Rock climbing to victory

At the southeastern corner of campus, inside the football stadium, students gather in the afternoons to push the limits of their minds and bodies 32 feet off the ground.

The Outdoor Action climbing wall, the only on-campus climbing option, is open for two hours every day except for Sunday. The wall is open to students, faculty, and University staff, but climbers who become certified to belay others can climb with friends without depending on the climbing staff.

In addition to its ordinary afternoon hours, the wall runs “Thursday Night Climbing,” sponsored by the Alcohol Initiative. This program, which began in February, opens climbing to students late at night. The festive atmosphere, which includes music and free pizza and soda, tends to draw a large crowd. With up to 80 students at these events, all of the free harnesses and shoes are put to use.

Lenka Ilcisin ’12 began climbing at the wall her freshman year, and said, “It was where I found a group of people that I wanted to hang out with.” She is now one of the 26 wall staff members. During climbing hours, the staff helps with belaying and climbing advice, checks people in and certifies other students to belay.

Their work doesn’t end when the wall is closed, however. During off-hours, they work on setting new climbing routes. A single wall section can have several routes, which are designated by different colors of tape placed next to each hold or grip. While attaching the holds to the wall is fairly simple, Ilcisin explains, it takes several hours to create a good route. The process involves trying out different moves and making sure that the route will provide interesting challenges to different levels of climbers.

Beginning climbers can enroll in the “Introduction to Rock Climbing” course, which covers essential skills and techniques of rock climbing. Many people claim they can’t rock climb because they lack upper body strength, but, as Ilcisin explains, “You use your arms to hold you to the wall and your legs to get you up the wall.”

Kristie Schott ’14, a climbing wall regular, said she had climbed before coming to Princeton but had never really had the opportunity to go all the time. She started to go to the wall with other freshmen from her Outdoor Action trip, and kept returning because she found the community welcoming and supportive.

“One of the great things about climbing is that it’s really open to all different levels of people,” Schott said. The wall has a variety of routes that are rated according to difficulty. More advanced climbers can challenge themselves with complex routes, such as those that require climbing from under an overhang, while the most basic beginners can choose to ignore the routes completely and simply use every hold available.

Many students involved cited the tight-knit and welcoming nature of the climbing community. These climbers also give back to the wider community through a service program called Peak Potential. This program allows children aged from 7 to 13 with physical disabilities to gain confidence and enjoyment climbing the wall. For some kids, this means just getting off the ground; for others it means racing to grab a stuffed animal from the top of the wall. According to Kristie, “Everyone’s really encouraging of the kids, and they’re really cute.” Volunteers belay, climb alongside the children and offer advice, support and fun.

This year, OA ran six frosh trips that included a climbing component. The wall staff worked on these trips, teaching freshmen how to climb and belay at outdoor sites. OA also tries to run outdoor day trips during the year, Ilcisin explained. Unfortunately, she said, students who sign up for these trips sometimes don’t show up. This leads to the trips being cancelled because they are not cost-effective with fewer students.

In addition, OA runs primarily top-rope climbing. This type of climbing, which is the kind practiced at the indoor climbing wall, requires an anchor at the top of the wall. Because many outdoor locations lack this sort of anchor, this has limited the locations to which OA led trips.

Last semester, however, OA started a new lead-climbing policy. In this type of climbing, the rope is attached to the climber and to points along the wall with “quick draws” which consist of two non-locking carabiners attached together. This method means that the climber will fall at least twice as far but allows them to climb outside in more interesting locations. OA started a small program for wall staff to test out techniques and protocol and plans to start lead-climbing classes for the general student body soon. Eventually, this practice would allow OA to lead outdoor trips to more places.

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The Princeton University Mountain Club already runs frequent off-campus climbing trips. Members of this club focus on outdoor climbing, and every weekend there is at least one trip. Most frequently these are to The Gunks, a climbing area in New York state. During the winter, the club runs ice-climbing trips through the Catskills. It also runs weekly Wednesday night trips to a gym called Rockville, where routes set by high-level climbers offer a challenging indoor climbing experience.

Gene Merewether ’13 says he was frustrated by OA’s lack of outdoor climbing expeditions after his pre-orientation trip. He became involved with PUMC, and is now the organization’s social chair. Through the organization, he has learned to ice climb — he recently set his first ice lead — and participated in outdoor climbing and bouldering.

The small trips can range from one to 20 people; climbers use members’ cars for transportation and split the price of gas. Many members have extensive climbing equipment that they are usually willing to share with newcomers.

PUMC also has an informal teaching component. In casual clinics run by various members, including Alex Washburne GS, less-experienced climbers can learn the technical aspects of setting leads and holds, how to use different pieces of equipment or how to ice climb. These clinics tend to focus on the technical aspects unique to outdoor climbing rather than on the basic aspects of how to rock climb.

Climbers from both groups are currently working on a new project: an indoor bouldering wall in Dillon Gymnasium. The location of the wall would make it more accessible to all students, and it would have much longer operating hours because it would not require the presence of wall staff. Once completed, this project would allow even more Princeton students to become involved in the vibrant campus climbing community.