Climbing the walls at COP Meade

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Robert Jordan | Spc. Daniel Mahadeen, of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 113th Field Artillery hangs on a rock climbing wall built by Soldiers at Combat Outpost Meade in Iraq, Oct. 19.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

10.23.2009

Story by Staff Sgt. Robert Jordan    

30th Armored Brigade Combat Team

BAGHDAD, Iraq— Some Soldiers just hang around when off duty, while others feel like climbing the walls; Soldiers at Combat Outpost Meade, south of the city, do both.

Sgt. Derek Taussig, Sgt. Heath Alexander and Spc. Daniel Mahadeen, all of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 113th Field Artillery, built an outdoor rock climbing wall, here, for morale and exercise.

"We love to climb and a lot of people could use it. It's a community thing." said Alexander.
The three used plywood sheets and bolted artificial climbing rocks across the structure to create the 12 foot high by 45 foot wide wall. Camouflage netting shades the wall, situated between concrete blast barriers, inside the compound.

"Everyone joked that we were building a house," said Mahadeen Taussig, from Winston-Salem, N.C., who worked as a contractor before the deployment, had the building skills. Charlotte, N.C. natives, Alexander, an experienced climber, and Mahadeen, who worked as a climbing instructor, had the knowledge to plan a challenging wall. Their greatest obstacle to overcome was getting the materials for the wall and the time in which to build it.

"We collected wood here and after a supply run to other [forward operating bases] we would bring back more," said Sgt. Jose Ramirez, one of the first climbers to use the wall.

The Soldiers scrounged for the tools, wood and other essential building materials for two months. All that was missing now was the rocks.

"Chaplain Thomas Watson's home church helped out covering the cost of the rocks," said Alexander. The rocks were shipped by a climbing supply company at cost.

"When the rocks arrived it was like Christmas," said Ramirez.

Several nights of off duty labor, sometimes lasting until 3 a.m., and the wall was finished.

"It was easier than it looked and worked out better than we thought it would," said Taussig.

Soon the builders were climbing every day and several other Soldiers wanted to learn how as well. "About 30 Soldiers have climbed," said Mahadeen. "Everyone loves it; you can exercise and have fun."

The rocks are color coded for different types of climbs. Easier climbs use large rocks and are generally straight up, while the harder levels have smaller rocks, and the path is at an angle. The harder climbing routes often find the climber hanging by their fingertips.

"Half an hour on the wall and your upper body is spent," said Ramirez.

"There is one path that is the most difficult," he said. The climber starts crouched on a 3 foot high section just off the ground as the rest of the wall angles backwards over the climber's head.

"It is named after the one who climbed it; 'Ramirez's Torment'."

• Date Taken: 10.23.2009
• Date Posted: 10.23.2009 00:30
• Story ID: 40530
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ