Climbing the walls

Outing Club seeks student, administrative support for indoor rock-climbing wall in Intramural Building

Members of the Outing Club are preparing to scale new heights come this fall.

The club is seeking endorsements from student organizations to support the construction of an indoor rock-climbing wall in the Intramural Building.

"We are 99.9 percent ready but we need student support for this to happen," said Cyndy Kline, program director of the Outing Club.

According to club specifications, the wall will be 54 feet by 30 feet and will feature different types of surfaces such as overhangs, ledges and chimneys to vary climbing experience. The wall will be painted with a textured paint to give the structure a natural, rock-like feel.

If all goes well, construction should begin in August and the wall will be ready for use by Fall Semester, Kline said.

The wall will be covered by a curtain when not in use and will not interfere with the IM Building's indoor basketball courts, Kline said.

The only existing indoor climbing wall in the area is located in the State College Area Family YMCA, 677 W. Whitehall Road.

The IM Building's new wall should allow more community members to use the one at the YMCA, said Adrianne Dorenkott, program director of the YMCA.

"It will give the Outing Club an opportunity to teach many of its programs on campus," Herman Pontzer (freshman-anthropology) said. Even though students have used the YMCA for several years, the new wall will be larger and allow for more training hours, said Pontzer, the club's rock-climbing coordinator.

"It's a matter of size and availability," he said.

Veteran climbers like Katie Cavicchio are looking forward to the new wall.

"It think it will be very convenient for the training area to be nearby," said Cavicchio (sophomore-English and women's studies). "Your whole body communicates with itself . . . it's almost spiritual in a way."