Wednesday climbin’ clinics popular among students

    The unusual sight of students triumphantly reaching the top of a large tree captivated gazes and caused many passing students to stop and watch participants of Venture Out’s tree-climbing clinics held on Wednesdays.
    Whether killing time before a class or just hanging around on Front Campus, students can choose to climb up a tree during Venture Out’s tree-climbing clinics. The clinics are scheduled almost weekly on main campus.
    Students have the option of conquering the tree or simply being hoisted off the ground about five feet and swinging through the air under the careful supervision of Venture Out’s tree climbing specialist, Daniel Diddlemeyer, nicknamed “The Diddey.”
    Upset that her early class was cancelled, Roxanne Barnett, a creative writing major, decided to give the tree climbing clinic a shot.
    “I was about eight feet high—which isn’t terribly high,” Barnett said. “But to me it was.”
    While most students just watched others climb, many want to experience it themselves but are too busy or have a class to attend.
    “(I) would love to climb up because it looks like a lot of fun and a great way to enjoy nature,” said general business major Michelle York.
    York says one day she’ll find the time to take advantage of the clinics.
    During the climb, students can choose how high they push themselves, so even those afraid of heights can take advantage of the clinics and go progressively  higher each time.
    Despite being allowed to choose the height of the climb, some students like Jeffrey Ivie, a freshman chemistry major, have no intentions of ever leaving the ground.
    “You’d never catch me that high,” Ivie said, gazing at a student reaching the treetop.
    Venture Out is an RSO that focuses on providing students the opportunity to challenge themselves in nature. The costs of Venture Out are covered in the student activity fee, and there are no membership requirements for students to join. All activities are open to everyone on campus.
    Tree climbing is not the only nature activity the group facilitates.
    Venture Out takes students on various trips during the year such as the hiking trip to Pine Mountain later this month. Students can also rock climb, skydive, kayak and ski.             Recently a group of students came back from a trip in which they swam with manatees.
    Many students choose to pass on the opportunities Venture Out provides because they fear the activities are unsafe.
    “Safe is a relative term,” said Diddlemeyer. “There’s risk involved in everything.”
    Students who wish to sign up for Venture Out trips or want more information should e-mail ventureout@gcsu.edu. Or they can stop and talk with Diddlemeyer during a clinic on campus.
    Venture Out also has a Facebook group which students can join to stay informed with the newest trips as well as upload pictures from previous trips.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 15 2008. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry