Story by Stephen Zegalia
Photos by Matt DeBow


The tenth annual Vertical Circus was held on Saturday at the rock wall in the UO Rec Center, combining, music, costumes, and a lot of climbing. The daylong event celebrated climbing and included competitions and events spanning a variety of activities. Sponsors such as Red Bull, Backcountry Gear, and Clif Bar provided gear for a raffle, and DJ Rozwell was stationed on the boulder course to supply the day’s music.
“We really want to have an event that’s not super-competitive, and that everyone can kind of enjoy,” says rock wall coordinator Dan Crowe. “There’s something here for people with all levels of skill.”
Zach Chalmers, the rock wall staffer who was in charge of the event, says the most anticipated addition to this year’s Vertical Circus was a ninja warrior-style obstacle course.
“I’m really excited about it,” Chalmers said before the event started. “I think the fastest test time was one minute and five seconds, so we’ll see if someone can beat that.”
The day began with a variety of open events including three-legged, one-armed, blindfolded, and speed climbing on different sections of the wall. Participants mingled and cycled through the different stations at their leisure, as music reverberated throughout the Rec Center. “I’m just here because I love climbing,” says UO student Colin Arbogast. “I figured it would be awesome to come to the wall. It’s a blast so far.”
At 11:00 a.m., the always-interesting dyno competition kicked off, in which entrants jump from one designated handhold to another. Through five increasingly difficult elimination rounds, the climbers were narrowed down until Lane Community College sophomore Michael Holmes emerged victorious.
After a break for lunch, the party reconvened for the costume competition and raffle. Elimination rounds based on audience reaction ended in a spirited walk-off in which UO senior David Parziale took the grand prize for his extremely pink interpretation of St. Valentine. “I’m way stoked,” he says after collecting the assorted hats, shirts, and gear that was included in his prize.
The last two hours of the event were dedicated to the running of the ninja warrior-style obstacle course. The route included a zip line followed by a pole climbers had to shimmy up before climbing a rope ladder. Most of the people in attendance tried with varying techniques and degrees of success. After everyone had run through the course, UO student Claire Stewart was declared the winner of the women’s category (her winning time was not announced). Holmes was the winner of the men’s section with a time of fifty-four seconds, making him the winner of the event’s two main competitions.
“The most difficult part to get through was the rope swings, because they use different movement than most climbing, but it was a lot of fun,” says Holmes, who has been climbing for ten years. “I guess because I come [to the Rec Center rock wall] a lot it made it a little easier. ”

Gallery • 3 Photos

DeBowPhotography

The 10th annual Vertical Circus is a climbing event at the rock wall in the student recreation center. While the event was aimed at students, it was open to anyone. The competions included speed climbing, one handed climbing, three legged climbing and a Ninja Warrior Course.