Climbing ambitions

As a freshman here at WVU, I took up rock climbing as a hobby. Of course this was part of the reason why I came to West Virginia, there are rocks to be climbed all over the state! It is worth mentioning how fortunate we are to be living in Morgantown, so close to Coopers Rock- unoffically some of the best bouldering in the East!

Not everyday is one capable of climbing outside, so for those rainy and busy days I decided to build my own wall. Now it is nothing like real rock, in fact it is made of wood and has plastic grips all over the climbing surface. It does serve an essential purpose- and that is to train! Granted it does not improve my technique like climbing outside does, but it does increase my core strength! (http://www.climbing.com/print/techtips/ttsport236/) This gentleman Eric Horst has been climbing for many many years and as turned it into a science. Any good climber will tell you that there is no subsitute for climbing to train for climbing.

At my previous residence, the garage was situated perfect for a STEEP (60 degree) wall to climb on:

There was a steel beam stretching across the garage and the climbing wall could easily just sit on it. I had that wall for about a year and a half until I left for Austria in early February 2008. Now that I am back in Morgantown for my final semester, with lots of time on my hands, I thought it would only be approriate to build a new wall!

This wall took a bit more engineering and it is not near as high, wide or cool as my old wall, but it serves it's utilitarian purpose. If I could change anything though, it would be to make it steeper. It was actually difficult to put in my room due to it's size. However, it is fun to roll out of bed and onto the climbing wall or vice versa (-: Perhaps one day when I finally settle down, a new wall will grace my residence (perhaps not right in my bedroom (-; ).