UNI to conquer new heights with Rock Revolution

The University of Northern Iowa Wellness and Recreation Services Outdoor Recreation will host Rock Revolution, its 11th annual rock climbing and bouldering competition, Feb. 27.

The event, which will be hosted in the Wellness and Recreation Center, will have climbers competing in novice, intermediate and advanced divisions in both top-rope and bouldering competitions. It is open to students, faculty and staff of any university or college.

Scoring for the competition is based on completing a number of climbs without falling: any time a climber falls, he or she brought all the way down and must try again. If a climber reaches the top on the first attempt, he or she will receive the maximum number of points, with decreasing points for the second and third attempts.

"For an advanced route, it would be like 800 points for your first time getting up there, and then if you fall down it goes down to 750. And then it goes down one more time, and after that it's a set amount," said Iain Wilson, senior history major and WRC employee. "So whoever has the highest combination of three top-roping and three bouldering scores, they win their division."

While top-roping consists of a higher climb completed with a harness, bouldering is marked by shorter climbs without ropes that require great power and problem-solving.

"It's condensing top-rope into like three or four moves, so it's really burly," Iain said. "(It requires) a lot of big moves, dynamic moves."

In addition to the amount of strength it requires, bouldering also challenges climbers with extremely difficult crimps, or holds, according to Rebecca Thacker, sophomore anthropology major.

Thacker, who won last year's competition in the women's novice division, is looking forward to the competition.

"It was fun (last year)," she said. "I always get excited for the new climbing routes."

Wilson echoed her excitement.

"It's like Christmas; you come to the wall and everything's new and fancy," he said.

Registration forms are available at the WRC rock climbing wall. Registration is $25 if completed before Feb. 15, $30 if completed before Feb. 27 and $35 on the day of the event. Door prizes, food, hospitality and a T-shirt are included in the registration, and up to 60 people can register for the competition.

"We would like a lot of people to come, because it's a lot of fun and it's a nice community atmosphere, because everyone cheers everyone on," Wilson said. "I think we had one or two first-time climbers last year too, so it's open to anybody."

Senior theatre major Chad Albert also encouraged new climbers to come to the competition.

"It's a really inviting community," he said. "That's what I like about it: everyone's nice. No one's a tool."