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Thursday, August 31, 2006

24 Hours of Climbing

You like to climb all day, but how many routes would you climb if you continued ALL day? As in 24 hours. That's the question that will be answered at the 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell, a novel competition in Arkansas. Starting at noon on September 16, teams of two climbers will attempt to lead as many routes as possible in 24 hours on the 300-plus sandstone routes of Horseshoe Canyon Ranch. More points for harder routes within your ability category, and bonuses for traditional leads. As with the legendary 24-hour skiing events, strategy may count as much as strength, with the added factor that sleep-deprived climbing is a hell of a lot more dangerous. Sounds interesting!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You asked "How many routes would you climb [if climbing] ALL day..." and the answer is from 24 routes (one an hour for a novice team) to over a hundred (by an advanced team). Most intermediate teams logged an average of around fifty climbs during the event. They may have been able to do more but because it was the largest category of climbers there some lines to get on the intermediate routes. Sixty-three teams participated in the 24hr climb-a-thon and during the entire event there was only one injury reported! It was a fun and safe event and I'm looking forward to doing it again next year!