Climb Mount Cameron for a Fun and Exhilarating Workout!
Whether you’re a novice or an experienced climber, you’ll enjoy challenging yourself on Mount Cameron, the Center's 30-foot-high, 8-foot-wide climbing wall. Under the guidance of our experienced staff, this fitness activity is a safe yet exciting total body workout that helps develop strength, balance, coordination and flexibility while you’re having fun.
Earn Your Climbing Card
The best way to earn a climbing card is to take the LTC I class and pass the top rope belay test. Experienced climbers may test out of the class. For more information on testing, please call Elizabeth Flynn at 724.250.5202. To register for the classes, call the front desk at 724.250.5227.
Learn to Climb I
Includes basic climbing techniques and also introduces more advanced movements on the wall for safe climbing. Belay test follows every class.
You’ll learn:
How to tie a couple of important knots
The basic equipment involved including rope, harness, carabiners, and belay device
Must have taken Learn to Climb I. Improve your climbing, regardless of your skill or experience level. Everyone in this class has been certified by the climbing staff to be competent belayers and should know the basic rules and regulations. This class will cover more advanced movements on the wall, and requires knowledge of a set of climbing terms.
Climbing orientations and belay tests are offered during Learn to Climb I classes on a first come, first served basis. The top rope belay test usually takes 15 to 20 minutes. Belay tests should otherwise be scheduled at least a week in advance at the front desk. To successfully complete the top rope belay test the participant must demonstrate the ability to:
Put on and buckle the harness
Thread the belay device and attach it to the harness
Attach the harness to the floor anchor
Climbing partners check their own and their partner’s equipment and knots prior to beginning to climb
All carabiners must be locked and knots tied correctly
Belayer and climber use proper commands
Belayer must also demonstrate proficient belay techniques:
Belay configuration
Proper rope feeding
Maintains brake hand on the rope
Prompt responses to climber’s actions and commands
Proper behavioral reaction in a fall
Ability to catch a fall in a controlled manner.
Controlled lowering
If a pair of climbers are being tested, each climber must demonstrate all of the requisite skills
Learn How to Tie Knots!
Click here for more information (This link will take you to a site that is not affiliated with the W.R. Cameron Wellness Center. To return to this site, simply close the browser window.)
Fees
Non-member daily guest fee, $10
Top Rope Belay Test fee included in LTC I class, or $5 M, $10 NM
Lead Belay Test, $5 (non-refundable)
Equipment Rentals
Member card or photo ID must be provided for all equipment rentals.
Climbing Shoes, $2
Belay Device and/or Carabiner, $2
Harness, $2
Rent all for $5: shoes, harness, belay device and carabiner
Private belaying instruction also is available. For more information, call Elizabeth Flynn, 724.250.5202.
Friday Nights are Kids Climbing Nights
For ages 4-13, 7-8 pm
A great activity for kids to learn the ropes on the climbing wall while building strength, team work and self-esteem. Kids Fitness Punchcard may be used, but you MUST register for this class at least two days prior. Register at the front desk, 724.250.5228.
M = Member
NM = Non-member
LEAD CLIMBING INSTRUCTOR
CARL SAMPLES
CLIMBING INSTRUCTORS
RICK GOODWILL
Carl has been a climbing instructor and guide for 12 years. In his 30 years as a rock climber, he has traveled to Canada as well as nearly half of the states in the U.S. to climb. Many of Carl's photographs have been published in climbing magazines, and he has written chapters on crags in West Virginia and Pennsylvania for guidebooks. Carl spends his climbing days on the gritstone boulders and cliffs of the Chestnut Ridge, his first and favorite place to climb.
Rick has 20 years rock climbing and mountaineering experience. He began climbing in Boulder, Colorado, in the mid-80s on the Flat Irons and in Eldorado Canyon. He has summited several of the 14ers in Colorado and Washington. While in Boulder, he was a member of the Colorado Mountain Club (CMC), and also took courses and assisted teaching with the CMC Rock School. In the mid-90s Rick relocated to Seattle where he joined the Seattle Mountaineers Club and gained knowledge on the big mountain experience and back country rescue. Since relocating to Pittsburgh in 2002, Rick has continued to expand and share his climbing knowledge by joining the Explorers Club of Pittsburgh (ECP), where he also teaches.
JASON DECHICCHIS
Kathy started rock climbing in 1993 after an introduction to the activity during an Outward Bound wilderness trip in Colorado. Since then, she has made climbing trips across the United States and to Thailand. She apprenticed as a climbing instructor and guide for a year, and is interested in teaching women the finer points of rock climbing.
