While many Louisianans may enjoy baseball or football as a physical activity, a smaller community of people enjoy a different sport — rock climbing.
Although rock climbing is a popular sport in other regions of the United States, in Baton Rouge there is somewhat a lack of interest in it.
“There’s not a big market here. Most people who do outdoor activities do hunting, fishing, etc.,” said Schaffer Robichaux, an English literature and Chinese and Asian studies senior who also works as the supervisor/lead at University Recreation’s climbing gym.
“It takes a huge amount of money [to open a climbing gym] and you don’t know if the demand is there,” he said.
But when students began showing interest in rock climbing, the University took action.
On Oct. 1, University Recreation opened its own rock gym from what used to be a racquetball court.
Scott Zimmerman, coordinator for outdoor recreation and special events at University Recreation, said the student response to the gym has been “really good.”
In March 2005, the gym had 276 visits, an amount that is consistent with the number of visits in January and February.
“We are trying to keep up with other SEC schools as well as nationally-ranked programs in providing a variety of recreational programs including outdoor recreation,” Zimmerman said.
While many students enjoy climbing on campus, there are some drawbacks such as limited size and training tools.
Arthur Molina, a biological sciences sophomore, noticed some of these limitations as a climber.
“Although the walls at the Rec are state-of-the-art, they lack other training tools like campusing,” he said.
Campusing is a training tool that some climbers use to strengthen their arms for climbing. But there just is not enough space for that at University Recreation’s small facility.
Because of these limitations, some University students choose to travel to larger facilities in nearby cities.
The Rok Haus is located in Lafayette, La. and houses more than 12 climbing routes and 5,000 feet of climbing walls.
Located in New Orleans, Climb-Max serves as another alternative with 25 walls and 5,000 feet of textured climbing.
Regardless of where a climber chooses to practice the sport, it is an experience unlike many other sports.
“It [climbing] has an aspect of being free and conquering something not only with strength but grace and balance; it’s an art,” said Caleb Warr, a biological sciences freshman who works at University Recreation’s indoor rock wall.