UTC climbing wall co-manager Drew Meyer, one of the founding members of the school's climbing team, works a problem on UTC's climbing wall.UTC's own climbing gym will host the Appalachian Regional Collegiate Climbing Series bouldering competition March 31, featuring competitors from more than a dozen colleges in Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina.
It's a pretty big event," says climbing gym manager Drew Meyer. "It's a great time for student climbers to get together and challenge each other, learn from each other and really just get to know people from other schools who all share these same interests."
Meyer, one of five students who founded Chatt Nasty, the UTC climbing club, credits these events, the new campus climbing facility and support from local climbing interests like Tennessee Bouldering Authority for helping the club grow and improve during its three-year existence.
There are 90 students in the UTC club and about 25 who normally compete on the team, which is a two-time regional champion and ranked 8th in the nation two years ago at the CCS nationals in Austin, Texas. Meyer says other schools participating in the regional event include Belmont, MTSU, ETSU, Appalachian State, Brevard, Western Carolina and Georgia Southern, among others.
Individuals and teams will have approximately three hours to try the 60 or so problems set for the competition, which Meyer says range in difficulty from beginner to advanced. The collegiate climbing season began in January and the Chattanooga event marks the last of seven regional competitions.
This year, nationals will be held in Boston in April. UTC climbers are currently raising funds to send the team's best 15 climbers to the national event in April.
Registration for the UTC regional opens at 10 a.m. and Meyer says teams are expected to start climbing at about 11 a.m. The event is open to spectators, but there is limited viewing space.
For more information visit: www.usaclimbing.net