This January 28rd, 2012, Adventure Rock will be hosting it’s 13th Annual Quick On The Draw climbing competition (Q on the D).  It is Adventure Rock’s largest and most fun events.  Each year the competition grows and we have approximately 50% of the climbers return from one year to the next.  Rockman attributes the competition’s success to several things: fun routes for all ages, sizes and abilities, clear and fair rules, consistent judging, great t-shirts and the great value you get.  Every year we still have to twist the arm’s of the other 50% of competitors into competing.   Here is a list of  my typical responses to why you should do the comp:

1. It is only $35.
2. For $35 you get a T-shirt, chalk, drink, cliff bar, stickers, a magazine, dinner (or lunch) and to get first crack at the best routes we set all year.
3. I know you don’t think climbing should be competitive, but it is, every time you come into the you are competing to send a route.  At Q on the D it is the same thing except you are doing it with lots of people in a similar skills as you.
4. You have plans that weekend?  That’s funny because ______________ just called and said that they canceled that weekend and you should make other plans.
5. You will have a blast.  It so cool, you walk into the and it is totally different place.  You will look around and get butterflies in your stomach cause you are scared even if you climb here four days a week.
6. It will be the best work out you get all year.  When you typically come into the gym you do a few routes and chat, maybe do a couple of boulder problems.  At the comp you get a list of routes you have to do.  You will have to do 7 routes and 5 boulder problems at least once.  You will be so fried you won’t even be able to open your car door.
7. It is January in Wisconsin, what else are you going to do?
8. You will climb harder than you ever do because you are forced to climb things you don’t know the grade of.  A week after the comp you will come into the gym a say “whoa, I sent that in the comp and it is a an ___a/b.”
9. You will not look like a fool and you are good enough.  We have divisions for all abilities and you compete with people of the same difficulty so you won’t look foolish.
10. I know you can’t climb an  ____a/b, we award points for any part of the route you do.  Even if you only get to the second hold of a route you still get points.

Don’t make me go through this.  Do you know how hard it is to convince 100 people to sign up?  If people would just listen to Rockman and sign up, I would spend a lot more time and energy on making the comp more awesome.

Click here for the registration for details.

See you on the 28th of January, you should have no real compelling reason to be absent.

In The Spirit Of Adventure,

Rockman