Photo By Staff Sgt. James Avery | Hanging at a 45-degree angle to the ground, Army Sgt. Jasen Carlson advances up his...... read more read more
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FORT BLISS, Texas – With obvious struggle, a climber makes his way up the wall, his chalk-covered hands shaking slightly with the strain of holding nearly all of his body weight. He’s chosen one of the hardest routes along the wall and takes him horizontal at times, climbing sideways to his next turning: a vertical three-foot gap that he must jump to reach.
The scene above was a common sight at the second annual Bliss Boulder Battle, hosted by Morale, Welfare and Recreation and held at the Soldier Activity Center. Soldiers and civilians took the massive, multi-sided, 25-foot wall without hesitation, planning routes and asking each other’s opinion about techniques and strategies for the multitude of routes that were pre-staged by volunteers: a mix of professional and amateur climbers who also doubled as judges.
“This event is about bringing the climbing community in El Paso together,” said Albert Alvarez, a recreational specialist at the SAC and coordinator of the event. “It gets Soldiers out of barracks rooms and doing something healthy.”
A professional climber himself, Alvarez gathered a team to help him set up the wall for the competition. The four-hour event took weeks of scheduling, planning and designing the routes on the wall took an additional two days to clean and assemble.
One of the volunteers, Oscar Murga, 25, set up the most difficult route. In its 13 feet of holds, it goes vertical for seven. The rest are horizontal or have the climber leaping from one hold to the next.
“The route is hard, but that’s the fun of it,” said the native of Juarez, Mexico. “It challenges you in ways you might not always think about.”
Like chess, bouldering routes must be planned out several steps in advance. In bouldering, the climber does not use ropes or a harness, therefore foreknowledge of hand and foot-holds is critical.
“Every hold, every movement, is choreographed before you ever touch the rock,” said Sgt. Jason Carlson, assigned to 77th Armor Regiment, 4th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division. “If you mess up, you fall, and there’s no rope to catch you.”
For the contest, however, Alvarez’s staff laid out vinyl-covered foam “crash pads” should climbers fall. While most competitors landed on their feet, some landed otherwise. With safety being top priority, no one was injured during the Boulder Battle.
Some climbers said they came for the camaraderie that seems to follow the bouldering community here in the Fort Bliss and El Paso areas. With world-renowned climbing vistas like Hueco Tanks State Park within an hour’s drive from Fort Bliss, a community of rock climbers thrives here.
“This is a great opportunity to practice and push yourself,” said Jonathan Galang, a federal law enforcement customs officer. “You also get to meet other like-minded people and share what you know about bouldering with someone new to the sport.”
As another climber eyeballs his next mark -- a large, oddly shaped orange blister protruding from the wall three feet above him -- he tenses his muscles and yanks upward. His left hand misses the mark and slides off, but his right hand grips it with three fingers. His legs swaying in the open air, a small crowd has gathered to watch his efforts and cheer him on. His eyes are closed in concentration as he brings his other hand back up to the hold. Grasping for the required three seconds to complete the route, the climber smiles and drops to the floor amid cheering and pats on his back for a job well done.
“This is more than just a wall, or even a competition,” said Alvarez. “It represents what we can accomplish with a little work and the support of some good friends.”
| Date Taken: | 10.16.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 10.17.2014 17:54 |
| Story ID: | 145385 |
| Location: | FORT BLISS, TX, US |
| Hometown: | JUAREZ, MX |
| Web Views: | 179 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Hanging around: Bliss MWR hosts Bliss Boulder Battle, by SSG James Avery, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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