Students rock fitness through rock climbing

SNC student Donny Kelly rock climbing at High Altitude Fitness. Photo by Aly Cohen.

“Climbing is a fantastic workout for the whole body, and it is fun,” said Will Hoida, director of student activities. “It’s a great way to trick yourself into working out, and it’s nice to have it right here in town.”

Hoida has been climbing for 12 years and has been teaching SNC’s rock climbing P.E. classes for eight semesters. This semester, since the new rock climbing wall opened, Hoida is starting up a climbing club, and all students are encouraged to join.

According to Hoida, the club will train to compete in the Northern Nevada College Climbing Series. He says that even though the club will be competing, it is still for all ability levels and students are not required to compete.

“We are looking for committed people to join the club,” said sophomore Will Woodward, vice president of the new climbing club. “Rock climbing is like a game. It’s about overcoming obstacles and it really helps if you have other people to back you up and egg you on. We have not set up training days or times yet but we’ll let people know soon. The sign-up sheet will be in Patterson Hall if people are interested.”

Not only do students have the option of joining the climbing club, but they can also climb on their own by getting a semester-long membership that High Altitude Fitness is offering. The price for this membership is $150 and includes access to the rock wall, as well as access to the steam rooms, group fitness classes and all the weight and cardio equipment.

“The semester membership is definitely a good deal for all students,” said Jessie Alhandy, a freshman who works at High Altitude Fitness. “The climbing wall is state-of-the-art and the gym is a great place all around.”

Another option for students to get involved with climbing is the once-a-month school trips to the climbing wall, which will be listed in the upcoming student activity calendar.

Junior Kresten Sakstrup says the trips are a good idea for students who are thinking about getting a gym membership or joining the rock climbing club.

“The rock climbing trips are great,” said Sakstrup. “The sport is really fun to do because it requires physical fitness, it’s safe and it’s relatively cheap. High Altitude’s rock wall is cool because there is a lot of technical climbing and automatic belay devices for when you don’t have a partner.”

For more information about the climbing club or the climbing gym, e-mail Will Hoida at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . For more information about High Altitude Fitness visit www.highaltitudefit.net. High Altitude Fitness is located at 880 Northwood Blvd. in Incline Village.