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Adaptive climbing program provides outlet for local athletes

Charity Trillet, right, uses a Wellman System harness to ascend a wall without using her legs during as Harley Curd climbs nearby during an adaptive climbing program at High Point Climbing gym Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The program, which happens on the third Thursday of each month, provides resources to help disabled climbers enjoy the sport. Charity Trillet, right, uses a Wellman System harness to ascend a wall without using her legs during as Harley Curd climbs nearby during an adaptive climbing program at High Point Climbing gym Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The program, which happens on the third Thursday of each month, provides resources to help disabled climbers enjoy the sport.

By David Cobb September 21, 2015 3 min read

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Adaptive climbing program provides outlet for local athletes

Fred Vail sets up a Wellman System harness, which allows climbers to ascend a wall without using their legs, before an adaptive climbing program at High Point Climbing gym Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The program, which happens on the third Thursday of each month, provides resources to help disabled climbers enjoy the sport.

Sharon Stolberg, right, prepares to tie in to a route while Schandra Loveless, left, gets ready to belay during an adaptive climbing program at High Point Climbing gym Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The program, which happens on the third Thursday of each month, provides resources to help disabled climbers enjoy the sport.

Sharon Stolberg ties a figure-eight knot onto her harness before climbing during an adaptive climbing program at High Point Climbing gym Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The program, which happens on the third Thursday of each month, provides resources to help disabled climbers enjoy the sport.

Sharon Stolberg climbs a route during an adaptive climbing program at High Point Climbing gym Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The program, which happens on the third Thursday of each month, provides resources to help disabled climbers enjoy the sport.

Fred Vail secures Charity Trillet into a Wellman System harness, which allows climbers to ascend a wall without using their legs, during an adaptive climbing program at High Point Climbing gym Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The program, which happens on the third Thursday of each month, provides resources to help disabled climbers enjoy the sport.

Fred Vail uses athletic tape to secure Charity Trillet's hands to an ascender device before she climbs a wall using a Wellman System harness, which allows climbers to ascend without using their legs, during an adaptive climbing program at High Point Climbing gym Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Some climbers in the program have trouble gripping the ascender, says Vail, so his solution was tape. The program, which happens on the third Thursday of each month, provides resources to help disabled climbers enjoy the sport.

Fred Vail, left, holds a rope as Charity Trillet uses a Wellman System harness to ascend a wall without using her legs during an adaptive climbing program at High Point Climbing gym Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The program, which happens on the third Thursday of each month, provides resources to help disabled climbers enjoy the sport.

Sharon Stolberg climbs an outdoor wall during an adaptive climbing program at High Point Climbing gym Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The program, which happens on the third Thursday of each month, provides resources to help disabled climbers enjoy the sport.

To learn more

Find out more about Chattanooga’s Therapeutic Recreation division at bit.ly/therapy-recreation .

A group of spectators gathered in the Broad Street median to watch as Sharon Stolberg navigated between climbing holds on the outdoor wall at High Point Climbing Gym.

It’s evident from watching Stolberg, 38, that she is a veteran of the wall. She weighs each option prudently and reaches upward or outward for her next move with a reach seemingly much longer than her modest stature would suggest.

Five years ago, climbing seemed out of the question to Stolberg, who has juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Through her previous connections in Chattanooga’s Therapeutic Recreation division, it became a possibility that she is fully maximizing.

Stolberg recently accepted a grant through the American Alpine Club to climb in New York’s Catskill Mountains next month.