Rock Climbing

South East participants rocked out last Saturday afternoon at the New Rochelle Rock Club climbing walls of varying heights and difficulty.

The New Rochelle Indoor Rock climbing facility hosts a number of realistic rock walls simulating what it would be like on an outdoor climb. By changing the placement of the holds periodically the paths morph, thus offering a challenge to both new comers to the sports and avid climbers.

Our participants were assisted by volunteer belayers who, on their own time, agreed to come out and work alongside our climbers. The volunteering aspect of this program is key to its success. Without the volunteers it would not be possible.

“I love to climb and I am interested in working with children with special needs,” said Nick Quill, 14, a volunteer belayer. Nick and his brother Charlie both came out this past Saturday to belay and just hang out and make friends with some of our participants.

All of our returning climbers showed progress on their last climb. Peter Rice essentially ran up his first three climbing walls, all of a higher difficulty than he had previously accomplished. Zoe Smith made close friends with her belayer and had some fun climbing and even swinging from the ropes! Ryan Ballantyne ditched the top roping and focused more on the free climbing bouldering also available at the Rock Club.

The New Rochelle Rock Club staff was helpful and accommodating as they always are. “We love having you (SEC) guys come out to climb,” said Meghan McDonald, program coordinator at the Rock Club. “Climbing is a great sport to build strength, endurance and coordination. It is also a great way to meet some great people,” she added.

The climbing group will be meeting two more times this Winter and there is still space available in the program!

The Rock Club

South East Consortium is reaching new heights at the rock climbing program. With the assistance of volunteer belayers, climbers get together once a month and explore the walls at the New Rock Club.

Rock climbing proves to be an excellent activity for children with special needs. Rock climbing helps develop eye- hand coordination, improves spatial awareness, motor planning, balance and coordination. Rock climbing can also help children set attainable goals and instill self- confidence; this can translate to other arenas of life such as school or social interactions.

The rock walls offer a varying degree of difficulty for our climbers. There is a learning room with 10 foot walls for our first timers or those who want to brush up on their climbing skills. On the main floor the gym boasts a variety of walls to be conquered including 40 ft and 50 ft rock faces.

There was obvious improvement seen in our returning climbers this past weekend. Peter Rice shot straight up his first three walls in no time at all. TJ Neeves scampered up every wall that was presented to him and Adem Dickenson and Shane Ingram buddied up to support each other while they climbed. Kayla Rodriquez got along great with her belayer which helped propel her up several walls at the gym.

We owe a lot of thanks to our wonderful volunteer belayers (the person on the ground giving or taking slack and keeping our climbers safe.) Our assortment of volunteers includes fire fighters, medical students, teachers and parents. One thing they all have in common is their love of climbing and the desire to share that world with our participants.

The sense of accomplishment one feels after ascending a particularly difficult wall is hard to measure. However, the expression on our climbers faces afterwards is easy to read: “I did it!”