Earlier this week, University junior Zach Liibbe had a moment of clarity at Value Village Thrift Store.
“The Franklin the Turtle poncho was an inspiration,” he said. “I saw it and was like, ‘There’s nothing left for me to do but be a turtle.’”
Liibbe wore the poncho – lime green vinyl decorated with the Canadian cartoon turtle – to the seventh annual Vertical Circus, a carnival-themed series of competitions held Saturday at the Student Recreation Center’s URock Climbing Wall.
“I would describe it as a fun-for-all climbing event where people can wear costumes and be crazy, hang out with fun people and get some climbing in,” said University senior Loy Maierhauser, a rock wall employee. “It’s a fun competition. We want people who don’t really have a lot of experience climbing to just come out and have fun.”
Contests at the 30-foot URock included a three-legged climb, where two climbers’ legs were tied together with a ribbon; a blindfolded climb; a one-armed climb; an obstacle course with loops made from foam swimming pool noodles; speed climbing; bouldering, which is climbing without rope and a harness; and a costume competition.
The male and female winner in each category earned prizes, many of which were donated by local sponsors such as Back Country Gear, Track Town Pizza, Laughing Planet Café and the UO Outdoor Program. Prizes ranged from bags of candy to carabiners and climbing rope.
Liibbe completed his turtle look with tempera paint, which he used to color himself green. Though he did not win the costume contest, he said Vertical Circus was a lot of fun.
“Rock climbing is such an ego-based sport, but (Vertical Circus) is just to kick back and have a good time, so it’s a good opportunity to do that,” he said, adding that the silly nature of the races took away any real competitiveness.
That was the point, said University senior Brian Mosbaugh, a rock wall employee who volunteered for 13 hours Friday setting climbing routes on the wall.
Wearing glasses, a striped hat and a white thermal undershirt with homemade red stripes (he used climbing tape) Mosbaugh dressed as Waldo of the “Where’s Waldo?” books and won an REI backpack in the costume contest.
“(Vertical Circus) is a good opportunity to meet people, have fun and just get people excited about climbing,” he said. “As soon as you start climbing, you fall in love with it.”
Jamie Thierman, a University junior, recently fell in love with rock climbing in her Outdoor Pursuits Program rock climbing class.
“I love it,” she said. “I’m a music major – it’s one of the first non-music classes I’ve been able to take. There’s something about the endurance part of it that’s really appealing: working toward a goal and reaching it.”
Thierman said it’s very rewarding to push through sore arms and exhaustion, and make it to the top of the climbing wall. At Vertical Circus, she participated in the three-legged, blindfolded and one-armed races, the last of which she said was the most difficult.
“My favorite was the blindfold,” Thierman said. “I felt pressure because it was all timed but it was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be.”
Vertical Circus may be over, but URock Climbing Wall is open Monday through Thursday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Friday through Sunday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. For more information on personal training, rock climbing courses available and climbing wall policies, log on to uorec.uoregon.edu/rec_facility/urock/rockwall.html.
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Carabiner Circus
Daily Emerald
February 17, 2008
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