The last Saturday in April is a significant day on the Whitman campus: it is the day on which the Outdoor Program traditionally holds its Sweet Onion Crank, the annual climbing competition. Last Saturday, April 28, was no exception: beginning, intermediate, advanced and youth climbers from the both inside and outside the Whitman community were invited to attempt routes such as “Stairway to Heaven,” “Sin City” and “Death From Above.”
“We start working on this at the beginning of the year, but most of it sort of comes to a head the last two weeks and even more so the day and night before,” said first year Nate Cade, who was in charge of organizing the event. “We have to set up all these routes; we get lots of volunteers for that – but it’s still a process.”
The participant turnout for the 2007 Sweet Onion Crank was over 100; far more if counting the judges and the constant crowd of onlookers gathered around the wall. Some Central Washington University climbers have made the Sweet Onion Crank an annual tradition for them, too. Walla Walla community members also compete.
Andrew McConnico, a senior art major who has participated in the Crank in previous years, was one of the judges this year. He explained the evaluation process as a series of points assigned based on “hot holds” –– specific goals on each route –– as well as simply whether or not a climber reaches the top. “We’re here as judges, but definitely you expect people to be judging themselves too… People have been calling themselves out on things.”
Climbing is for many people a very personal activity, in which they strive for personal goals. “There are really really good climbers here [at Whitman] that don’t participate in it because they don’t think climbing should be competitive, and I understand that: when I climb the best thing about it is that you’re pushing yourself and no one else is pushing you – but then you’ve got this whole amphitheatre-style thing going on,” said McConnico, gesturing toward the observers.
“What a lot of people enjoy about climbing is that…competition doesn’t really come into it quite as often. But I think what is nice about our little event here is that it is not as competitive as some other ones,” said Cade. “It’s more about a community gathering: people are always encouraging each other and pushing each other on all the particular routes.”
Everyone who registered received a Crank T-shirt and at the end of the day, points were tallied and prizes were awarded: from gift certificates to fingerboards to chalk bags to Rock and Ice subscriptions.
“Most of our stuff came from national sponsors; we were writing and e-mailing and calling for the last three and a half months,” said Cade.
Also, winners of each level receive little carabiner picture frames as trophies. If there is a tie, the victor is decided through a boulder-off, in which climbers compete to advance farthest along the wall in a time frame of 30 seconds.
The winner of the women’s advanced was Marina Heppenstall, a senior biology and environmental studies major. The winner of the men’s advanced was Steve Miller, a local ceramics teacher and past Sweet Onion Crank champion. This year, Miller was wearing a worn T-shirt that he received at the sixth annual Crank competition. “This is like the tenth one I’ve done. I like coming out here: they have great routes today, there’s a really great crowd down here, and it’s just a lot of fun.”
