Whitman College Climbing Facilities

Whitman College maintains an extensive training facility for rock climbing. The Outing Program employs a student climbing wall manager who oversees operations, maintenance, and scheduling. The outdoor wall is the scene of the "Sweet Onion Crank" climbing competition held annually on a weekend in late April or early May. Whitman College offers beginning and intermediate rock climbing courses through the SSRA department. The Outing Program offers weekly open climbing and women's climbing sessions on the outdoor or indoor wall depending on weather. Plans are being made to completely upgrade the climbing facilities as part of the renovation of the Sherwood Center.

Description of climbing facilities

Outdoor lead and top-rope wall

The outdoor wall is located on the south side of the Sherwood Center building. The surface of the concrete wall is completely covered with vertical linear features resembling minature dihedrals. These features range in relief from 0.5 in. to 2 in. The vertical features on the wall are useful for practicing stemming and pinching but are generally considered to be "off-route" on most routes designed by students. The entire wall is both modular and leadable. There are no fixed ropes on this wall so it is necessary for one member of the party to lead climb in order to establish a top-rope. There are presently 12 bolted lines on the wall. The base of the wall is covered by an 8 inch thick layer of chipped rubber derived from automobile tires. The outdoor wall sees the most use by students during Sept.-Oct. and April-May when the weather is often ideal. It is possible to climb on the outdoor wall anytime the sun is out and the temperature exceeds 35 degrees.

Outdoor bouldering wall

The outdoor bouldering wall is a concrete traversing wall adjacent to the south side of the Sherwood Center. The majority of the holds consist of permanently bolted and glued-on natural rocks and chipped-out pockets. Portions of the wall contain concrete drop-in anchors for attaching modular plastic holds. The minimum difficulty of the permanent sections of the wall ranges from 5.0 to 5.12. The base of the wall is covered by an 8 inch thick layer of pebbles.

The Cave

The Cave is an outdoor overhang at the west end of the bouldering wall. It is possible to traverse directly into the cave from the bouldering wall. The cave is the perfect place to develop tendonitis. The floor of the cave is coverd by an 8 inch thick layer of rubber chips to protect your noggin should the burn prove too intense.

Outdoor overhang

The modular and leadable outdoor overhang lies beneath a concrete stairway on the southeast end of the Sherwood center. It contains sections that overhang at both 135 degrees and 180 degrees. It is possible to lead the outdoor overhang and then continue up the eastermost route on the outdoor lead wall. The outdoor overhang is underlain by an 8 inch thick layer of chipped rubber. A red line marks the upper limit for hands during bouldering on the outdoor overhang.

Indoor wall

The indoor climbing wall is located in the Sherwood Center in a narrow room adjacent to raquetball court #4. It is a typical plywood and t-nut wall that features panels of various angles from slab to overhang. The west end of the wall contains a 4 ft. wide crack machine with a variety of crack widths. There are 3 permanent static top-ropes in place. The indoor wall also features a campus board with 3 sets of 12 rungs of varying widths. The campus board is 6 ft. long, 4 ft. wide, and overhangs at 105 deg. The floor of the indoor wall is covered by 1 inch thick gymnastic mats.

The Grotto

The Grotto is located under the concrete wheelchair access ramp in the Sherwood Center. The Grotto is entirely modular and the floor is covered with 1 inch thick gymnastic mats.