On Friday, Feb. 21, over 60 Skidmore students gathered at Rocksport Rock Gym in Queensbury for the first-ever Free Beginner Climb Night, sponsored by Skidmore’s Outing Club (SOC). Members of SOC, along with Rocksport employees, were available to help those new to the sport put on their harness, properly clip into the rope, descend from the wall, and more.
Attendees with their belay (the act of controlling the rope for the climber) certification, kindly belayed other climbers. Some brave attendees lost the rope and harness entirely to take on the Bouldering walls. Bouldering is a version of the sport where you climb without a rope or a harness, having to jump down from the top. Regardless of how many walls and which ones were climbed, laughs, smiles, and high energy filled the gym.
(Photos taken by Caroline Shea)
The Outing Club responded positively to the turn out saying, “We’re just super excited it was such a popular event — we counted 60+ Skidmore students — and we are hoping we get the ability to make this an annual thing. Additionally, we want to remind students that they get a discount climbing passes throughout the semester and always welcome new climbers to join on climbing nights with OC.”
Brian Correll ‘21, one of the organizers of the event, responded with a statement much similar, saying “The climbing community at Skidmore has been steadily growing, and having so many new climbers come to this event really showed how much more potential there is for continued growth. We hope that the passion sticks and we continue to see more people join us for weekly climbing nights at Rocksport.”
Although this will be the only completely free climbing event for a while, the Outing Club heads to Rocksport every Tuesday and Thursday night. Join the Skidmore Rock Climbing Facebook group to catch a ride and receive updates on future events.