Climbing Event Huge Success for College Organizers

Author: Kate Nerenberg

On Saturday, over 60 rock-climbing fanatics from more than 10 schools on the East Coast gathered to test their skills at the two-month old climbing wall in the Nelson Recreation Center.
Middlebury was paying its dues by hosting the event; every school that competed has or will take a turn hosting a climbing carnival, creating a circuit that tours New England throughout the winter season when the outdoor climbing season is curtailed by the wintry temperatures. The host school does not participate because they set and are too familiar with the routes.
The conglomeration of climbers every weekend is an attempt to promote the blossoming sport, explore challenging walls, but most of all to meet other climbers in the area. Because there are so few athletes involved in climbing, events like this one allow avid climbers to meet others who share simliar interests. Also, climbing companies have the opportunity to promote their gear and help new climbers get into the sport. The idea that the event is everything but competitive, combined with the pounding music and colorful holds on the wall, create a welcoming atmosphere and the feeling that this is "more of a social festival, not a competition," according to Barry Hashimoto, a participant from Dartmouth, where last weekend's event was held.
The celebratory environment was further enhanced by the multicolored ropes hanging in bunches from the top of the wall. Connected by harnesses to the climbers, these ropes were not only holding up ascending participants, but also allowing them to belay, or descend in a way that might look like part of a circus to an unknowledgeable onlooker.
However, when concentrating on a participant mid-climb, it was obvious that these climbers were serious about the task at hand. With back muscles bulging and rippling through skin-tight clothes, the climbers made their way to the top of the wall with deliberate motions, planning out every move.
"There is less of an emphasis on winning then there is on just having a good time," added Ben Wessler '03, event organizer and climbing wall coordinator. Despite the fact that winning is not the importance of these events, Wessler did note that Middlebury usually fares well, managing to complete many of the hardest routes at other schools. This weekend, Dartmouth, as a group, climbed the largest number of hard routes, according to Wessler.
In festival fashion, the participants simply climb at their own will, following routes marked by colored tape. Once they complete a route--whose names, such as "Alphapsychadelicfunky" or "Funky Valentines" add to the festive environment--they just check off the "complete" box on their scorecard.
Each route has a predetermined number of points assigned to it and the points of the completed paths is added up to determine a winner in each of three categories: beginner, intermediate and advanced for both males and females. Everything recorded on the score sheets is on the honor system; this way there is more of a stress on personal competition rather than climber-to-climber competition.
Wessler and a crew of Middlebury climbers who are familiar with the wall confer and, by consensus, determine the relative difficulty of each path and the number of points for each one. A route's difficulty is based on the size of the holds and their distance from each other. Creating longer reaches to smaller holds increases the difficulty and the point worth, which ranges from 0.025 for the route "Brown baggin," to 0.92 for the route "Veehard." This large range is necessary for a sport at such a young stage.
"Anyone at any level can climb these walls," said Hashimoto on the large variety of routes available. "If there are small enough holds and long enough reaches, it becomes difficult. The shape of the wall does dictate to some extent how hard the climbs are," he added.
Middlebury's rock wall, whose shape mirrors that of a craggy cliff face with a large bulge in the top center portion, was able to cater to everyone at the event, and set the scene for a very rewarding experience.
"The competition was a tremendous success. Great music, a friendly atmosphere and a top notch facility resulted in an amazing event," beamed Wessler.