Club Climbing meets from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. every Friday at North Mass Boulder. Graphic by Lilly Frieling.
ADDISON DUKUS | STAFF REPORTER | adukus@butler.edu
Climbing up a vertical wall on small, oddly shaped handles with only your grip to assist is no small feat. Few sports require as much upper-body strength as climbing does. It may seem easy, but members of club climbing know it is not.
Sophomore finance major Niko Stamatis joined the club in his first year of college and has learned to appreciate the unique challenges of climbing.
“There’s definitely the physical aspect because it is an intense sport,” Stamatis said. “Depending on how the climb goes, you can [tire] your arms out, specifically your forearms.”
As far as seeing tangible improvements, climbing offers specific levels with a color-coordinated system to indicate difficulty. Stamatis appreciated these visible results, especially as he continued to make advancements in his climbing skills.
“[Climbing] is scaled by colors,” Stamatis said. “The red [rocks] are the easiest, and then it goes to yellow and green and blue and so on. I couldn’t do a single blue one [when I first started], and now I can do most of the blue ones, and that’s a really nice feeling.”
Photo courtesy of Club Climbing.
While climbing may be physically demanding, it can also be mentally taxing. Some sports, like golf or baseball, require slow calculation over a long period of time, but climbing forces people to commit and decide what their next move will be quickly.
Sophomore actuarial science major Aidan Bender says that climbing is a constant mental battle.
“[Climbing] is a different puzzle, a new thing your brain has to figure out,” Bender said. “It’s hard and [you have to learn] mental perseverance, trying to push yourself to do what you want to do.”
Bender joined the club simply as a way to get some exercise, and has not looked back since.
“Climbing club is awesome,” Bender said. “I had a little bit of experience [when I first joined], but not a bunch. I wanted to get into something new [and] find a different way to stay active.”
There is no doubt that climbing is highly individualized; however, there is still a social aspect within the sport. Stamatis, who met his current roommate through the club, highly recommends that people join club climbing for the community.
“It’s a really easy way to put yourself to use at something that you can get better at [and] something that is fun,” Stamatis said. “You can meet people who are supportive and really kind to each other.”
Senior engineering dual-degree major Maya Ilada had similar things to say about the people who make up the club.
“The community is great,” Ilada said. “You can pretty much go up to anyone at the gym and talk to them or ask for help. Everyone’s super nice … And I met the team, and they were such a great group of people.”
Like Stamatis, Ilada highly recommends that people join the club. She first joined because she was simply looking for something to do, but now she genuinely enjoys the challenge of climbing.
“I didn’t know how to actually climb [at first], besides just scrambling up a wall,” Ilada said. “There’s no set way to climb one thing, so it’s trial and error. [Experience] is not something that anyone has to be worried about.”
Club Climbing has yet to schedule any official competitions, and right now, they are just looking to improve. Ilada said the club is currently looking for new members, regardless of experience.
“All levels are welcome, even if you don’t know how to climb,” Ilada said.
Although Club Climbing is not one of Butler’s most popular clubs, it provides an outlet for students to meet new people and physically challenge themselves.
