Upside down
to the top

Competitors from all over North America
will compete in the Continental Climbing
Championships at Horizon Roc

CHALLENGING ROUTE: Horizon Roc

Maybe in Europe, where rock climbing is a considerably bigger deal than it is on these shores, the idea of going out and paying real money to watch a bunch of motivated kooks climb rock walls makes perfect sense on a lazy weekend afternoon. But I doubt it’s something many Canadians think about when their minds turn to exciting spectator sports. But to listen to Maria Izquierdo, the director of Horizon Roc, go on about it, well, perhaps there’s something to this rock climbing business Canadians could latch onto after all. As Izquierdo puts it, to witness a first-rate rock climber do their thing on a good day is akin to digesting a great work of art.

“Aesthetically, it can be spectacular at times,” Izquierdo says enthusiastically. “It’s really something to see these people climb, they’re like dancers on a wall. They’re up there upside down half the time, making it all look so easy. You see them and just go ‘Wow!’”

If there ever was a time to check out said spectacle yourself, the weekend of Dec. 5–7 is it. That’s when the Alpine Club of Canada [ACC] and Competition Climbing Canada (CEC) will be hosting the North American Continental Climbing Championships (NACC) at the Horizon Roc (www.horizonroc.com) facility over at 2350 Dickson, just a few blocks east of the Olympic Stadium.

Over the weekend, some 240 of the best climbers from the United States, Canada and Mexico will be competing not only for prizes and Continental Championship medals, but for the right to represent their respective countries in international championship events over the next two years, the highlight being the World Games in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, scheduled for July, 2009.

“Right now,” informs Izquierdo, “the Olympics don’t include rock climbing, only the World Cup and World Games do. But we’re confident it will be included eventually. The first steps have been taken. The Olympics recently accepted a provisional recognition of rock climbing, so I really think it’s just a matter of time now.”

Speed and Lead

The type of competition participants will be engaging in at the NACC event in Montreal falls under two categories: “speed” and “lead” climbing, the latter essentially referring to the level of difficulty and number of challenges a particular course represents. “The speed competition is pretty straightforward,” says Izquierdo. “Essentially, two people climb to the top as fast as they can and we record how long it takes them to do it. The speed competitions are truly something to see though, because you’ve got these climbers literally running up a vertical surface.”

The lead competitions are different in that competitors must carefully analyze the routes they’ll be taking in advance of their climb.

“In the qualifying rounds of the difficulty competitions,” says Izquierdo, “climbers can pay close attention to the routes their competitors are choosing, weighing which route they think will be the most efficient for them. But by the semi-finals, each competitor is isolated, coming out only five minutes before their climb to determine which route they’re going to take, having no idea what routes their competitors have chosen. The routes are completely new to them at this point so it’s really important they figure out the best one if they’re going to win.

“There’s so much skill involved with this sport, it requires a lot of strategy and tons of concentration, because they’ve only got five minutes to figure out their route and which specific moves they’ll need to employ in order to follow it. If they choose the wrong route and wind up exhausted before getting to the top, well, they’re just not going to make it.

“What’s so interesting with rock climbing competitions,” she adds, “is that all the climbers face the same challenges and problems but each has their own way of dealing with them. They need to choose their route based on things like their height and personal flexibility. There are many, many ways for climbers at this skill level to approach a course. It’s very exciting, spectacular actually, because they often find themselves practically upside down in their quest to get to the top.”

The price of admission is $5 a day or $10 for the entire weekend. For full schedule details, go to www.nacc08.ca