We’re stuck in the middle of January, which is pretty much the worst thing ever. But if cabin fever has you practically climbing the walls, there’s a chance to channel that impulse productively coming up at Evolution Rock + Fitness.
The gym is hosting Evo Endurathon on Saturday, where climbers rack up as many vertical feet of climbing as they can in a nine-hour span starting at 8 a.m. And don’t worry – if you’re new to the sport and don’t want to have to compete with Climby McClimberson and his all-star cohorts, there are beginner, intermediate and advanced categories.
That levels the playing field by forcing veteran climbers to utilize the more advanced routes.
“That way a really strong climber can’t come in and do a bunch of easy routes and blow everyone out of the water,” said Evo climbing instructor Doug Rosenberg.
Each grade of climb will be worth different point totals, Rosenberg said. You can do the same routes multiple times, but after the first time they will go down in point value. You keep track of the routes you climb, add up the points at the end of the day and see who finishes at the top of each of the three categories.
There will no doubt be some advanced climbers taking part. According to the Evo website, the previous record is 2,940 vertical feet. Being the laymen that we are, we asked Rosenberg if that was impressive.
“Yeah, that’s a lot,” he said.
You don’t have to do your climbing all at once, though. The event is nine hours long, but you can come and go as you please and add to your total whenever you feel like it.
“That’s why we have the three different categories. At the beginner level, I can’t imagine many of those guys climbing the full nine hours, they’ll go until they gassed out,” Rosenberg said. “And also, when people buy a day pass here, it’s good all day, so if they were to come in the morning, do as many routes as they can, leave, go grab lunch and then come back, they can still keep adding to their score until the end of the competition.”
For more info on the event, check out evorock.com.
