“You’ve got this! Great form — I love it! That’s my roommate!” Natalie Clark’s friend cheered as Clark attempted to scale the 12-foot climbing wall at the South Campus Recreation Center on Sunday afternoon.
Right before she could reach the section’s last yellow hold, Natalie slipped, fell to the padded ground below and immediately stood back up with a grin on her face.
“Dang it – next time,” Clark, 19, said. At the same time, more than 30 other climbers were spread across the length of the wall, attempting to climb their way to the top of Ole Miss Outdoors’s first bouldering competition.
Indoor rock climbing has been only available in Oxford since August, with two options available for ascent. One is top-roping, the more well-known method in which a rope is anchored above the climber. In the other, bouldering, there is no rope is involved. Climbing the much taller wall in top-roping requires endurance more than anything, where the latter is all about technique.
Once a niche activity, indoor rock climbing has rapidly grown in popularity in recent years. So much so that sports climbing will make its Olympic debut next year in Tokyo.
The climbing walls are why Max Costa has been in the South Rec Center nearly every day this semester. He said it’s also a sport he thinks has a universal appeal.
“I’ve seen five-year-old kids climb all the way up there at the same time as adults,” Costa, 21, said.
Joseph Currie came from Tupelo for the competition because he likes the mental aspect of bouldering. He said there’s a reason that the sequence of moves for a bouldering climb are called “problems.”
“Bouldering is like a puzzle to solve, and that’s why it’s fun,” Currie, 30, said.
There were 34 problems for climbers to tackle at the competition, split between beginner, intermediate and advanced categories. Two climbers got as far as problem 26, but all of the advanced problems were left unconquered. Daniel Lawrence, the program assistant for the climbing wall, said that was partly by design.
“You don’t want anyone to get your hardest problem because that means you didn’t give them enough of a challenge,” Lawrence, 22, said.
The setting team started designing the competition’s climbs on Wednesday. Lawrence’s method is to find a hold he really likes, think of a fun move to do around it, and set the holds accordingly. There are virtually infinite options for setters, with the ability to switch between many different climbing styles and types of holds.
“There’s kind of a method to the madness to an extent, but really a lot of the time it’s just (to) put the holds on the wall and move them around until something cool happens,” Lawrence said.
Oxford-based artist Jason Petit said that he tries to map out the climb in his head before starting, with varying results.
“You think you can, and then you usually find out you’re probably wrong about something. Until you put your hand on it, you can’t really know how you’re going to lift yourself,” Petit, 45, said.
Each climber’s score was calculated by averaging their top five climbs. Time wasn’t a factor — only the number of attempts it took them to complete a problem. An attempt started as soon as all four limbs were off the ground.
Though it was a competition, most said they were just there for fun. The air was friendly, with more experienced climbers sharing tips along with climbing chalk that’s needed to grip those smaller holds. In the end, every climber left the chalk-powdered wall with a prize.
“That’s one thing that’s always shocked me about the climbing community is how encouraging they are,” Lawrence said. “That’s why I love the climbing community. That’s why I’m a part of the climbing community.”
