The Recreational Center climbing wall staff has devised a new promotional strategy in the form of the King of the Mountain competition.

The event is an attempt to pull in new climbers to invest time into rock climbing and also serves to reward those who regularly visit the rock wall for fun or exercise.

To compete in the challenge, challengers must first speak to the climbing staff and request a log to be started that records the climbs done on each day. One can do a maximum of 5 routes on the main wall and the same number of routes on the bouldering wall per day with a limit of 25 routes per week.

Challengers can also register games of Plus 2 on the bouldering wall as climbs. Plus 2 is a very popular game played at the climbing wall by many climbers and climbing staff of varying skill levels. One person starts with both hands and feet on the wall and moves their hands to two different grips.

The next person starts at the same place and mimics the added moves of the previous player, then adds two new moves of his or her own.

The game continues in a loop until someone cannot imitate the other person’s moves and add on.

The person who won must then add two more moves to have a complete victory over his or her opponent. It is a very friendly game that brings strangers together in a mutual game of imitation.

With combinations of routes and Plus 2 games, each challenger attempts to reach a certain number of climbs to win prizes. The Tahquitz Challenge requires 20 climbs and rewards a free DVD rental from the Rec Center.

The Half Dome Challenge places the challenger in a drawing for a $10 book store or mountain gear gift card along with a free DVD rental and requires 40 climbs.

The El Cap Challenge adds 22 more climbs and places the challenger in a drawing for a $25 gift card and also rewards a free belay certification for the climbing wall.

Lastly, the 1 Mile challenge requires 1 mile of routes on the climbing wall, or 110 climbs, and puts the challenger in a drawing for a $30 gift card and free belay certification.

Currently in the lead is senior David Dick, according to the Climbing Wall Competition website. Dick says he just recently started climbing at the Rec and created a schedule where he comes at least 2 times a week. His story shows it does not take previous experience to compete, only commitment and ambition.

According to staff, however, this challenge has not attracted many newcomers to the climbing wall.

Most of those who signed up for the challenge are recurring climbers who take advantage of their time at the wall by signing up for the challenge. There are also multiple people signed up who have yet to clock in any climbs at all.

The completion has been running since February 14 and will close after April 8. Those interested in the challenge, talk to the climbing staff about signing up before the challenge is over.

For more information, visit the King of the Mountain page at www.Ashland.edu/node/17184.