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Freshman Bailey Biggs explores her love for rock climbing. BY BRIANNA LEGETTE REPORTER
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er team is counting on her. Each movement of her hand and foot counts. Exhilaration and fear engross her as she climbs, gaining more and more points. The biweekly three hour practices after school are paying off with every difficult step. As she climbs higher and higher, she is creative with how she places her hand. Freshman Bailey Biggs loves to rock climb. “I just think it’s amazing,” Biggs said. “You’re holding on by your fingertips and I love it so much.” Biggs began rock climbing when she was seven years old after seeing a rock climbing wall at her gymnastics facility, and the rest is history. Biggs has been competitively rock climbing since the fifth grade and she loves it according to her. Competitive rock climbing is split up into indoor and outdoor climbing and the type of rock climbing bouldering and top rope. “With bouldering, you don’t use a rope and the moves are more based on strength than technical skill,” Biggs said, “On top rope, it is more technical and the pieces are smaller.” She usually does top rope climbing because of her petite frame and lack of strength that is required in bouldering, according to Biggs. Biggs prefers indoor rock climbing to outdoor climbing because of the ease and comfort of it. “Climbing indoors is like solving a puzzle,” Biggs said, “You get to explore and try things different ways and figure out what works best for you.” Along with the different types of climbing, her 15 person climbing team is also very important to her. The team practices at Monster Mountain Gym every Wednesday and Friday for three hours after school. After six weeks of practicing, they head out to a competition. “For a competition, it’ll maybe be an hour away,” Biggs said, “It is pretty early in the morning, maybe 6:00am and
drive to the meet.” They arrive at the competition, the team warms up with stretching, running laps and doing jumping jacks. For the actual competition, every member of each team climbs a wall as many times as he or she wants. There is a maximum of 25 points for each competitor. The scoring is based on how far up they make it. For example, if they make it halfway, they receive 15 points. If they make it a quarter of the way, they receive 5 points. “A competition lasts about three hours,” Biggs said, “There are other teams and other cities. My favorite has been in Omaha.” Biggs’s friend since sixth grade, freshman Kate Wren, recounted her experiences with Biggs. Biggs took her rock climbing and now she clearly understands why she loves rock climbing. “She told me that she used to be afraid of heights,” Wren said, “She saw people doing it and really wanted to be high up. I don’t doubt why she likes it.” Biggs said that friends like Wren support her in her rock climbing endeavours. Biggs loves rock climbing because of the fear and exhilaration, but someone who doesn’t love the fear as much is Bailey’s mother, Jana Biggs. “She’s really supportive of me,” Biggs said, “My mom is always a little freaked out when I rock climb because she’s scared.” When asked about Biggs’ rock climbing, Jana expressed that she is apprehensive about it. “She[Biggs] just started a new type of climbing called lead climbing,” Jana said, “And it scares me a lot.” Jana has done rock climbing before and while it terrifies her, she is happy that Biggs likes it. She thinks that it’s great when children find something they are interested in; something they like to do. It gets them involved mentally and physically, according to Jana. Biggs is overjoyed that she has support from her friends and family for what she loves to do. The people that she has met and her experiences she has through rock climbing make it especially important to her. “In my opinion, it’s the best sport ,” Biggs said, “There’s always a little bit of fear, but it’s exhilarating. I love it.”
KEEP REACHING Freshman Bailey Biggs focuses on climbing up the wall. While explaining about rock climbing Biggs said, “It’s tough to plan for things because you are not sure how each rock is going to feel under your hand or under your foot.”
BAILEY N’ FRIENDS Freshman Bailey Biggs and her classmate Kate Wren strike a silly a pose. Biggs said, “My friends are awesome and supportive of me.” (Photos submitted by Bailey Biggs).
December 2020 // 25
