Collegiate climbers made their way to the top at the third annual “Plastic Surgery” bouldering competition at the University of Oregon Student Recreation Center this Saturday.
Bouldering is a rock-climbing style that is undertaken without rope and is typically limited to short climbs over padded mats so a fall will not result in fatal injury. Around 100 climbers from across the Northwest — including Washington, Idaho and Oregon — came to compete.
“Bouldering is super hard,” said competition coordinator Chloe Potter. “It’s harder than climbing with a rope; it requires a lot of technique.”
The competition was scored using the Northwest Collegiate Climbing Circuit point system, which varies by the difficulty of each route. To earn points, a climber must complete the route under supervision of an official.
Each climber was given two hours to ascend as many routes as they could. The three climbers with the most points by the end went to the finals.
There were three categories climbers could enter: Beginner, intermediate and open. Like the holds on the wall, climbers’ skills were all vastly different.
“There’s some people that are really competitive and there are some people that are just here to climb,” Potter said.
For UO student Kylor Snook, Plastic Surgery was his first competition, and he has only been climbing since fall term. Snook joined the UO rock climbing team after his chemistry partner told him about it.
“I feel like I did pretty good,” Snook said. “I mean it was fun, that was [the] best part.”
The competitive aspect was almost invisible to any spectator because of the friendly atmosphere. During the finals — when competitors are sent out one by one — the entire crowd would cheer just as much for one climber as they would their own team’s climber.
“Everyone is here to compete but at the same time everyone is helping you out,” Snook said. “Everyone is cheering you on no matter what team you are on. Meets like Plastic Surgery allow fairly new climbers, as well as well-experienced climbers, to meet students across state lines that enjoy the sport of competitive climbing as well as outdoor climbing.”
Snook says that the friends he has made through climbing will be lifelong relationships, and even plans to move-in with a few people introduced to him by the sport.
“The three people I’m living with next year, I’ve met through climbing,” he said.
All the routes on the the UO rock wall had to be set and rated for this competition. The event turnout was exactly what coordinators hoped and ran just as smoothly, too.
According to assistant rock wall manager Chuck Woodward, the event exceeded his expectations.
“There’s 94 climbs and we have to climb and grade them all, and we did it all last night so we are exhausted,” Woodward said. “Everything went right and that’s exactly what you hope for.”