PSULV
Outdoor Club visits Reading Rock Climbing
by Ryan
Russell
On
Saturday, February 5th the PSULV outdoors club journeyed down
to Reading for some rock climbing. The group spent a 3 hour session
rock climbing and traversing through rope course challenges. The
challenges were set up based on strategy and required team work
in order to conquer.
The rope section included a 30ft ladder that spins every 3-4 feet,
a 2 person vertical rope challenge, and a repelling wall. Each
group experienced the different elements of difficulty presented
by the 3 rope challenges. The group agreed the hardest of all
the rope courses was the 2 person vertical challenge. The 2 person
vertical challenge required strategy tactics and trust in your
partner for the challenge.
The vertical challenge is a rope ladder with 5 levels to climb
vertically. There is 30 feet of gap in the 5 levels with varying
heights from a 4 foot gap up to a 6 foot gap. The challenge required
the group to cooperate because without cooperation it is almost
impossible to complete the challenge. Out of the 5 groups that
teamed up from PSULV only one group was able to conquer the challenge
Nam Lam and Maciej Tankiewicz. Nam state about the vertical challenge
“it was very difficult to climb the last 3 levels and I
was surprised we made it to the top.”
After the first hour of rope courses we spent the remaining 2
hours rock climbing. Reading Rocks boasts 6000 Sq. Ft. of climbing
surfaces. I was surprised to see how high you feel at the top
of a 32ft. wall. The rock climbing experience provided various
levels of difficulty from beginner to advance. One thing I recommend
when visiting is renting climbing shoes. The shoes have less excess
sole of the shoe which allows you to grip the rocks with more
ease. After 3 hours of climbing your body definitely feels the
burn from the work out.
The main reason for the Outdoors Club trip to Reading Rock climbing
was to try a new challenging sport. Out of the 9 of us only 1
had ever been rock climbing before so it was a new experience
for the group. The element of team support and the enjoyment of
self satisfaction was all one could think about after climbing
a 30ft wall and repelling down to the safety of the ground. It
was an amazing experience for the group and I recommend the Berks
Outdoors club try the climbing at Reading Rocks.
Contact information for Reading Rocks:
1115 Bern Road
Wyomissing, PA 19610 (610) 374-6007
email@readingrocks.com
