2The Daily Tar HeelMonday, March 23, 1992
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Community center drives rock-climbing enthusiasts up a wall
By Anna Meadows
Staff Writer
I Sweating but invigorated, the young
rnan stepped away from the wall and let
go of the rope he had used to help him
climb.
; "Awesome, awesome," he said as he
passed by.
; Most people who use the simulated
rock-climbing wall at the Chapel Hill
Community Center agree that the expe
rience is awesome, challenging and just
a lot of fun.
"It was scary at first," said Gwen
Petty, a senior from Weddington. She
said she had been coming to the com
munity center for two years.
' "My brother first got me into it at
UNC-Charlotte," Petty said. "They have
an outdoor rock-climbing course there.
"I played sports in high school, and I
never got into the competitiveness," she
said. Rock climbing lacks the competi
tion of other sports because the indi
vidual competes only with himself.
The Chapel Hill Community Center
wall was the first indoor community
rock-climbing wall in the United States,
said Bill Webster, administrative of
ficer for the Chapel Hill Parks and Rec
reation Department. The department
wants to build an outdoor facility, but
lacks necessary funding, Webster said.
The wall at the community center
consists of pink and blue sheets of ply
wood mounted on the gym wall in an
area approximately 30 feet tall and 60
feet across.
Holes perforate the plywood at regu
lar intervals and have what are called
"holds" placed in them. The holds jut
out slightly from the wall and provide
the "stepping stones" that climbers use
to move upward. The holds are made of
materials simulating rock. Experienced
climbers move the holds constantly so
that the routes up the wall aren't always
the same.
Climbers wear harnesses that are at-
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tached to a support rope so they won't
fall from the wall.
"When it first started, we were afraid
because so few people were interested
in it," said Susan Patenaude, a graduate
student from Chapel Hill who climbs
the wall every week. "We were worried
wecouldn't keep it open. It'ssocrowded
now, we have to wait in line," she said.
And there are lines, despite the odd
hours the climbers are forced to use
because of the gym's full schedule.
Climbers can use the wall Tuesdays and
Thursdays from 10 p.m. to midnight,
Saturday 8 p.m. to 1 0 p.m. and Sundays
10 a.m. to noon.
Even with these hours, 30 to 50 people
show up when the wall is available,
Webster said. Climbers pay $2 every
time they use the wall.
Patenaude, who has been a rock
climber for 16 years, said she used the
wall to stay in shape, although she pre
ferred outdoorrockclimbing. "With the
indoor wall, you need less technique
and more upper body strength," she
said. "Outdoors, you need better foot
work, more technique. It's acompletely
different world."
Patenaude and other serious rock
climbers face a problem because the
closest natural rock face for climbing is
2-12 hours away by car. Patenaude
sometimes travels to Rural Hall toclimb
Moore's Wall. Four hours away is an
other favorite area at New River Gorge
in West Virginia.
"It's one of the best climbing areas in
the country," she said.
Ryutarou Ohbuchi, a graduate stu
dent from Japan, said he was happy to
have the wall because it was difficult for
him and other climbers to travel 2-12
hours to practice the sport they enjoyed.
Ohbuchi, a rock climber of 1 2 years.
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Mike Stewart tackles the wall at Chapel Hill Community Center, the first indoor community rock-climbing wall in the United States
said he helped build the first phase of
the wall in the summer of 1986. Since
then three expansions have been added,
he said.
Ohbuchi has the look of an experi
encedclimber. Besides his broad stioul-
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ders and muscular arms, he has his own
equipment: a harness, a chalk bag he
straps to his back (the chalk is for his
hands) and shoes for rock climbing.
The shoes with their special rubber
bottoms help grip the holds in the wall.
For the amateur, the center provides
harnesses, and tennis shoes are allowed
for climbing.
Besides training, Ohbuchi said he
came to the community center to socialize.
Harrison Dekker, a part-time worker
for the Parks and Recreation Depart
ment, said: "It's a good way to meet
people. You need a partner. It always
involves two people: one climbing and
one holding the rope.
"We've had a few relationships start
here," Dekker said. "Now they come to
climb as a couple."
For information on classes in rock
climbing, call the Chapel Hill Parks
and Recreation Department.
Campus Calendar
MONDAY
10 a.m. CAA will be having registrations for the
Tar Heel 1 0,000 Road Race until 2 p.m. in the Pit. The
Tar Heel 10,000 is a 2 mile, SK and 10K road race.
5 p.m. BSM Umujo Awards nominations are due
in the BSM office.
6 p.m. Rape Action Project will hold a business
meeting in 208 Union.
7 p.m. Alpha Kappa Alpha presents "AIDS Con
traception and You" in 226 Union.
Strike One You're Out! Battered Women's
Workshop will beheld in 104 Fetzer. Open to men and
women.
Rape Action Project will hold a training session to
discuss the psychological effects of rape.
7:30 p.m. CGLA will host a presentation by par-
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