Students fall for rock climbing class
The sheer exhilaration of using all of one’s strength to climb a vertical wall with handholds less than a centimeter thick is staggering.
If this sounds interesting or fun, there is a rock climbing class at the college and to the surprise of many, there is a rock gym in Randall Hall. In fact, Clackamas Community College has offered rock climbing courses for approximately 30 years. Over the course of time, multiple instructors have come and gone. Currently Clackamas alumnus, Marlin Kendall is leading the charge.
At the start of the term, the class goes through the basics of climbing equipment, knots and climbing safety; after the first few days of class the students are mostly on their own in the rock gym, free to climb and hone their skills. The short lecture part of the rock climbing class takes place in the second story of Randall, in R219 and then later moves into the rock gym, which is located behind a locked door at the top of the tallest stairwell connected to Randall.
After asking the students to put on their harnesses, which they did quite well, Kendall made sure that all of the students’ harnesses had the proper requirements for use. He told the students that there are two types of buckles that are found on rock climbing harnesses and brought two of his students to the front of the class to display the two types.
“If you can see the word ‘DANGER,’ you’re doing something wrong,” said Kendall.
In the traditional sport of rock climbing, there are two distinct roles that people take: one is the climber and the other is the belayer, which is the person who controls the rope for the climber so that they can climb, lower and in certain circumstances, fall, safely.
After explaining the part that climbers and belayers play, the class went through the process learning to tie a “woven figure eight” knot, which would later be used to secure the rope to the climber’s harness. After visually inspecting the class’s knots, Kendall reminded them that at the end of the term they will have to be able to tie a perfect one while blindfolded.
Once the students have an understanding of the figure eight, they went through the ins and outs of using the belay device. Kendall explained that, with the knowledge of how to tie the knots and use the belay device, it is a fool-proof system, though he jokingly described his nervousness to the class, being their first night in the rock gym.
As the class transitions into the rock gym, Kendall explained as one of his intermediate students demonstrated the process of climbing. Kendall set up his belay device with one end of a climbing rope and his climbing demonstrator, student Sadie Tegtmeier, tied in to the other end of the rope. He explained that for this night only, he would be checking off students to make sure that they have set up their knots and belay devices correctly and that later, he would assume that students have checked each other’s equipment.
“We’ve never had really any type of accident, let alone a serious accident,” said Kendall.
After tying the rope and setting up the belay, the two presenters checked one another’s gear and began to go over the “universal climbing commands.” Once Tegtmeier was ready to climb, she called out “On belay,” to which Kendall returned “Belay on.” When the climber made sure the belayer was ready, she called out “Climbing,” to which the belayer returns with “Climb on.” After the demonstration was finished, Kendall allowed the class to start setting up their gear to get checked and then climb. For the majority of the climbing session, he walked around, explaining to students what not to do.
“You have to be able to control your limbs under stress and under pressure,” said CCC student Phil Boisselle.
The rock gym on campus is currently only open during class hours on Thursday nights, but there are many great places to climb outdoors in Oregon. “[A great local place to climb] is French’s Dome in Zigzag.It’s nice, it’s close by, in Sandy. It’s good for beginners and intermediate climbers,” said Phill Stacey, CCC student and three time rock climbing class student.
Smith Rock and Beacon Rock are among Kendall’s favorite climbing locales.
