Reach Out Climb 2012

So yesterday, February 18 was Reach Out Climb - JMU’s biggest climbing competition. We hold 2 a year, Boulder Jam in the Fall and Reach Out in the Spring. Boulder Jam is mainly only open to JMU people, but Reach Out is available to anyone and everyone. Usually, climbing teams/clubs from William and Mary and UVA (Virginia colleges) come and compete. This is somewhat unfortunate because they have some good climbers whereas our best climbers are employees of the rock wall who can’t compete since they set routes and help with organization.

But anyway, we got there early morn to register and whatnot. This year, it started out with a bouldering session with a top-roping session afterwards. There were 4 different levels - Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, and Masters (35+). I chose to do Intermediate since I was definitely better than Novice but nowhere close to Advanced.

The bouldering routes were so great. Some of the easier ones were just right and didn’t challenge me too much. The harder ones really challenged me, but were still doable. Unfortunately, there was one route in my section I just couldn’t send after 6 tries even. It was the hardest one in my section, so I’m glad I go to JMU and can try it a lot.

The atmosphere had already proved to be incredible. Everyone helped beta each other, and someone would spot for someone they had never talked to. Everyone cheered each other on the entire time. There was competition int he air, but it was a totally friendly and cooperative thing.

We had a couple hours to kill as Heat 2 bouldered, so we (Chris and Connor) ate and watched a climbing movie. We went back and got right into it. There was only one heat, so the lines were ridiculous for a couple ropes. Also, the rules were you could only try one route once, and there were only 3 routes for each difficulty. There were different zones that you got points for getting within the zone.

I tried my first but fell before I got my foot up into the first zone. After this, I realized these routes are going to be harder than I ever could have imagined. The second one was a little easier and I almost got to zone 2, but then I fell.

On the last route, I really needed to get into at least zone 1 because top 2 scores count and I failed my first. So I was planning on getting this thing no matter what. Each move was pretty difficult with small holds and difficult positions. As soon as I was up, my friends were cheering me on, urging me on to each hold. For on move, I had to get my hand up over an overhang on to a positive, but the position before it is a little awkward. I jumped to it as much as I could and placed my hand right on that ledge. I could feel my body pulling my hand off, but I reacted by focusing my entire strength into holding on. As soon as it was obvious I was on, much of the crowd went “Yeahhhhh!” HAHAHAHA it was awesome!!! I felt so good. Then I used both hands to get up into the first zone. Then I fell while switching, but WHATEVS.

I ended up not placing at all which sucked because the prizes were INSANELY AWESOME. Oh well, it was a fantastic experience and I can’t wait to project the routes soon.