Calling all rock climbers: ETSU Climbing Club is sponsoring its first rock climbing competition on Feb. 24 from 6-10 p.m. at the Center for Physical Activity climbing wall.
The competition is open to all ETSU students.
The brackets are divided into men, women and teams. The men’s and women’s brackets are divided into beginner and expert.
“We’re trying to get (the competition) open to everybody and trying to really push the part about the beginner bracket,” said Jesse O’Hatnick, president of the climbing club.
“We don’t want people to think, ‘It’s a climbing competition … I don’t want to go because there’s going to be so many good people there.’ We want to bring out people and have a good time.”
The difficulty of climbing is rated on the Yosemite Decimal System which is divided into five classes.
According to www.climber.org, “The experienced climber, having accomplished or attempted free climbs of varying degrees of difficulty in the YDS Class 5 range, gains an understanding of the level of difficulty involved. To the beginner, however, these ratings are simply a set of numbers, understandably, easy if rated 5.0 and impossible if rated 5.13.”
The beginner level will have a difficulty level of 5.6-5.10 and the expert level will rate 5.10-5.15.
“There will be a set number of routes. Each person has to climb each route … one at a time,” O’Hatnick said. “Say you’re getting on the first route – you’d have to climb to the top to get, say there’s 14 holds on that route, and if you fall at the 12th hold you get 12 points. So each hold’s worth a point and you try to accumulate as many points as possible.”
Students can pre-register by picking up a registration form at the front desk of the CPA.
The cost for pre-registration is $5 per person, and registration the day of the competition is $10 per person. Teams of five to seven people can take a $5 discount off the total price.
The Acoustic Coffeehouse will be providing music, and local stores will be setting up booths.
Prizes will be awarded to top finishers and door prizes will be given in a drawing.
For more information about the competition or the climbing club, call O’Hatnick at (865) 406-1151 or e-mail the climbing club at etsuclimbing@yahoo.com.

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