Climbing enthusiasts at the University will soon be reaching new heights, thanks to an extensive addition coming soon to the indoor climbing wall at the Student Recreation Center.
The old climbing wall will be resurfaced and a new section of wall will be added next to it. The largest addition will be a 12-foot-high boulder, complete with a cave-like arch. The installation will begin this Friday and is slated to be completed on Jan. 15.
“We’ll basically double the size of the climbing space,” Associate Director of Facilities for Physical Education and Recreation Bryan Haunert said.
The addition is in response to the heavy use of the climbing wall. Rock wall manager Daniel Crowe called the climbing space “one of the most popular parts of the rec center.”
“It’s to the point where we’ve outgrown ourselves,” he said. “The way we built this program, we don’t have any more room or ability to teach beyond a very simple kind of climbing.”
Besides more space, the new wall will add more challenges for advanced climbers, such as overhangs, hand-cracks and lead climbing. However, the boulder will also give students plenty of space to practice bouldering — a simpler form of climbing that doesn’t require ropes or long, long drops.
“It’s the newest form of climbing, and it’s been really popular over the past decade,” Crowe said. “All you really need is a pair of shoes. People like the purity of it.”
In fact, climbers like bouldering so much that they’ve worn down the wall on the lower levels of the current wall.
“There’s so much traffic in such a small space that (climbers) have worn out the plaster and almost the plywood underneath,” Crowe said. “It’s been really tough to maintain, so it will be nice to have a more resilient surface there.”
Director of Physical Education and Recreation Dennis Munroe said the cost of the expansion is a little more than $270,000. For the past few years, the rec center was experiencing large revenue problems, but Munroe said higher enrollment, as well as a good bidding climate, helped make the project a reality.
“Those revenue problems are now behind us, and we’re on a stable, solid footing,” Munroe said. “We’ve been reserving for a number of years for this project, and we were finally able to do it.”
Haunert said P.E. classes will be added for bouldering, a first for the rec center.
The new wall will also give the rec center the opportunity to host nationally-sanctioned climbing competitions, which Crowe said would bring in “a pretty substantial group of climbers” to the center.
“With the new facility, I could see us hosting competitions at least to the regional level,” he said.
“The students are really excited and looking forward to it,” Crowe said.
Annaleigh Boggess, one of the rock wall staff members, is one of those students.
“It will be fun,” she said. “There will be a lot more variety for beginners and advanced climbers.”
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