Planet Rock Heck is BACK!

12 Hours of Planet Rock Heck is an endurance rock climbing competition spread out over the course of 2 days at both gym locations. The competition is broken down into two separate 6 Hours of Planet Rock Heck events – the first 6 hours will be hosted at Planet Rock in Madison Heights, and the second 6 hours will be hosted at Planet Rock in Ann Arbor. Teams of two have the opportunity to choose between a 6 hour and 12 hour event.

The goal of Planet Rock Heck is to send as many routes humanly possible, CLEAN with no falls and no takes, over the course of one of both of the 6 Hour events.

THE RULES

TEAMS: Teams consist of two climbers. There are no “solo” climbers, or solo awards or solo anything. Team members will belay each other, no outside help with belaying. Teams will need to come up with a unique (and appropriate) name. If not, a default team name will be assigned by Planet Rock. Teams for the 12 Hour event MUST consist of the same two team members for both 6 Hour events, no substitutions allowed.

SCORING: Each team will keep track of its climbed routes and laps, via the honor system. To receive points, climbers MUST SEND every route with no FALLS, no HANGS, and no AID (from gear or belayers). If you fall or hang, you must be lowered to the ground immediately and either restart the route or move onto a different route. Team members do not have to climb the same routes, but each competitor will only get points for routes that they climb. Individual scores will be tallied as a team total.

POINTS: Points will vary for each route, depending on grade difficulty. The higher the grade, the more potential points available (i.e. 5.12 scores higher than 5.7). Climbers will also get more points for leading routes, vs top roping them (when both options are available). Top rope-only routes and lead-only routes will be scored evenly.

CHEATING: (Please don’t do this). Staff will be monitoring the gym for safety reasons. If for some reason or another we suspect anyone of cheating (or get reports of cheating from other competitors), Planet Rock reserves the right to disqualify teams. Disqualified teams will not be considered for awards.

WINNERS: There will be prizes for the winners of three categories: Advanced, Intermediate, and Recreational. Categories will be determined by final placements in each event.

LAPS: Climbers are permitted to do up to THREE laps on a route, but only if you do them without resting in between. If a rest is needed or required between laps, the next team waiting is permitted to jump ahead of you.

LINES: You are not technically “in line” for a route if you are currently climbing a different route. In other words, you cannot “reserve” routes in advance. The next team in line must be on the ground, ready to climb and belay.

HEADLAMPS REQUIRED: There will be roughly an hour of each comp that will be in the dark. Headlamps are required for both team members to climb during that period.

SPECTATORS: The gyms will be closed to public climbing. Spectators are welcome, but spectators cannot belay.

Planet Rock Heck Restrictions

• Age Limit: 16 years old
• Belay Certified: Both team members must be Top Rope and/or Lead certified by Planet Rock prior to registration
• Event Capacity: Each 6 Hour event is limited to 40 teams of 2

2023 Schedule of Events

• Sept 11th: Registration Opens via Google Forms
• Sept 24th: Last day to register + receive shirts on same day of event
• Oct 2nd: Planet Rock starts to collect registration fees
• Oct 8th: Registration Closes
• Oct 14th (6p-12a): 6 Hours of Heck – Madison Heights
• Oct 15th (6a-12p): 6 Hours of Heck – Ann Arbor

*detailed schedule of events is listed below