On Saturday, March 10th, The Paul Smith’s College Climbing team hosted a Rock Climbing Competition that was open to anyone who was willing to give it a try. Some members of the team and employees of the Rock Climbing Wall got together throughout the week to set routes, and organize the rules of the competition. On Saturday, some of the team hopped onto belays, while a handful competed. Students from all over campus made their way to Buxton to give the competition at try, in addition to a student from North Country Community College, who is a regular visitor at the Rock Wall.
After Climbing Coach and Alumni Matthew Weich went over the rules and requirements, competitors hit the wall for a little over an hour of climbing. There were “Beginner” and “Advanced” routes, with 3 of each on the main wall, and one of each in the bouldering cave. Competitors had one shot at each of the routes in their category on the main wall, and 3 attempts for the bouldering route. When the time was called and the scorecards were handed in. Climbers stripped off their gear as they waited patiently for the results. After a few minutes, Coach Matt announced that there were two ties. For the Women’s category, Katherine Gale and Adaiah Bauer tied for first place, having completed every route on their first try. For the Men’s Advanced category, Chris Monticello, and Nicholas Orton tied for first. In order to determine the 1st place winners, a tie breaker was held.
For the Men’s tie breaker, Chris and Nick went back and forth attempting to complete the advanced bouldering route, until Nick completed the route and took the win. Adaiah and Katherine were challenged with seeing who could make it further on an advanced level route. After tieing on the first route of the tie-breaker, Adaiah took the win on the second route.
The Climbing Team usually holds an on-campus competition every year, so keep your eyes open for next year’s competition flyers!
Please enjoy the following Photos, captured by Gavin Shwahla:
