Local SIGs: The Rocky Mountain Climbing Challenge

Report From CHI '95

Marian Williams

[DENVER, COLORADO, GB/SIGCHI Press]

On Thursday morning, May 11, somewhere near Denver, Colorado, "athletes" from three local SIGCHI chapters gathered for the 4th annual Local SIGs Challenge. This year's event was the Rocky Mountain Climbing Challenge. Teams were fielded by BayCHI, TorCHI, and GB/CHI (See Table 2).

Some of the competitors were veterans of the Pacific Ocean Stand-off (CHI '92 in Monterey), the Tug of War Across a Canal (INTERCHI '93 in Amsterdam), and the Swan Boats Across the Charles River Challenge (CHI '94 in Boston). Marilyn Mantei is credited with the inspiration for the annual challenge. Borysa Struck masterminded this year's event.

The Rocky Mountain Climbing Challenge (RMCC) required competitors to don climbing gear and begin an assault of a steep, troll-infested mountainside before breakfast (see Figure 1). All teams used a similar algorithm for executing the challenge (see Figure 2). Many volunteers turned out to help make the RMCC a success (see Table 1).

The Official Judge was the honorable Kate Ehrlich. Prizes were awarded in six categories: climbing style, climbing speed, troll avoidance, T-shirt quality, cleanliness, and (the most coveted award) other. The results are shown in Table 3.

The athletes had plenty to say about the experience of the Rocky Mountain Climbing Challenge: "My goal was to score more points." "It was the most juvenile thing I ever participated in." "We need a support group for trolls." "BAYCHI should stick to bake-offs." "We took it one hill at a time." "We're going to Disneyland." "<Gasp! Gasp!> It was brutal!" "I'm not clear on the metaphor involved here."

Said Carlos Maltzahn, the Neutral Troll, "I got suckered into it. It was great."

Members of all local SIGCHI chapters are invited to compete in next year's Vancouver Valley Vaulting Challenge at CHI '96.

Figure 1: The Rocky Mountain Climbing Challenge User Interface

The virtual mountain was the staircase from the ballroom level to the meeting room level of the Colorado Convention Center. Banisters divided the staircase into thirds. The middle third was the face of the mountain that the competitors had to climb.

PT = Partisan Troll; NT = Neutral Troll.

Figure 2: Algorithm for Successful Ascent of the Mountain.

For each teammember in team do:
  Run down to START position at bottom of mountain.
  Put on mountain-climbing harness.
  Begin climbing mountain.
  While climbing, evade or endure obstacles, including:
    Partisan Trolls, who assault climbers from other teams with water, boulders, and verbal abuse
    Neutral Troll, who assaults all climbers regardless of team
    Deep ravines and high precipices
  When the FINISH position at the top of the mountain is reached, hand off to next team-member, if any.

Table 1: The Volunteers

 The parts of         were played by 

The Partisan Trolls   Very partisan members of the various teams
Neutral Troll         Carlos Maltzahn from University of Colorado
                      at Boulder, who got the part by showing up to watch
The boulders          Hunks of white foam rubber.            
The deep ravines and  Orange rope laced across the mountain.
high precipices
Water                 Water

Table 2: The Teams

 SIGS      "Athletes"

BayCHI  David Rowley      
        Richard Anderson  
        Geoff Marshall    
        Christina Gibbs   
        Clark Streeter    
        Adam Brody        
        John Sherman      
        Don Patterson     
ToRCHI  Ferdie Poblete    
        Mark Chignell     
        Borysa Struk      
        William Hunt      
        Erika Reilly      
        Rhona Charron     
        Anne Patkau       
GB/CHI  Matt Belge        
        Marc Cajolet      
        Ron Perkins       
        Vivienne Begg

Figure 3: In case you didn't understand figure 1 either, here is a photograph of the User Interface in use

Figure 4: Partisan trolls in action, including application of water (played by itself)

Table 3: Rocky Mountain Climbing Challenge Prize Winners

     Award       Winner

Climbing Style   ToRCHI  
Climbing Speed   GB/CHI  
Troll Avoidance  BayCHI  
T-shirt Quality  ToRCHI  
Cleanliness      GB/CHI  
Other            BayCHI

About the Author

Marian G. Williams is Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where she does research on participatory software design and visual programming. She is ACM SIGCHI Vice Chair for Operations, and former Chair of Greater Boston SIGCHI.

Marian G. Williams
Computer Science Department
University of Massachusetts Lowell
One University Avenue
Lowell, MA 01854, USA

williams.chi@xerox.com

Photos by Anne Patkau

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Vol.27 No.4, October 1995
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