The Slippery Sloper

  Me climbing a V7 at Climbnasium This past weekend, I had the pleasure of taking the climbing club to a rock gym off campus. I was the only one in the group who had been there before, so I was excited to show everyone around. Climbnasium is not your typical climbing gym; it was built inside an old barn. The layout of the place is also very interesting. We met at the gym around 1:00 PM on Sunday and departed in Andrew's car. One of our club members has their license registered with the campus so they can drive campus vehicles, but they could not come, so we had to take one of our cars. We made it to the gym, and there were already about 10 people there. Everyone filled out their waivers and did their gym orientation. Then we all sat in a circle on the mats, where I led a team stretch. After we stretched, we went to a small portion of the boulder wall, which is elevated from the entrance. We each did a warm-up boulder and were feeling good.  Main Boulder Wall (Credit: Shane Gle...

Body Snap (V4) Featuring Holly Last Friday, the weather was perfect, so I decided to revisit Mt. Gretna (Governor Dick Park) after a while. I went bouldering, which involves climbing without ropes on relatively low heights, making ropes unnecessary. We hiked into the woods with foldable foam pads on our backs, often mistaken by hikers for mattresses. These pads cushion our falls, essential because the terrain is uneven. Spotters play a crucial role; they guide rather than catch us, ensuring we land safely on the pads away from rocks or prevent rolling down hills. Mt. Gretna is one of the few places globally where you can climb on Jurassic Diabase, a rock found only in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and South Africa. It offers excellent texture and is much more pleasant to climb compared to sharper rocks. The Original Route (V3-4) 22ft Here's a picture of me on a Highball boulder, taller and riskier to fall from. It's my favorite spot in the park, and I make sure to visit every time...

  Me Performing a pickoff rope rescue  This past weekend, I had the opportunity to refresh my rope rescue skills by attending a training clinic with my coworkers at The Den. The clinic was led by our club sports coach, Dan Yates, who has years of experience in climbing and rope systems. Dan worked as an arborist for several years and has completed numerous outdoor rope climbs, so he brought a wealth of knowledge to the session. The training was divided into four sections, which I’ll walk through below. We covered friction hitches, unweighted belay takeovers, weighted belay takeovers, and weighted belay takeovers with a pickoff. Don’t worry if that all sounds complicated—I’ll explain everything step by step! Friction Hitch Examples      We began by familiarizing ourselves with the gear, including something called a hollow block . It’s a short, 19.5-inch loop made of hollow-braid cord, which allows it to grip the rope more effectively than a standard nylon sling....

Spring 2025 Den Team Hello, my name is Charlie Boye. I’m a senior at Gettysburg College, studying Computer Science and Data Science. I'm also deeply passionate about climbing—I’m the president of the Climbing Club and the coordinator of the climbing space on campus, known as The Den . My love for all things climbing began in elementary school, where I’d constantly scale anything I could find (and often get in trouble for it). That instinct carried into middle school, with growing enthusiasm for tree and building climbing. Eventually, my parents grew frustrated with the amount of trouble I was getting into, and around that same time, a new rock climbing gym opened just a few miles from our house. Onsight Rock Gym Local Competition 2018 I started officially rock climbing as a freshman in high school, and I quickly fell in love with it. The photo above is from my very first rock climbing competition. I initially joined the non-competitive team at the gym just to try it out, but I qui...