Climbing Vernacular
“Human/Chair/Table Traverse Challenge”
CZ
Zoom Video Call
5/18/20
Informant Data:
CZ is 20 years old, and a sophomore at Dartmouth College. He is an avid climber, cyclist, and general outdoors person. He is also a talented musician; playing piano, guitar, and drums. Cooper is from Salt Lake City, Utah. He began climbing and canyoneering as a high schooler and found his place in the Salt Lake climbing community. At Dartmouth Cooper competes with the Dartmouth Climbing Team and is a member of the Dartmouth Mountaineering Club (DMC).
Contextual Data:
Cultural Context:
Climbing, indoor and outdoor brings people together as a hobby, outdoor activity, and lifestyle. Dedicated climbers go to great lengths to hone their strength, control of their body, and technique. As in many communities, the climbing community has its own “challenges” popularized by the internet that test the abilities needed for the sport. In any community, the associated internet challenges index the skills and abilities that are most valued in that community.
Social Context:
Even the most intense dedicated climbers do not climb all the time, and thus many associated activities are popular within the climbing community. Many of these activities come to be because they utilize similar skills as climbing. One example of these activities is slacklining. Slacklining is a sport where a person balances on and walks across a taut strap. Slacklining requires lots of practice, balance, and core strength. No wonder slacklines are often seen at climbing gyms. The “Human/Chair/Table Traverse Challenge” is an activity that is not climbing, but similarly utilizes the skills developed from climbing training. Being able to accomplish the “Human/Chair/Table Traverse Challenge” can be a status symbol within the climbing community because of its difficulty. The challenge can also just be a fun and silly activity for climbers to attempt when not climbing.
Text:
The following text is paraphrased from a recorded zoom interview with Cooper. In the interview, he defines the “Human/Chair/Table Traverse Challenge” from his personal experience.
CZ said he only recently learned about the “Human/Chair/Table Traverse Challenge.” He attributed this to himself and many others in the climbing community being more present on the internet during the quarantine. He thinks the challenge has become more popular during quarantine as many of the popular climbing destinations are closed. CZ said he has not personally attempted this challenge and is not sure if he could do it, however, he has seen it done. He said, “You stand on top of a table and go over and climb the underside of it all the way and climb back up on the other side.” In climbing, traversing means to circumnavigate or make lateral movement on a wall or rock face, rather than to climb up or down. In this challenge, the traverse is to climb all around the object or person of the challenge without touching the ground. This challenge is very difficult and requires immense core strength and control of the body.
Max Barrett, ‘22
Dartmouth College
Russ 13
Spring 2020