500 students turn out for wall-racing's student "wall familiarization" day

The student federation set up this public practice ahead of the September 5 opening of the autumn qualifiers, aiming to give first-time climbers a minimum feel for the wall. Of the 187 schools entered this season, 62 are competing for the first time. This is the first season the federation has made a safety orientation of this scale mandatory.

The session emphasized descent over ascent. Trial climbs were capped at the third tier, with referees stopping anyone who attempted to go higher. "What first-time schools need to learn first isn't how to get to the top," a federation official explained. "It's how to stop, and how to come down." Students repeatedly practiced descending by multiple routes, with double-checked safety lines and a firm rule against climbing on a wet wall. There were several slips, all arrested by the safety line, with no injuries.

Among the 62 first-time schools, Municipal Edagawa High School fields just nine club members in only its second year of existence. Its practice site is the wall at the old Shinonome floodgate, lower and narrower than a competition wall, and nighttime restrictions in the area force the club to wrap up practice before sunset. Its faculty advisor is a 41-year-old math teacher with no competitive climbing background. "We know we can't match other schools on practice volume," he said. "That's exactly why a chance like today, on a wide wall, to learn the right way to come down — that mattered."

One club member, 16, recalled: "The first time I stood on a wide wall and looked down, my legs locked up. But today's biggest takeaway was that as long as you know how to come down, it isn't scary." Edagawa opens its autumn qualifier on the 5th against Toyosu Technical, last autumn's runner-up and a heavy favorite.

Toyosu's 17-year-old captain said: "Edagawa's name has come up all over the place this season. Nobody in our club is looking down on them just because they're small." Toyosu, last autumn's runner-up, says it isn't taking a smaller school lightly in the opener. The federation's decision to make safety orientation mandatory follows a rise in minor slips and near-misses reported at walls in recent years. "We wanted to act before something serious happened, not after," an official said.

In the professional league, Tokei RC finished Round 19 in first place with 44 points, six clear of second-place Naniwa WC on 38. Round 20 goes on the night of the 4th, away at rival Owari's home ground, Horikawa Wall — known as the "dry wall" for its long hours of sunlight, where Owari remains undefeated at home this season. It isn't a title showdown, but for Tokei RC it will be one of the toughest road trips of the year. Owari's coach struck a level tone ahead of facing the favorites: "We're undefeated at home less because we know the wall's quirks than because we've made a point of not leaning on that."

The student federation's autumn qualifiers run from the September 5 opener through the November final at Kameido Second Wall. It's unclear how many of the 500 students at today's session will advance, but a federation official said, "The kids who learned how to come down today will be the ones climbing next month. That's how it should work."