The Student Recreation Center was filled with participants and spectators at the sixth annual Palouse Climbing Festival Saturday.
Mike Beiser, the University of Idaho Outdoor Program manager, said the festival had nearly 80 participants and twice as many spectators in the SRC.

Beiser said the turnout was about the same as last year, but featured more climbers from other regions and university climbing clubs.
“We were really pleased with the turnout,” he said.
Beiser said he has helped in 30 or 40 competitions from whitewater rafting to climbing, but gave credit for the festival’s success to the hard work of the UI climbing club.

“It’s not all sweet and roses,” Beiser said.
In early November, the club began work on the competition by gathering donations for prizes, T-shirt designs and contracts for top climbers for presentations.

During the week before the competition, the climbing wall was closed for two days while the club totaled 300 to 400 hours of volunteer work prepping the wall. They took down all of the routes, washed the wall and put up 27 new routes for competition.
The festival included slideshow presentations from top climbers Dean Lords and Andy Raether. Both climbers are considered to be some of the top climbers in the world with experience on rock, ice and mixed alpine climbs.

Beiser said the festival is a great learning experience and a place for everyone in the climbing circle go meet.
“It’s neat to have a rendezvous to meet and share a common interest,” Beiser said. “It’s really about improving yourself.”
Climbers split themselves into different classes – open, intermediate and recreational. Climbers were then awarded points based on completion of different routes. At the end of the day, the top two climbers in each class had a climb off.

A climber participates in the 6th annual Palouse Climbing Festival as bystanders cheer him on. Roger D. Rowles/Argonaut

“That’s when the roof of the SRC is coming down from cheers,” Beiser said.
The first climbers had five minutes to complete the route. The second climbers sat, their backs to the climbing wall to ensure a fair competition.

Beiser said the climb off is spectator oriented and compared it to a golf match.
“It’s normally really quiet, like watching somebody putt,” he said.
The crowd would “roar” with every slip or fall just like a golfer missing a putt.

In the men’s open class, Mike McClure took first, followed by Conrad Piper-Ruth, Jeff Crawford and Chase Lamborn.
In the women’s open class, Tammy Stowe took first followed by Heidi Huginin, Steph Carter and Anna Kolodziejek.
McClure took the advanced top rope while Andrzej Wojtowicz took the intermediate class and Hunter Block took the beginner class.
Junior Sean Conner said he was impressed at how positive the competitive atmosphere was.

“It’s not the normal competition. Everyone was helping each other,” Conner said. “It’s not like other sports. People were all about lending a hand.”

Climbers packed the Student Recreation Center for the 6th annual Palouse Climbing Festival last Friday and Saturday. Events this year included a top rope competition, bouldering competition, a BBQ and several slide show presentations. Roger D. Rowles/Argonaut

Conner said the competition is a great way for students to come together and compete but at the same time learn.
“It’s great competing, learning but also helping people progress,” he said. “That’s really how you advance yourself in life.”

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