Climbing games for a fundraising event

Hey all,

I'm putting together a few activities for a fund raising event for my local climbing area. One of the activities being planned is a team contest based on the TV show "minute to win it".

Our idea is to have teams of two compete against one another in games of skill. In each round, the first 50% of teams to finish the game would advance to the next round.

For example: Three eggs are placed on the ground 10 feet from a 1 foot diameter circle. Each team is given a straw and a sheet of cardboard. Without physically touching the eggs, the teams must move all three eggs into the circle (presumably by blowing through the straw and using the cardboard as a fan). If twenty teams compete in the contest, the first 10 teams to complete this task advance to the next round. Each round consists of a different skill which continue until just three teams remain. Then a final game will determine 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. Prizes will be given accordingly.

My issue is that I cannot think of skill games that are related to climbing. The games should last approximately 1 min each. We do not have access to a climbing wall or real rock climbs (the games will be held on a large stage). We do have a budget to purchase some props and have access to any climbing gear imaginable.

Can the community suggest some skill games related to climbing that they know of? I don't want to say where they will be used, but this event benefits one of the best and most visited climbing areas in the country.

Thanks everyone,
Matt

If you can set up a top anchor on the stage. You can do the milk crate stacking challenge. The goal is to stack as many milk crates in a tower as you can while standing on the tower. So one person is tied into a harness and being belayed. They start by standing on one milk crate, and they get handed a milk crate by someone on their team. They have to put this milk crate on top of the one they are standing on, and then stand on that one. Usually this means sticking your toes into the little handle holes. As they get higher, their team mates have to start throwing the milk crates up to them.

Be warned that good people will get between 10 and 20, so you need enough height to stack that high, and you also need enough clear space for when they fall over.

Oops, didn't see the 1 minute limit, that would be pretty tough, but still doable I think.

If you have some carpentry skills, you could build a scary ledge traverse. The basic idea is you have a ledge at the base of a slab (plywood). Going from one side to the other, the slab gets progressively steeper until it's vertical or the ledge can get smaller or become more angled. The competitor has to keep walking along it until they get to the end or get off balanced and fall off. It can be near the ground so you don't need ropes. For higher production values you could paint the wall and add the sounds of hawks and wind to pretend like it's really high up. It doesn't need to have any holds on it, but you can put really tiny screwons if you want to make it more climbing related. You can also add obstacles like step ups or "boulders" you have to hug to get around.

Where is your local climbing area?

+1 for crate stacking contest

Rope Coiling Contest - Who can coil a rope the fastest. Butterfly Mountaineers coil

Escape belay contest - Who can escape the belay with the fastest, goes all day long and best time wins. Use 150 object for the counter-weight (not a human) in case the belay escaper screws it up. Make sure no one is under the wight and small competitors are anchored down.

Rope toss contest - Who can throw the rope (as for a rappel) the farthest. Tape off a square for the participants to stand in. Mark the distance with a flag with contestants name on it, farthest wins. Competitors get 60 seconds to prepare and throw the rope using any method desired. Creative methods such as knot at the end of the rope, two separate coils thrown back to back, monkeys fist, etc. can be used.

Blind-Folded Knot Tying.

Pull-up Contest

Get someone to sponsor you a tread-wall and see who can do the most laps or stay on the longest.

Get a sponsor to donate a prize for each event and you could maybe even make more money by adding a fee to enter the contests.

Good luck with the fundraiser, hope you make tons of cash.

Good suggestions so far. Thanks and keep em coming!

Bucket wars: An excellent spectator sport.
Two opponents each stand on an inverted 5 gallon plastic bucket (like pool chemicals or bulk food come in) about 20 or thirty feet apart.

Each holds the end of a long rope (climbing rope will do perfect)

Each player tries to pull the opponent off balance with the rope, or pull the rope out of opponent's hand. Initially there is a bunch of slack in the rope and it is advantageous to reel in as much of the slack as possible so you can "give" some slack if you're about to be pulled off. Tests balance and strategy. Can be done as a drinking game of course (winner takes a shot, softening him up for subsequent challengers).

String a tightrope between two trees in the yard, just a few feet off the ground will do, but you have to have one of those yankers to keep it taut.

Have judges, with score cards. Style counts as well as length crossed.

This is a game I know that pits two multi-member teams against each other. You might be able to incorporate it in your setup-

Get a long cord or climbing rope and double fisherman the ends together. Clip a carabiner to the rope. Tie off the carabiner with any knot so as to prevent the carabiner from sliding through the rope. Above the first knot, tie another knot. Keep doing this until you have the same number of knots as members in the team. The goal for the team is to pass the carabiner from the first person to the last person as fast as possible down the rope by untying the knot in front of them (and not simply unclipping the carabiner). Have the same setup for the other team so they can compete.

Anchor cleaning contest. Who can clip in, sling in, deconstruct the anchor (in this case probably just take draws off)and tie back in the fastest?

Fastest time to get a rodeo clip.

Pullups with ice tools.

Even better - have a contest to see who can talk more crap on a certain style of climbing (making fun of sport-climbers, calling trad-climbers snobby, ripping beanies off of boulderers). Bonus points will be awarded for making fun of Boulder, Utah, rap-bolters, people who use daisy chains for personal anchors, using the term "rockn00b.com", and yelling at anyone who asks what cams they should buy. Yarp will be excluded as he will win without trying.