Rec Sports 'Climbs' Into Summer

Among the summer activities planned through the Department of Recreational Sports is Vertical Happy Hour, where students, faculty and staff can scale the 34-foot rock-climbing wall for free on Thursday evenings.

If rock climbing, mountain biking or tubing down the river sound like ideal ways to spend time this summer, the Department of Recreational Sports and Outdoor Recreation has a variety of activities and trips lined up to keep SHSU students, faculty and staff active and entertained, all for a low cost.

“Part of our mission here in Outdoor Recreation is to give people the chance to live the life less ordinary, to provide them with activities that they won’t get to do sitting around playing their Nintendos, at home on the couch or at work,” said Stephen Thompson, Rec Sports assistant director for Outdoor Recreation.

Every Thursday while school is in session, the department hosts Rec Sports Vertical Happy Hour from 6-8 p.m.

During this time, the normal fees associated with the 34-foot rock-climbing wall are waived for participants, according to Thompson.

Potential climbers do not have to have climbing experience to take part in the happy hour.

“We’re all born climbers; we all climbed trees as kids,” Thompson said.

The event will not only expose the university community to the new climbing wall but will hopefully get people interested in climbing as an activity, Thompson said.

“It’s also a great way to learn about yourself,” he said. “You’d be surprised when people stand at the bottom of the climbing wall and look up (and think), “there’s no way I can do this,” how different they feel about themselves when they come down realizing that they actually can.”

If you would rather learn about the techniques involved in rock climbing before taking a stab at happy hour, the department will also host a variety of clinics teaching climbing movements throughout the summer.

Top-rope belay clinics, which teach the technique of using the rope to support someone else as they climb, will be held June 5, June 12, July 10, July 17, Aug. 21, Aug. 23 and Aug. 28, from 4-5 p.m. each time.

Lead climb clinics, which teach the technique of setting your own protection as you climb the wall and is considered more advanced climbing, will be held June 21 and July 24, from 4-6 p.m.

Finally, a climbing movement workshop will be held on July 22, from 3-5 p.m.

All climbing clinics are $5, are held at the wall in the Health and Kinesiology Center and provide a one-year certification pending the passing of a skills test at the end of the session.

Certification is required for those who want to climb above the “bouldering” level during open climb hours, which are Sunday through Friday from 6-8 p.m. and Saturday from 3-5 p.m.

If hitting the dusty trail on a bike is more your speed, Outdoor Recreation will give you the opportunity to do just that with a mountain biking trip to the Huntsville State Park on June 24.

“We’ll be following the trails around Huntsville State Park,” Thompson said. “If you’ve never ridden (a mountain bike) before, that’s OK; the trail out there is pretty benign.”

The cost of the trip is $5, which includes a bike, if you don’t own one; transportation to the park; refreshments; and safety gear.

The sign-up deadline is June 14, with a pre-trip meeting on June 21 at 7 p.m.

Finally, Outdoor Recreation will give students, faculty and staff a weekend of floating down the river with an overnight tubing trip July 15-16.

Participants will camp and tube around either the San Marcos River or the Guadalupe River, in San Marcos, Thompson said.

The cost for the trip is $20, and the sign-up deadline is June 28.

Space is limited for both trips, and participants will be allowed on a first-come, first-served basis.
Those interested may sign up at the Climbing Wall desk in the HKC, which also serves as the outdoor operation center, according to Thompson.

“College is a great place to take advantage of these kinds of things because once you get out into the working world, you don’t know if you are ever going to have this opportunity again, especially for these prices, so this is the chance for the students, faculty or whoever to step out of their comfort zones and live the life less ordinary,” he said.

For more information, call 936.294.3656 or e-mail sthompson@shsu.edu.

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SHSU Media Contact: Jennifer Gauntt
June 2, 2006
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