Behold the awesome face of raw power! (Hint: it’s the one in the middle, though it turns out the others are far from shabby as well.) Don’t let the curled tongue and what you would immediately recognize as impeccably sweet manners fool you — Brooke Raboutou is as bad to the bone as any Harley-driving ex-con. That is, once she touches rock. This sweet and (let’s say it…) ever so not-slightly geeky girl is the youngest person ever to climb the prestigious rock climbing grade of 5.14b. But let’s take a step back: Brooke climbs 5.14b not simply because of mutant tendons stuffed into an unassuming frame, but because of her problem solving skills. We saw her at ABC Climbing Gym in Boulder, CO, last week sneakily pinch a hold between her feet to free an arm for movement. And when she came down, she encouraged my 6yo, Leif, as if Brooke were deeply, personally invested in his success — she is a very kind girl.
Want to see Brooke in action? You can live stream her at the American Bouldering Series Youth National Championships March 1-3. My family and I stayed up waaay too late on Saturday night watching the ABS adult competition and it was a surprisingly intellectual experience — some of the stronger competitors fell off less physical climbs because they hadn’t solved the complex sequence of moves need to smush their bodies Gumby-style to the top. It turns out the sport is as much brains as brawn in which competitors solve their way to the top.
Here’s your chance to think like Brooke.
The grid far below shows a pattern of climbing holds, starting from the “VV” in the bottom row and extending to the “> <” is hold that you can grab with your right hand — for the purpose of this puzzle, ONLY with your right hand. Likewise, “>” is a hold that can be grabbed only with the left hand. A “V” is a bucket that can be grabbed with one or the other hand and a “^” is an undercling that can be also be grabbed with one or the other hand. When there is more than one symbol in a box, both or either can be used. Now, from these holds you can reach only certain directions and so the trick, like a maze, is to piece together the sequence of moves that will get you from the bottom to the top using only legal moves. The four following grids show the “next” boxes to which each kind of hold allows access. (So when you grab a > with your left hand, you can then reach to another hold out right two boxes in the same row or up a row.)
There are a couple extra rules:
• You may not reach up to grab an undercling (^), and instead may only grab one once you have already reached a hold in the same row. Think about it: you can’t reach far above your head to grab something that points down.
• If you have grabbed a hold, you must reach for the next hold with your opposite hand — no going from an < to another < to V with your right hand! (Only the cells with double symbols allow you to then continue with either hand.)
• You have two “dynos” available — dynamic moves in which you leap from the wall to the next hold. A dyno allows you access to one additional cell in any direction, but otherwise follows the rules of handedness and direction. Use your dynos wisely because they’re vicious on the forearms.
• Note that from the first hold (VV), you could conceivable move your right hand up and left to the next V. This is called a crossover and while it’s a counterintuitive way to move, it’s perfectly possible in life and legal in this puzzle.
And now without further ado… Oh wait, one more item of ado: submit your solution to Geekdad Central by Friday afternoon for your chance at this week’s $50 ThinkGeek gift certificate! And now here’s the puzzle:
