UCC Mainstream Online

Rock Wall Faces Climb to Completion


caption
Jon, creativecommons/flickr
UCC is raising funds to install a rock wall like the one illustrated above.

Did the Chinese have funding issues with the Great Wall of China?
Well, if they did, UCC’s student government could commiserate with all their struggles to fund a campus climbing rock wall.
The UCC rock wall is well on its way to becoming a reality, but the college has only raised about half of what is needed to begin the real process of getting it installed in UCC’s mat room.
Just about $10,350 has been raised, but approximately $20,000 is needed, according to Athletic Director Cheryl Yoder. Because planning for the climbing facility is still in a preliminary stage, the exact amount has not been negotiated and finalized.
The money raised has come from a combination of donations heavily boosted by ASUCC student government’s donation of $10,000. The rest has come from various rock climbing events on campus.
More fundraising events are planned for the future; unfortunately, the timeline is not established. The deadline for when the fundraising and the construction of this project will be completed is still in the air.
The school has hired a former UCC Engineering student with rock climbing experience to help with the project, however. The former student went on from UCC to earn a degree in engineering from Oregon Institute of Technology.
Once the funding is complete and the plans are finalized, the school’s facilities managers will do as much as possible in-house to save money and maximize the funds raised.
Completing the rock wall is not as high a priority for the college as a whole as it is for the Outdoor Recreation department, Athletics Director Yoder explained.
The installation, whenever it is completed, will be extremely complementary to UCC’s already successful rock climbing classes.
The rock wall will also offer a myriad of opportunities for use throughout the year: Rock climbing classes will use the wall when outdoor climbing classes are rained out, the wall can be rented to community members and organizations, and the wall will be used as a fun option for student exercise. The indoor climbing, unlike the Callahans or the Umpqua National Forest, will also be accessible year round.
The whole idea for the installment came from the athletic department needing a plan B during wet springs when rock climbing classes outside were not possible due to conditions. According to Yoder almost all colleges across the state have indoor climbing facilities; it is a current and popular trend.
The Great Wall of China wasn’t built in a day, and neither will the UCC bouldering rock wall. The progress isn’t always breakneck, but the funding is making progress toward installing an indoor climbing facility.