with corsets, arm bindings, blinders, ballet boots and hobble chains being led around on leashes, very sexy, and several fully outfitted pony players. Kilts on the men were popular fashion statements, along with the standard leather outfits. The women dressed the gambit. Casual to full fetish, slave outfits to Dominatrix. Hobble skirts were very popular, along with stilettos. What I though was very cute were the tricked out school girls.
Four things stuck out in my mind that night. There was a scene that was played inside of the dome. He rigged up pulleys and come alongs. Suspended his slave upside down, pulled a large syringe of blood from her neck, and then sprayed it all over her. He dropped her down licked her clean then fucked her. An off the hook, hot scene to watch!
There was a woman swinging a flogger who had the most incredible technique! She walked a man up the pain ladder and it was awesome to watch. She swung like a professional baseball player. Set up, strike and full body follow through. The precession of her blows was excellent. I never saw one wrap. It was beautiful to watch her work, the flow of her body and the cadence of her swings.
Interesting enough it was the cupping that I enjoyed the most. Not for the cupping itself, that is nothing new to me, but the people watching. Obviously it wasn’t anything they had seen before and it was fun to talk to them about what they were seeing. It was great fun explaining that it was and old form of medical practice that was supposed to draw the toxins from your body. I laughed and told them that they would look as if an octopus had jumped up and given them great big hickies.
Lastly was the sterile feel of the dungeon. The dungeon needed a pulse. Better lighting and music would have gone a long way to accomplish this. I am not much of a club person to begin with because most music they play in clubs annoys me…..but I would have liked more of a “club” feel to the dungeon. The dungeon needed some dimmer areas….and brighter areas...and music to set a mood and rhythm.
It was getting late; I had seen my fill of dungeon and was ready to get some sleep. On the way out I passed one of the lecture rooms holding the “vanilla games” hosted by the Denver boys of Leather and dropped in to say hello. They brought cake, snacks, cold drinks and milk. There were several people there that I recognized from the day before, Jarath the person in charge of dungeon setup and Megan the volunteer coordinator.
They were all gathered around a large round table and invited me in to play…….lol….OK…..I’m game. I felt sort of funny as everyone there was wearing pajamas (they said it was to be a big pajama party in the flyer that was in the packet you got at registration) and here I was with my boobs on parade…..lol. We were split up into small groups and we played the game Cranium. We were all so tired, and it was just too much fun playing, no one could see straight, and here we were trying to draw and play charades. You want me to draw what with my eyes closed???.........lmao! OK…Captain Hook……I can do that! …lol However…….my group won. Woohoo!
They were some of the warmest welcoming people I have ever met. And better yet they will be coming to the Folsom street faire…and I can’t wait to see them again!
Ok…….so enough fun for one night. I wanted out of my corset and heels. It was 2am and I planned to get up at 4am. I know, crazy, but there that is. Classes started at 9am and there was work I wanted to get going before that started.
The restaurant opened at 6am and the lobby was deserted. I was hopping to get some work done while eating breakfast, and had my laptop with me. I powered up, looked up and Black Wolf, head of security, the man I was to report to was standing there. So we had breakfast together, along with his wife and her son. As it turned out my post was with him. I was to be security one……a prime position….YES….score!!! Granted I was giving up the night….but that position put me in a great spot to interact with…..ALL ….of the attendees.
On the list of classes for the day were cling play, designing assignments, $10 dungeon, trust building, Shibari, Topping, fisting, advanced cutting, twelve point suspension, surviving corporal, needles as body anchors, and pony play 101/210. I drooped in and out of many of the classes.
The main class I wanted to attend on Saturday was the Midori topping class. I am a big fan of hers and I think she is witty AND knowledgeable. She is a very entertaining speaker. She made one point in this class that really made me think……she asked what was it in our childhood…the one thing that made us happy…..that we could correlate into the things we enjoy in our BDSM lives today. Her example of what she loved as a child was manipulating others into doing what she wanted them to do. So being me I raised my hand after thinking about that for a minute…and said…Wrestling. The struggle and fight…….the surrender. OK…I get that. She was very amusing talking about beating people with a frozen tuna….and florentine flogging them with mackerel. One thing she DID do was thank the volunteer staff….and jokingly called them Thunder smurfs, because of the blue staff shirts. The room exploded with laughter and she turned around wagging her finger……saying….. “and I bet that one sticks”…….ok…first person to call me a Thunder smurf I knew who to blame………lmao!
I had a late lunch and an hour nap, put my thunder smurf shirt on and reported for duty. The first thing out of the mouth of the man in the elevator was….. “you know what you are all being called now don’t you?”……lmao. Yeah, I knew….thanks Midori…lol I checked in, got my radio and headset and was good to go.
Security one was a fabulous position, it was the entry way to the entire conference complex. Anyone going in or out that night, had to go through my doors and they were funneled down to a small lane…. and me. It was the check point where you had to show your personal ID and Thunder badge. It was where you were asked about cell phones or cameras which were forbidden. It was where I got to play with people……….LMAO!
I can “read” people by the way they respond to me. Are they uptight and straight faced or are they playful….and want to play. It was fun watching faces, and seeing the reactions when I asked them to flash me…as in show me both sides of you badge. It’s a provocative question and can be taken many different ways. It was even greater fun asking the question……do you have a cell phone or camera.
Well…..now that was a very good question because it’s clearly stated in the rules that these items are forbidden. Some people were just stone face and said no……and others opened them selves up………..for a search.
Now this is where it got to be quite fun. You can tell the people it’s alright to play with….the ones who are not offended to be touch…..and are daring you too touch. The ones who playfully answered a playfully delivered question were great fun!. And that was a good percentage of the people……..lol! Women in almost nothing and skin tight corsets or latex dresses and men in kilts…..regulation style, nothing underneath! I gave a whole new meaning to the words pat down search. This wasn’t you average politically correct pat down. This was a languid hand’s on going over. Hands caressing, pressure, sliding over and around, squeezing, grouping, fondling.……
Welcome to the dungeon boys and girls……..have a great night!!........*WEG*
Masters were bringing their slaves back out asking if I was the one giving the “searches”…..*wink* Oh my yes!...is there something there for me to find……something I might have missed???...lol. Several men and women came in and out past security… wanting to be searched again. ..Ok I’m game..lol…ya never know…they could have those forbidden cell phones now…..lol. Several women laughed and asked where in the world I though they could hide a cell phone?...Well they are small and they do vibrate……lmao! There was one man who just loved this game; he was astonished the first time that I “searched” him. I grabbed his dick and totally grouped his ass…….lol…..one must be thorough you know.
At about midnight my radio headset buzzed to life.
“Dungeon, security one.”
“Security one, go ahead dungeon.”
“Security one, Hannibal has been expelled from the dungeon. Make sure he and his girl pass through your station and they are out of the secure area.
“10-4 dungeon, description please?”
Holy shit!!...what ever it was had to be damn bad to get yourself kicked out of the dungeon!!. Head of security shows up as backup, but the pair has already gone through.
It turns out they had quite the little scene going on. Hannibal cut a 2 inch piece of flesh off the girl and sewed it up. Ok….medical play…so far so good. He placed the piece of flesh on a plate, cut it up, the girl opened her mouth, and Hannibal threw it in. That was it, the DM’s tossed them.
Now what you came in wearing was your problem, I had no control over that. However what you left wearing was mine. Another part of my job was to “inspect” everyone leaving for modesty as they were not allowed into the public spaces of the hotel in anything ….well shocking. Some tried to get past me and didn’t think I could really do anything about their appearance anyway…… LOL….wrong…they didn’t know me very well. I had had the hotel interface bring me a stack of towels and sheets earlier in the evening anticipating this. …*wink*…no problem, I got you covered in more ways then one.
One of the most beautiful things I saw that night was from a scene that was played in one the hotel rooms. This girl came running in, flying high in space, so happy she could barley contain herself. She had had a bit of private needle play session. The needles were crosshatched down her spine and on the ends of the needles they had attached peacock feathers. So looking at her head on, she looked as if she had wings. She was so happy with them she just flew back to the dungeon to show them off. That was great going in…but I was going to have a bit of a problem with them on the way out I thought.
There was a fire play scene that I sorely missed, but loved hearing about it. ..and ill get to that later…..lol.
Other then that one incident with the expulsion, the night was uneventful. It was just great fun. I had the best time as security one……and meeting and greeting….well everyone. Saying good night to everyone and asking them if they had had a good time.
I was so amped, I stayed on after my shift and pulled a double, keeping the guy who relieved me company. The restaurant opened at 6am, and I had breakfast with Black Wolf again. I took several calls, had about a two hour nap and was back down in the convention center for the final day of lectures that started at 9:30
On the docket for today was hot wax, working the kinks out, brutal affection, intention and connection, wrapped for pleasure, full suspension, suturing 101, foot fetish, Esoteric caning, to kinky for words. Rope bondage, rough body play, and strap on sex, slave selection and training. I stopped into several lectures but again it was the Midori class that I was really interested in.
Wrapped for pleasure was the second Midori class. It was a hands on demonstration/class and was limited to 40 people. I felt bad as a single person taking up a slot meant for couples so I didn’t line up for it. As staff I was allowed to just watch at the back of the class. So being a smurf did have advantages. What she did was use simple lengths of cloth tied to specific places on the body for restraining purposes, and attaching bamboo poles to place you in different positions. ……great class! It’s a bit like a Midori’s $10 dungeon. I thought that the techniques she was teaching would have been good for nervous beginners that are afraid of the look of “equipment” or people working with a tight budget.
There were two after Thunder parties hosted by two different Denver kink clubs, the Enclave and the Sanctuary. The majority of the people I liked were going to the Sanctuary so that is where I went. Each club organized car pools for anyone wanting to go.
The Sanctuary was located about 20 minutes away from the hotel and in an industrial park. They have built the space out to look like a house, several living room areas…….with a large back room dungeon. It was a great for a small private club. They had three crosses, two of which were on a stage, a cage, several benches and tables.
The dungeon was crowded with the crush of Thunder attendees, and there were long waits for equipment and room to play in. It was difficult not getting into scene space. However Master Z was there, the man with the fire display I missed the night before. I was very happy that I was going to see this scene after all.
He suspended his slave and put a welder’s helmet on her, making sure all for her hair was tucked underneath. Donning a pair of welders glasses, and heavy leather gloves, a small grinding wheel and piece of rebar he stood back. He applied the rebar to the grinding wheel and sent a shower of sparks onto the girl. It was an amazing display of theater and fire play! It was a hot scene to watch……lol
I had my own little public scene here. I had met a couple who co authored a small knife play book…..and liked them both very much. You know how I love knife play and I couldn’t resist. Moving to the point….lol. I trusted Sam not to cut me….and he trusted me not to move….amplified by the fact that we truly didn’t know each other, it was quite thrilling. Funny thing was I trusted him more than I normally would……he was blind. It was about touch and feel for him……my responses, breathing…..the small things. He didn’t leave so much a scratch on me.
My scene disappointed a few other people there who wanted to play, people who I had declined. But there that is, my option and not theirs. I was exhausted, it was midnight and I had a morning flight. The man driving the car pool back the hotel….well….lets just say he wasn’t as good a chauffer as the person getting me there.. It took us 45 minutes to get back in no traffic……and he took us the wrong way down a busy one way street. The though that flashed through my mind was….Damn I should have done that little single tail scene or left with the girls to have a little needle play scene….lmao!
What I liked about Thunder the most were the people. The Denver scene people, the boys of leather club, and the girls I hung out with from Phoenix. The friendships I made. I have invitations everywhere, just as I have invited people. Will we keep up with each other….I think so. Will I do Thunder again, of course, and this time I’m fairly sure that Isabelle will come with me.
One thing that I thought was interesting, was talking about what sites we all visit and are members of. I can’t keep track of all of the sites there were so many! But not one of them knew about the library.
The one thing I really didn’t like was one of the speakers. Simon Blaze. I left his lecture because I couldn’t take what he was saying. The first words out of his mouth were to lie about who you were on the net……and draw people in like pawns and play them….on purpose! To “get to know yourself better”…he said to go onto sites and make several “persona”… as a man, woman, gay, straight, dominate and submissive. To make personal adds and see what you get back. Talk to the people for a while and then say no thank you. …….what kind of bull shit was that!!....The hand goes up and I call him on it. He did a bit of dancing and back peddling….but that ruined his lecture for me……and for several others for that matter…I didn’t hear anything he was saying after that....and I bailed.
All in all I had wonderful time and highly recommend this event.
Hugs
thrall
http://www.thunderinthemountains.com/
http://www.denverboysofleather.org/
http://www.southwestleather.org/swlchome/
