Climbers from all over the Southeast met at Western Carolina University’s recreation center Feb. 17 for the 11th annual Rock and Rumble Bouldering Competition.
This is an example of a problem marked with pink tape. The two holds at the bottom with two pieces of tape are the starting holds and the hold with two pieces at the top is where the climber places both hands to finish. Photo by Jonathan Birek, Feb.17, 2018.
Base Camp Cullowhee organized today’s competition consisting of three, two hour heats where climbers try to complete as many routes as they can to see who can score the most points. The routes vary in difficulty and are marked with colored tape to let the climber know what they can grab onto. The point value is determined by the three levels, novice, intermediate, and open with the easiest problem being worth 100 points and the most difficult being worth 3900 points.
The morning mood was calm and attentive with only five climbers in the first heat and everyone watched closely. This was followed by a full 25 climber heat that crowded the wall and the competition was in full swing. The second heat almost entirely consisted of Western Carolina’s own climbing club who help organize this event with Base Camp Cullowhee. Climbing club President Jacob O’Neal explains why he looks forward to this event each year.
“It’s great to see everyone having fun and pushing each other to do harder routes, everyone just wants to get better, and this is our one home game. Most sports have multiple home games a season but we only have one and this is it.” O’Neal said.
As the competition went on the climbers tried to tally as many points as they could while also cheering on their teammates and even their competitors. It was a situation where no matter who was climbing or what school they were from, everyone watching was rooting for them to make it. Climbing club senior Marcus Tayloe was sidelined due to injury but explained why he climbs and what he likes most about Rock and Rumble.
“There is so much camaraderie among the climbers, we all just cheer each other on and want to see each other succeed. The other reason is because the wall doesn’t change too often for those of us that climb it every day but when they change it this much it’s like Christmas day.” Tayloe said.
The third heat was just as full as the second with 24 climbers and once their two hours were up the scores were tallied to determine the winners. First, second, and third place were given to men and women from the three categories as well as an overall team score and these are the results.
Novice:
Women:
- Annie Francis
- Montana Henson
- Keegan Thurlby
Men:
- Dylan Langham
- Adam Gallimore
- Ashton Thomas
Western Carolina climbing club posing with their first place trophy.
Intermediate:
Women:
- Hannah Wells
- Chrissy Turk
- Ashley Farley
Men:
- Peter Fabian
- Jackson Potter
- Nathan Buepple
Open:
Men:
- Chris Watts
- Matthew Stephens
- Alex Barnes
Team Score:
- Western Carolina University
- Wake Forest University
- Brevard College
Getting onto the podium earned these climbers bronze, silver, and gold climbing holds to put around their necks and the teams were given climbing holds shaped like plaques.
For the 11th year running the Rock and Rumble Bouldering Competition was a success and the climbers are already looking forward to next year.
