Look for a special
issue on April 1^^-
you will find
a little fun!
March 28, 2014
Michael Jonsson, BC Climbing Team member
John Witherspoon
Rock and rumble
By Elena Reynolds
Contributin^Wito
T his past weekend on March 22, the
members of the inaugural Brevard
College Climbing Team continued to show
improvement at the Western Carolina
University “Rock & Rumble” competition.
With great success, a few of our climbers
placed on the podium to give Brevard
College a good name. With 20 different men
competing in the intermediate category, our
very own Jake Parker took first place with
a vengeance! Travis Gray placed second
for the men’s advanced category, and Ben
Lucas placed second in the men’s recreational
category. With great effort from all ten of
those who represented Brevard College, the
whole team continues to train throughout
the weeks in preparation for the National
Championships.
Next weekend on April 5, the BC
Climbing Team will travel to Chattanooga,
Tennessee to compete in the Appalachian
Regional competition in order to qualify
for the Collegiate Climbing Series National
Championships. With seven people registered
to compete and represent Brevard College on
a national scale in Melbourne, Florida, the
team is putting forth a lot of effort to raise
money to go.
Be sure to come out every Tuesday at
Brevard Rock Gym between 4 and 9 in the
afternoon for Brevard College “Free Climb
Night” and support the climbing team as
they train and show their passion for this
underestimated sport.
Immersion group
presses on
By Elena Reynolds
Contributing Writer
W ithin the last couple weeks, I have
spent multiple days getting Brevard
College van-certified I spent several hours in
the van with Ryan Donovan to learn the new,
handy skill of driving a 15-passenger van with
a hitched trailer, just so I could spend my
entire rainy Sunday helping out our beloved
Spring 2014 Immersion team.
As you know, the immersion crew (Ross
Smith, Chris Brothers, Neal Beam, Carrie
Schlemmer, Duncan Miller, Sam Slotin,
Taylor Perez, and Kerry Lindsay) left with
John Buford and alumni, Steve Acker,
on Friday, March 14th for their 21-day
expedition. Dan Woodall and myself drove
all day to transport the crew to Linville Gorge
to start their climbing section.
They spent their first five days paddling
down the French Broad River, starting at
Hap Simpson Park here in Brevard, North
Carolina. While riding in the van with this
enthusiastic group of students, I heard many
stories of their experiences so far within the
first ten days of their trip.
Apparently Ross Smith and Sam Slotin
were canoe partners for most of their French
Broad River journey. They ended up flipping
their boat at one point and had to swim a good
distance down the cold, dirty river. Luckily
none of their gear was lost, and they kept
warm in order to stay healthy.
Also, they want to give a huge shout out
and thank you to the Asheville Outdoor
Center for letting them camp on their property
along the French Broad River. During the
planning of the 21 -day expedition, it is not
uncommon for students to reach out to private
landowners and businesses in order to camp
on or travel through their property to maintain
a continuous trip between one destination
and another.
As they continued down the river, they
saw a different side of the civilization of
Asheville traveling under bridges. They
also observed an abundance of pollutants
harming our precious waters. According to
See 'Immersion,' page 8