Tuesday May 29, 2007
Climbing no easy task 109 take part in competition
THE low vertical wall looked seemingly easy to scale, but climbers certainly had more than their fair share of sweating it out as they mind-boggled through various routes en route to the top.
The event was The Summit ROXX 2007 Climbing Competition, and participants would agree how deceiving looks (and in this case, the wall's contour) can be!
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Challenging: Scaling the wall is a challenging task as climbers need to figure out the routes that they should take.
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Held at The Summit shopping complex in USJ, the annual competition drew 109 participants to vie for top spots and prizes in the six categories being contested – the Top Rope Open Men & Women, Bouldering Open Men & Women, and Combined (Top Rope & Bouldering) Open Men & Women.
Event organiser Nomad Adventure Sdn Bhd, which has owned and operated Summit Climbing Gym – Malaysia's first indoor climbing gym – in the complex since 1999, is in its ninth consecutive year of organising the climbing competition.
Nomad Adventure leader and competition chief judge Chan Yuen-Li said the climbing competition was designed with the fun factor that allowed participants to try the many different climbing routes and styles.
“We have top climbers and beginners contesting together but in the midst of that, every one is having fun and giving support to each other. Participants are given the freedom to choose and try out the different climbing routes so this format attracts not just the elite rock climbers but youths and recreational enthusiasts, too,” said Chan.
The competition started in the morning with the Top Rope event at the Summit Climbing Gym on the fourth floor, and continued in the afternoon with the Bouldering event on the ground floor of the complex.
“While top rope tests climbers' balance and endurance, bouldering is more about explosive power due to its shorter route. At the end of the day, the very important muscle is the 'brain' and not just brawn, as strategy and time management are key factors to this competition,” said Chan.
The format of the competition required participants to plan their climbing strategies to chalk up as many points as possible by successfully climbing as many routes as they could within a given time.
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Testing physical limits: Participants are pushed to their limits as they scale this wall. However, the climb involves not only brawn; it requires the brain to think, too.
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Lending support to the event was guest-of-honour Subang Jaya assemblyman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng, who gave away the prizes to the top five men and women in the Top Rope event before blowing the horn to declare the Bouldering event officially open.
“Rock climbing has become popular because of this annual competition. I believe this sport has become well known not just in the Klang Valley but all over the country, too.
“Youths today are no longer interested in just the conventional sports like badminton or tennis. They are more into extreme sports like rock climbing,” he said, adding that he would try to persuade the authorities to spend more time and money to support and further develop rock climbing.
Chan, who has more than 20 years of climbing experience, said climbing was an interesting sport because she viewed it as a total approach to staying fit.
“Climbing is a physical problem with a mental solution. It requires technique, strategy, and body balance. The wall is like a mentally challenging puzzle, so through climbing, climbers actually learn how to control and manage their fear of height,” Chan said.
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Spiderman: A climber trying to imitate Spiderman as he makes his way from one boulder to another.
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“What started with just 50 rock climbers in the country back in the old days has grown into a loved sport so that we now have about 50 people coming to our gym each week wanting to learn climbing! That translates to about 200 new faces in a month!” said Chan.
The competition ended with a prize presentation ceremony for the remaining categories. Event sponsors were CROCS, Powerbar, Redbull and Delta Rovers.
