• Freshman Greg Padovani will be competing in a continental rock climbing competition this weekend in Montreal, Canada.
• He will be competing against some of the best climbers in North America.
• Padovani has been rock climbing for 10 years and this will be his biggest competition to date.

The long days and nights of studying, writing papers and completing projects that comprise finals week generally leave Marquette students feeling like they've hit the wall, but Greg Padovani is one student who will be an exception.

That's because Padovani will fly to Montreal, Canada early today where, rather than hitting a wall, the College of Arts & Sciences freshman will climb one. And according to Padovani, it will be the biggest climb of his life.

On Friday evening, Padovani will compete against some of the best 18- and 19-year-old rock climbers in the world when he climbs in the 2008 North American Climbing Championship as one of eight members of the U.S. climbing team.

Padovani said he qualified for the competition by performing well and advancing in a series of smaller competitions at the local, regional, divisional and national levels.

Dave Hudson, Pavoni's full-time coach for the past three years, said this particular competition is a special event that only happens every two or three years.

Hudson said this competition is for climbers who didn't finish in the top four at the national tournament — and thus didn't advance to the world competition — but still placed in the top ten.

"It provides an extra pass for the winner to advance to compete at the world level," Hudson said. "So the only thing that matters at this tournament is winning, and you only get one shot at it."

It's a common misconception that competitive rock climbing is based on speed. Speed and time rarely matter in climbing competitions, Padovani said.

"In big competitions like this, the type of climbing we do is based on difficulty, so you're judged based on how high you can climb a wall that is really hard to climb," Padovani said.

He said that is the reason rock climbing competitions use artificial sets, which allow designers to build walls for different skill levels. They also ensure that all climbers are competing on a level playing field by making it impossible for any climber to be familiar with a certain wall or route.

"You never climb the same route twice," Padovani said. "And you never know what the wall will look like until you start to climb it."

Hudson also said competitions are made more difficult since climbers only get one chance to climb a particular wall.

"Rock climbing is like gymnastics in the sense that you only get one opportunity to perform a routine, but in rock climbing you can't have a routine," Hudson said. "It's like spontaneous gymnastics."

Padovani said he started rock climbing at the age of nine, and by the time he was 12, he became a good performer in competitions. When he was 14, Padovani developed osteochondritis dissecans, a painful condition that developed from climbing. It caused the growth plates in his elbows to deteriorate, forcing him to stop climbing for a year.

Today, Padovani trains at a climbing gym in Pewaukee six days a week, using 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hour workout routines devised by Hudson.

"I don't know how he balances his climbing with school," said Jeff Parker, a long-time friend and sophomore in the College of Nursing.

Parker has recreationally climbed with Padovani for the past six years and says he has never come close to beating him.

"He's disgustingly good. Watching him is kind of amazing — it's unreal what he does," Parker said. "Greg is a very steady climber. He rarely takes breaks and he has great technique."

Hudson said that in his 18 years of coaching, he's never seen climbers as determined or focused as Padovani.

"This weekend he just needs to believe in all the training he's done, and all the hard work he's put in," Hudson said. "If he places in the top ten he should be happy, but top five should be his goal. If he wins, that would be amazing."