Students Climb High at MIT Competition

Nearly a hundred primed and ready rock climbers gathered in MIT’s Walker Memorial Hall on Saturday to compete in the third annual MIT Bouldering Competition.

By the early afternoon, chalk and sweat billowed into the hot air of the crowded space as male and female competitors, from beginners to elites, dangled from the walls vying for prizes and prestige.

“It feels like a dance club but with less rhythm and more grunting,” said Micah B. May, a second-year Harvard Law School student and entrant in the “Wicked Good Men” category.

The competition, an unofficial stop on the Collegiate Climbing Competition Series, was sponsored by the MIT Outing Club (MITOC) and attracted enthused and exceptional climbers from the region.

Dan E. Shub, a student at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Science and Technology and the event’s main organizer, said he took pride in both the diversity and caliber of the climbers, divided into “Nifty,” “Good,” “Wicked Good” and “Elite.”

“These are the best climbers in the greater Boston area academic competitive indoor climbing community,” Shub said.

Harvard Mountaineering Club (HMC) President Aram Marks ’04 represented Harvard with fellow HMC members Janie N. Kucera ’04 and Josh A. Neff ’07, all for the first time. Though none of the three placed in the event, they used it to stoke a rivalry with their neighbor down the river.

In the midst of the festivities, Marks and Shub fired up a dialogue about relations between Harvard and MIT in the realm of climbing and other outdoor activities.

“It’s weird that there’s been so little contact between Harvard and MIT. I’m psyched to have found this competition,” Marks said.

Marks and Shub hope to follow up their conversation with the inauguration of a Harvard-MIT climbing face off, either at MIT or at Harvard. Both the Longwood Gym at Harvard Medical School and the wall in the basement of Claverly Hall are open throughout the year to members of the HMC.

Marks encouraged novice climbers to try out the indoor wall, but said that the best way to experience climbing is to join the HMC on weekend trips into the New England wilderness once the snow has melted.

“Rock climbing is a great way to get away from the bubble and out into the beautiful scenery that is so close to the Boston area,” he said.

In the meantime, events like the MIT Bouldering Competition help to bolster enthusiasm for the up-and-coming sport of indoor climbing.

At the competition’s close early Saturday evening, fascination and astonishment abounded as the strong-armed and rough-handed athletes trickled down from the walls to start the after-party: a pull-up marathon and a Munchkin-eating contest. Shub and fellow coordinator Solar Olugebefola then handed out the Patagonia jackets and equipment from Eastern Mountain Sports to the winners.

“The climbers left with no skin on their fingertips and smiles on their faces. It was a good time,” Shub said at the competition’s close.