YOUNG ROCK STARS

Eleven-year-old Mike Durkin of Hood River hastily scrambled up arock wall as a small audience surrounded him at the base of the crag.One of his feet unexpectedly slipped free of a tiny crevice, and hedangled 25 feet above from a climbing rope. Only for a momentthough. The agile climber swiftly regained his grasp on the boulderand continued to the top, unshaken.

Durkin was one of 16 area climbers who learned the basics ofscaling rocks at Horsethief Butte in temperatures nearing 100 degreesThursday.

The clinic was part of the annual Timberland Gorge Games from July11 through Saturday at various locations in and around Hood River.

A hearty "Climbing!" followed by "Climb on!" was shouted overand over throughout the day as first- and second-time climberscommunicated with the ropes crew, also known as belayers, below them.

The talk between the climber to the belayer is one of the mostimportant safety measures taken in rock climbing, according to clinicguide Emily Kohner.

From the ground, Kohner verbally led the group through theirclimbs, sometimes letting the climber figure out the best holds forthemselves and often pointing out better crags she could see from hervantage point.

"You're missing a foothold," she shouted upward to Durkin.

Once the climber rearranged his routing, she sent encouragingwords his way.

"Good, now that one's gonna really get you up there."

Kohner, who operates her own outfitting company and is a 14-yearclimbing veteran, taught an introduction to safe belaying, knot tyingand climber's technique on Horsethief Butte's walls.

The heat didn't damper the spirits of 14-year-old Christy Mercerof The Dalles, who started to shake halfway up the wall. Mercer saidher motivation to continue was to be able to go home and say she'dfinished the climb.

"You just don't want to give up," Christy said. "You see otherpeople climb the same wall, and you think, 'I can do this.' "

Kohner refers to the rock as a classic beginner climbing area.

"But, it is also a sensitive cultural area," she points out.

Horsethief State Park is about 80 miles east of Vancouver offInterstate 84 in Oregon.

The 340-acre park lies on the shore of the Columbia River andHorsethief Lake and boasts some of the oldest petroglyphs in theNorthwest. The area was a Native American campground for centuries,with the Wisham, Cloud and Lishkam tribes fishing with nets and sparsbetween The Dalles and Celio Falls. In the early 1950s, powersurveyors gave the present name to the canyon, which to them had theappearance of a movie hideout for horse thieves.

On the way up to the popular climbing butte, Kohner tenderlyreminds one of her young students to stay on the established trail,and once inside the climb area she stops to point out one of the manyfaint petroglyphs left on the walls.

Many of the climbers participating in the clinic were from HoodRiver and The Dalles, and were actively taking advantage of all theopportunities that the Gorge Games provided them with this week.

"There's not much that you can't do in Hood River," Kohnerobserved.

Mandy McCleary, 14, of The Dalles gave up participating in theGames' competitive swim races to try her hand at rock climbingThursday. And Portland teacher Chris Rianda scheduled his rock climbin between mountain biking and kayaking trips.

Back at the Games' event headquarters at the Columbia River Gorgesail park in Hood River, Kohner has had a climbing wall and booth setup all week. The booth has been one of the most popular activitiesduring the games every year.

"The games really introduce a lot of people to the sport," shesaid.

Today kids can practice free climbing on the wall through 4 p.m.anyone can learn and practice the basics of rock climbing. From 4 to7 p.m. the wall will be open for free-climbing for $5.

Kohner said the wall will feature a competition for ages"motivated and up" starting at 9 a.m. Saturday.

GORGE GAME FACTS

ABOUT HORSETHIEF STATE PARK

ATTRACTIONS: The well known petroglyph "She Who Watches" and othersignificant Native American Cultural resources are located at thepark. The petroglyph access is available only by guided tour, 10a.m. Fridays and Saturdays, April through October. Reservations forthe guided tours must be requested in advance through the park rangerat (509) 767-1159.

FACILITIES: Twelve campsites for tents or self contained RV's upto 30-ft long, 35 picnic sites, 2 primitive tent sites, 2 boatlaunches and trailer dumpsite

Activities: Boating, camping, fishing, hiking, picnicking, rockclimbing and wind surfing. Only non-powered boats are permitted andfishing is for trout and bass. Boat launching facilities are locatedon the lake and the river.

GORGE HISTORY (provided by Adventure Out)

* The Columbia River Gorge was formed by a series of catastrophicfloods occurring when ice dams holding back huge lakes in ancientIdaho and Montana burst.

* Much of the rock around Hood River is Columnar Basalt perfectfor lead climbing because of the consistent cracks to place gear in.

* Beacon Rock, located on the Washington side, is over 800 feethigh and offers a diversity of difficulty levels. The rock is avolcanic plug all that is left behind of a much larger volcano.

YOUNG ROCK STARS

Eleven-year-old Mike Durkin of Hood River hastily scrambled up arock wall as a small audience surrounded him at the base of the crag.One of his feet unexpectedly slipped free of a tiny crevice, and hedangled 25 feet above from a climbing rope. Only for a momentthough. The agile climber swiftly regained his grasp on the boulderand continued to the top, unshaken.

Durkin was one of 16 area climbers who learned the basics ofscaling rocks at Horsethief Butte in temperatures nearing 100 degreesThursday.

The clinic was part of the annual Timberland Gorge Games from July11 through Saturday at various locations in and around Hood River.

A hearty "Climbing!" followed by "Climb on!" was shouted overand over throughout the day as first- and second-time climberscommunicated with the ropes crew, also known as belayers, below them.

The talk between the climber to the belayer is one of the mostimportant safety measures taken in rock climbing, according to clinicguide Emily Kohner.

From the ground, Kohner verbally led the group through theirclimbs, sometimes letting the climber figure out the best holds forthemselves and often pointing out better crags she could see from hervantage point.

"You're missing a foothold," she shouted upward to Durkin.

Once the climber rearranged his routing, she sent encouragingwords his way.

"Good, now that one's gonna really get you up there."

Kohner, who operates her own outfitting company and is a 14-yearclimbing veteran, taught an introduction to safe belaying, knot tyingand climber's technique on Horsethief Butte's walls.

The heat didn't damper the spirits of 14-year-old Christy Mercerof The Dalles, who started to shake halfway up the wall. Mercer saidher motivation to continue was to be able to go home and say she'dfinished the climb.

"You just don't want to give up," Christy said. "You see otherpeople climb the same wall, and you think, 'I can do this.' "

Kohner refers to the rock as a classic beginner climbing area.

"But, it is also a sensitive cultural area," she points out.

Horsethief State Park is about 80 miles east of Vancouver offInterstate 84 in Oregon.

The 340-acre park lies on the shore of the Columbia River andHorsethief Lake and boasts some of the oldest petroglyphs in theNorthwest. The area was a Native American campground for centuries,with the Wisham, Cloud and Lishkam tribes fishing with nets and sparsbetween The Dalles and Celio Falls. In the early 1950s, powersurveyors gave the present name to the canyon, which to them had theappearance of a movie hideout for horse thieves.

On the way up to the popular climbing butte, Kohner tenderlyreminds one of her young students to stay on the established trail,and once inside the climb area she stops to point out one of the manyfaint petroglyphs left on the walls.

Many of the climbers participating in the clinic were from HoodRiver and The Dalles, and were actively taking advantage of all theopportunities that the Gorge Games provided them with this week.

"There's not much that you can't do in Hood River," Kohnerobserved.

Mandy McCleary, 14, of The Dalles gave up participating in theGames' competitive swim races to try her hand at rock climbingThursday. And Portland teacher Chris Rianda scheduled his rock climbin between mountain biking and kayaking trips.

Back at the Games' event headquarters at the Columbia River Gorgesail park in Hood River, Kohner has had a climbing wall and booth setup all week. The booth has been one of the most popular activitiesduring the games every year.

"The games really introduce a lot of people to the sport," shesaid.

Today kids can practice free climbing on the wall through 4 p.m.anyone can learn and practice the basics of rock climbing. From 4 to7 p.m. the wall will be open for free-climbing for $5.

Kohner said the wall will feature a competition for ages"motivated and up" starting at 9 a.m. Saturday.

GORGE GAME FACTS

ABOUT HORSETHIEF STATE PARK

ATTRACTIONS: The well known petroglyph "She Who Watches" and othersignificant Native American Cultural resources are located at thepark. The petroglyph access is available only by guided tour, 10a.m. Fridays and Saturdays, April through October. Reservations forthe guided tours must be requested in advance through the park rangerat (509) 767-1159.

FACILITIES: Twelve campsites for tents or self contained RV's upto 30-ft long, 35 picnic sites, 2 primitive tent sites, 2 boatlaunches and trailer dumpsite

Activities: Boating, camping, fishing, hiking, picnicking, rockclimbing and wind surfing. Only non-powered boats are permitted andfishing is for trout and bass. Boat launching facilities are locatedon the lake and the river.

GORGE HISTORY (provided by Adventure Out)

* The Columbia River Gorge was formed by a series of catastrophicfloods occurring when ice dams holding back huge lakes in ancientIdaho and Montana burst.

* Much of the rock around Hood River is Columnar Basalt perfectfor lead climbing because of the consistent cracks to place gear in.

* Beacon Rock, located on the Washington side, is over 800 feethigh and offers a diversity of difficulty levels. The rock is avolcanic plug all that is left behind of a much larger volcano.