Comp Day in the Windy City

This past Saturday, March 2nd, I had the pleasure of taking a trip out to Vertical Endeavors in Warrenville, IL to cover the twelfth incarnation of their Masters of Plastic comp, "No Holds Barred". Joined by fellow Chicago Climber, Colin Caulfield, we ventured from our cozy urban dwellings out to the suburbs, where the horizons are open and the walls stretch up past the anchors.

Shall We Set the Stage?
We entered the Vertical Endeavors amidst competitors and spectators alike and quickly noted, this was the single largest collection of climbers I had ever seen. VE had set the cap on climbers at 175 and hit that mark several days before the comp. If I had thought of spontaneously signing up at the last minute, my hopes had been dashed. Nevertheless, the gym as packed not only with the climbers themselves but also parents, friends, and folks who just wanted to see a good day of climbing.

The gathering storm.

Soon after we arrived the competition was set to begin. Everyone gathered in the main crag to hear the rules:

• 4 hours to complete 5 top roped routes, 1 boulder problem
• 2 attempts per problem
• No takes
• Nats are marked for hands
• All nats for feet
• If a volume is marked, all the holds are on
• Max points for top out
• Less for high point
• Must demonstrate control of final hold or top out

And with that, climb on.

Climbing Frenzy
Everyone dashed to scope out their routes. As with most comps, there were divisions for every grade of climber and VE did a great job of making interesting routes in each. It wasn't so much that I just wanted to watch the climbers on the hardest problems but rather I wanted to see climbers on the interesting features of the gym. However you feel about "natural" rock walls indoors, VE definitely took advantage of the features of their walls. I saw climbers of all skill levels struggling with dihedrals, aretes, overhangs, and several multi-faced routes.

The open division even had one lead route that slowly crawled up the wall and onto the ceiling (left.) Photo credit Colin Caulfield.

The boulder problems seemed to present the hardest problem a division could offer, with point values marked at each hold. They were typically scrunching-type problems requiring the climber to master their balance and body positioning before they were able to reach the next move. In some cases there weren't even any holds on the wall, just boxed out nats for competitors to divine a way of gripping.

The stem was important for careful thought and chess-like movement.

Divisions of Labor
One of my favorite problems of the day was in the back corner of the room typically reserved for auto-belays. Pictured at left in white, this route wasn't the most physically demanding of the comp but it was a head-scratcher. The climber went up from face to face pretty smoothly until the last third which started with a big reach to the left wall, then some careful maneuvering up those few holds, until he had to figure out how to use his powerful stem to get from the multitude of holds over to the lone finish hold on the right face.

After changing his beta, this climber saved his stem for after his left foot was higher, then shifted to his right leg and brought his hands over for the send.

I spent a great deal of time watching folks tackle another multi-faced route, pictured in white below. There seemed to be two main plans of attack. The first was to get high enough on the right wall so the climber could move easily to the left face. Even this approach required calculated use of feet on the underside, however. This woman here made it another move or two farther before dropping. The second plan took full advantage of the overhanging feature. If this climber approached this section with her hand positions flipped she could lean back, hanging underneath, before performing a saving throw up to the next hand. It did seem that the first sequence of beta yielded better results as the climber seemed to have more stamina left after the crucial crux.

Chicago Climber, Colin Caulfield gets the beta on some digital photos.

Finalists
After all was left on the field, there stood the victors --those with just that much extra to throw at the wall. Of the total 175 climbers, only 4 or 5 in each division were able to place in the finals. VE was nice enough to post the results of the comp:

Men’s Advanced Finals

Photo credit Colin Caulfield.

1^st – Joe Mastey
2^nd – Zach Joseph
3^rd – Jacob Schnake
4^th – Alec Hein
Women’s Advanced Finals
1^st – Melinda Eshelman
2^nd – Meghan Stukel
3^rd – Susan Okasinski
4^th – Katie Kelly
5^th – Irene Yu
Men’s Open Finals
1^st – Kevin LaForge
2^nd – Matt Wrodarczyk
3^rd – Frank Wu
4^th – Doug Aburano
Women’s Open Finals
1^st – Karolina Nowak
2^nd – Katie Erickson
3^rd – Amy Verrando
4^th – Karen Gilbert

For a full list of the standings in the semis and results from other divisions, check out the full comp results here.

A Matter of Distance
One of the coolest things about this comp was how it drew in climbers from gyms all across the Chicagoland area. There were teams of climbers from that selfsame Vertical Endeavors, a group of little Arya Starks from North Wall in Crystal Lake, and of course folks from our home gym of Hidden Peak. This was an opportunity for our climbing community to coalesce and show each other what we're made of. Chicago is an interesting scene--most of our gyms are out in the suburbs, where there's actually space to climb--that lends itself to a more disparate community. I, for one, have only occasionally been able to make it out to the suburbs for a day of climbing and believe me, it took a bit of planning.

This is of course in contrast to neighboring Midwestern cities, namely the Twin Cities and St. Louis, where the majority of climbing is centered around one or two gyms. St. Paul and Minneapolis each have one VE, and St. Louis has the relatively new Climb So Ill and Upper Limits. These gyms are in large part in the industrial areas of their respective cities, where there is space enough for a climbing facility. The market for real estate in Chicago is even tougher, and more difficult to turn a profit.

But did I mention that we're resilient climbers? The fact that we're willing to travel from the four corners of the state impresses me to no end. We may not have a main hub of climbing like other cities, but the spirit of climbing is undoubtedly strong in Chicago. Thanks for sticking around for my pontification, I'll see you at the crag.





-Benjamin Gappa
Chicago Climber

About me: My love of climbing extends back only about 8 months when I took my first trip to Red River Gorge. Since then, hardly a week has gone by that I haven't been Hidden Peak at least 3 times crushing V0s and V1s, though V2s have been sending me death threats like every other day. I have a fear of heights but sport climbing is my meat and potatoes. Other interests: meat and potatoes. While working as a traveling archaeologist I'm afforded the opportunity to check out gyms and crags all over the country.