To paraphrase a saying popular with a certain segment of the population: “Climb the wall! Climb the wall!”
A 75-year-old rock-climbing enthusiast is hosting an interesting climbing competition next weekend (Oct. 11-12) at Kentucky’s Red River Gorge.
Rick Weber, a founder of the Gorge-area rock climbing preserve Muir Valley, is celebrating Rocktoberfest by hosting the event, during which competitors will attempt to climb walls “dimensionally identical to the 18-foot version of the bollard wall (vertical steel square columns) now being erected along our southern border.” Participants will compete for trophies and other prizes.
In an article at rockandice.com, Weber says he was inspired by Donald Trump’s press conference at the border, during which he said the wall would be “impossible to climb.”
“The federal government tested the structure by having 20 skilled mountain climbers attempt to climb it, and no one could,” Trump said.
“No one in our climbing community knows any of these 20 mountaineers. I doubt if they exist,” Weber writes. “More importantly, to declare something to be impossible to climb to a bonafide rock climber is to issue a challenge.”
Weber has posted about the event on various rock-climbing sites and message boards and says “details to follow,” so keep an eye out, rock-climbing enthusiasts, if you want to put POTUS’s claims to the test.
Check out the article and a photo of Weber with a "wall" here.
