Climbing Reaches New Heights

By Molly Knight
Sun Staff
Originally published September 18, 2003

Interest in rock climbing has risen steadily over the past five years. Last year, more than 7.2 million Americans tried the sport, according to American Sports Data Inc., a New York fitness research firm, up from 4.7 million in 1998.

As a result, demand for climbing facilities has grown, with stores and schools and colleges across the country installing artificial walls.

"Climbing is the thing," said Ned Britt, director of Towson's campus recreation services. "It's all about the coordination of the mind and body. And when they climb, students always have something to reach for."

Once considered an alternative feature in university athletic facilities, climbing walls are fast becoming the standard. In the race to build the best and the biggest fitness centers, many universities are installing walls worthy of expert climbers. After Baylor University in Waco, Texas, boasted of what it called the highest indoor climbing wall at 52 feet, Texas Tech University in Lubbock built a 53-foot wall.

But university staffers say the walls act as much more than status symbols.

"Some people look at a university as a place for academic learning only, but there's also life learning here," said Bill Schnirel, Towson University's assistant director of adventure pursuits and sport clubs. "Here on the wall, they learn to trust themselves and their climbing partners. They learn to take chances. And they learn to communicate."

To climb one of the walls, students work with a partner trained in "belaying" -- or safeguarding -- the climber by pulling on a rope attached to his or her harness. Made to support more than 7,000 pounds, the harness is hooked to a safety rope that runs through a pulleylike device fixed at the top of the climb.

"I've met a lot of people here," said April Camlin, a junior studying art education. "Everyone is really friendly and if you come here often, you get to know people."
Belayed by Tara Goldstein, a friend from a climbing class, Camlin sweats and gasps as she struggles to climb to the top using one of the more difficult routes.

Paths are reset every two weeks by a trained "route setter," who uses a wrench to move the holds. Each route is designated with a difficulty rating based on the Yosemite Decimal System, with a rating of 5.00 as the easiest climb, and 5.14 as the most advanced. The more difficult the climb, the tougher the workout.

"I hate conventional workouts like running on the treadmill," said Patrick Schweizer, 25, a junior studying software engineering. "When you climb, your body is sometimes fully flexed for three or four minutes. It's amazing exercise -- something I just don't get when I run."

Schweizer said climbing has the added benefit of relieving stress. "It's a really good way to clear your head and get some aggression out. You see the next spot and all you think about just getting to that point," he said.

Handpainted with cracks, water stains and shadows to look like a real ridge, the walls are designed to help students prepare for outdoor climbs on more challenging rock faces.

Senior Matt Schultz, 23, said that after practicing at the climbing center, he was able to overcome his fear of heights and successfully climb outdoors.
"A lot of this is mind over matter," said Schultz. "You learn how to ignore the fact that you're on a rope hanging that high."

When the walls are busiest in the late afternoon after classes let out, students can be seen dangling -- their limbs moving like a well-choreographed family of spiders -- through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the climbing center off York Road. When darkness falls, lights illuminate the wall, giving it the appearance of an abstract sculpture.

Camlin, who visits the climbing center at least twice a week, said the walls are a place where she can leave her worries behind.
"You get really focused when you climb, and, well, nothing else really matters," she said.

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