Witches Hill - Pausing the Adrenaline

Nestled into the foothills of Appalachia, roughly a three hour trek away from two of the most premiere rock climbing locations on the east coast, The Red River Gorge and New River Gorge, a growing community of climbers find their own routes and spread their roots in Athens.

Despite all of the courses Ohio University offers in Recreation: Mountain biking, caving, sea kayaking and cross country skiing, to name a few, David Lackey, a graduate teaching assistant, knows rock climbing has its own special draw. “In a lot of outdoor sports, you just go with the adrenaline,” Lackey said. “In mountain biking or kayaking you go with the adrenaline, you ride it. With climbing you have to suppress that, you have to focus on being calm and doing what you need to do.”

Ohio University’s Recreational Skills classes are taught over a two week period, including a weekend trip where the students’ new knowledge can be tested. Since the classes are so short,  the number one priority for instructors remains safety. “It’s kind of hard to focus in on exactly what you want to cover,” Lackey said. “Pushing the cool tricks and unnecessary knowledge out of the way. Just pure: how to keep ourselves safe.”

The introduction to rock climbing class, Rec 1080, exposes people interested in the sport to two different types of climbing: Bouldering and top rope climbing. Bouldering is climbing that occurs low to the ground, usually no higher than 14-20 feet, and doesn’t involve climbing with a rope or harness. Bouldering focuses on difficult routes, also called problems, and high energy movements.  Top rope climbing, however, requires both a harness and another climber, or a piece of equipment, to belay you. Belaying is the technique used to put tension on the rope to prevent the climber from falling far, instead that energy is transferred into the person belaying or the device the climber is using. This style of climbing is likely what you’ve seen at large indoor climbing walls or gyms. 

Witches Hill, a popular bouldering spot just across the Hocking River from Ohio University, leaves climbers winded from the long hike up and with cut and tender fingertips from the sharp corners of the handholds. Despite blistering heat and blistering fingers, for the first day of the weekend session Lackey was just excited to make it out of the classroom.

“It definitely feels more like work the first couple of class periods, when you are doing a lot of teaching and a lot of talking, but as the weekend trips come around it’s kinda like just hanging out outside once things are set up.” Lackey said.