Downed by the Italian Market Festival grease pole, here’s how two teams joined forces to conquer the slippery beast
Teams were repeatedly felled Saturday afternoon by the lard-covered grease pole at the Italian Market Festival in South Philadelphia. It took a feat of community to rally a winner.
Around 1 p.m. Saturday, the grease pole was winning 3-0.
Two teams had tried, and failed, to summit the storied pole at the corner of Ninth and Montrose Streets. Their bodies buckled under the weight of each other. Their clothes were slimy, and their skin was soaked with sweat.
The objective at the South 9th Street Italian Market Festival’s most popular event is to scale a 30-foot pole slathered in five gallons of lard using brute strength and slippery physics to reach dangling cheese balls, cured meats, and bragging rights. The strategy, multiple competitors said, is simple: Big guys on the bottom, little guys on top.
This uniquely Philly feat draws hundreds of spectators over the weekend-long South Philadelphia festival and all are eager to cheer on intrepid climbers. It’s one of the city’s most-treasured, albeit bizarre, traditions.
» READ MORE: Greased pole climbing in Philly: Why we do it and why we love it
In their first attempt — and the inaugural climb of the festival — a group of friends, some of whom grew up watching the grease-pole climbing competition, just “didn’t have enough bodies” or speed, according to 29-year-old Vincent Roscioli.
Pace Roofing, a local business that competes yearly, assembled a large squad but the issue was structure. On their initial try, strategically-placed and sturdy men formed a base, hoisting others up onto their shoulders, like cheerleaders forming a chunky pyramid, while the smallest man scrambled up shins and shoulders. But the tower toppled just shy of the prizes.
“We didn’t strategize a ton, the nerves really get you,” said co-owner Johnny Butler. “You got all these people out here wanting to see a show, and you’re worried about performing.”
Butler joked, “We’re roofers, we climb all the time.”
The Pace crew’s second attempt was felled by a similar fate. And the sizzling heat — an unseasonable 80 degrees, which softened the lard and made the pole hot to the touch — only added to the teams’ woes.
» READ MORE: How to climb the greased pole at the Italian Market Festival
Defeated, doused with lard, and in desperate need of a win, the two groups teamed up to tackle the pole once again. The Philly crowd, always rooting for the underdog, clamored for redemption.
The bases steadied. The midtier men heaved themselves, while 23-year-old climbing hobbyist Doyle DiStefano shimmied and snatched a pink ticket from the top, defiantly pumping it in the air, like Rocky Balboa victorious on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Tickets dangle alongside the meats and cheeses and can be exchanged for money or gifts.
“We wouldn’t have done it without the other group I don’t think,” Roscioli mused.
And, “after what happened to the Flyers and Sixers, we need a little pick me up,” said DiStefano.
By 1:26 p.m., the score was leveled 3-1.