Adam Dailey began to make his way up the rock wall at Quarry Park on Saturday morning, anchoring himself to the rock with carabiners and ice tools. Dailey and Eric Enquist, both Duluth residents, were 30 minutes from finishing their challenge to spend 24 hours rock and ice climbing at Quarry Park in an effort to raise money for improvements at the West Duluth park. They raised about $4,000 while climbing from noon Friday until noon Saturday during the Duluth Ice and Mixed Fest at Quarry Park this weekend. "It was just something to challenge myself and my hometown crag. We climb here all the time, and it's just kinda like, hey, let's try this. I knew it would raise some interest, and the (Duluth) Climbers Coalition got behind it," Dailey explained afterward. With shouts of encouragement from their friends on the ground below on Saturday morning, Dailey reached a chunk of ice on the rock wall. One foot on rock and one foot on ice, he yelled "Yeehaw!" before he began climbing up the ice to reach the wall's top, where he yelled in celebration. He returned to the ground with 23 hours and 53 minutes left to go, and it was Enquist's turn to climb up the final route while Dailey belayed by keeping tension in the rope attached to Enquist. Their friends celebrated Enquist reaching the top of the wall and the completion of the challenge by setting off a small firework on the ground, its popping noise echoing off the quarry wall, and the crowd gathered for the climbing festival cheered for the completion of the challenge. Related content Dailey and Enquist climb frequently at Quarry Park, but it's for advanced climbers. The funding they raised during the challenge will go toward Quarry Park improvements that include an ice farming system to create ice climbing routes for beginners. "I've got a 9-year-old son that I would love to get into this, but I can't bring him out here and get him going," Dailey said. The "ups and downs" they felt during the 24 hours provided a challenge, Dailey said. "One of us would feel good, and the other one wasn't feeling good," he said. "We went one after the other, no matter if we didn't feel very good or not. At some parts of the night, your body didn't feel good, then some parts of the night, your brain didn't feel good, like, 'What are we doing?'" he said. But they knew what they were in for before they began the challenge, he said, joking, "No one likes a quitter." There were a few times when Enquist said he had to mentally push himself to continue because although it felt good to climb, his body felt like it wanted to shut down when he was standing on the ground belaying for Dailey. Enquist said he hit a low point physically when the sun came up, but he was feeling good after finishing the challenge. They had moonlight for about two hours before it became too cloudy to see the moon - or the sunrise on Saturday morning. The transition into climbing in the dark, using a headlamp, was also challenging, Enquist said. "It makes climbing slower. You've got to look down at your feet to see where you place your feet, then you've got to look up to shine your light on where you're going to place your next tool placement so you're in this bubble," he said. They were alone for a few hours on Friday evening evening and a few hours in the early morning on Saturday, with their friends returning to the park at about 4 a.m. Saturday, Dailey said. Between the two of them, they climbed up a total of 44 routes during the 24 hours. They tried to climb most of the routes at Quarry Park, but some of the routes weren't safe because of ice conditions, he said. "I'm pretty stoked that we were able to do it - just to do it, to say we did it, that it's done. It's pretty rad to get some money towards supporting this place," Enquist said.Adam Dailey began to make his way up the rock wall at Quarry Park on Saturday morning, anchoring himself to the rock with carabiners and ice tools.Dailey and Eric Enquist, both Duluth residents, were 30 minutes from finishing their challenge to spend 24 hours rock and ice climbing at Quarry Park in an effort to raise money for improvements at the West Duluth park. They raised about $4,000 while climbing from noon Friday until noon Saturday during the Duluth Ice and Mixed Fest at Quarry Park this weekend."It was just something to challenge myself and my hometown crag. We climb here all the time, and it's just kinda like, hey, let's try this. I knew it would raise some interest, and the (Duluth) Climbers Coalition got behind it," Dailey explained afterward.With shouts of encouragement from their friends on the ground below on Saturday morning, Dailey reached a chunk of ice on the rock wall. One foot on rock and one foot on ice, he yelled "Yeehaw!" before he began climbing up the ice to reach the wall's top, where he yelled in celebration.He returned to the ground with 23 hours and 53 minutes left to go, and it was Enquist's turn to climb up the final route while Dailey belayed by keeping tension in the rope attached to Enquist. Their friends celebrated Enquist reaching the top of the wall and the completion of the challenge by setting off a small firework on the ground, its popping noise echoing off the quarry wall, and the crowd gathered for the climbing festival cheered for the completion of the challenge. Related content Dailey and Enquist climb frequently at Quarry Park, but it's for advanced climbers. The funding they raised during the challenge will go toward Quarry Park improvements that include an ice farming system to create ice climbing routes for beginners."I've got a 9-year-old son that I would love to get into this, but I can't bring him out here and get him going," Dailey said.The "ups and downs" they felt during the 24 hours provided a challenge, Dailey said."One of us would feel good, and the other one wasn't feeling good," he said. "We went one after the other, no matter if we didn't feel very good or not. At some parts of the night, your body didn't feel good, then some parts of the night, your brain didn't feel good, like, 'What are we doing?'" he said.But they knew what they were in for before they began the challenge, he said, joking, "No one likes a quitter."There were a few times when Enquist said he had to mentally push himself to continue because although it felt good to climb, his body felt like it wanted to shut down when he was standing on the ground belaying for Dailey.Enquist said he hit a low point physically when the sun came up, but he was feeling good after finishing the challenge. They had moonlight for about two hours before it became too cloudy to see the moon - or the sunrise on Saturday morning. The transition into climbing in the dark, using a headlamp, was also challenging, Enquist said."It makes climbing slower. You've got to look down at your feet to see where you place your feet, then you've got to look up to shine your light on where you're going to place your next tool placement so you're in this bubble," he said.They were alone for a few hours on Friday evening evening and a few hours in the early morning on Saturday, with their friends returning to the park at about 4 a.m. Saturday, Dailey said.Between the two of them, they climbed up a total of 44 routes during the 24 hours. They tried to climb most of the routes at Quarry Park, but some of the routes weren't safe because of ice conditions, he said."I'm pretty stoked that we were able to do it - just to do it, to say we did it, that it's done. It's pretty rad to get some money towards supporting this place," Enquist said.
