lstrawn | Climbing Club

About Us

The Notre Dame Climbing Club has been in existence since 1997, letting climbers of all experience levels share their love for climbing and the great outdoors. One of the people who helped start the club was former Notre Dame philosophy professor and renowned sport climber Bill Ramsey (known for development of many crags and routes at the red – check out his intro in the rrg guidebook!).

The club is open to all Notre Dame, St. Mary’s, or Holy Cross undergraduate or graduate students. Members have the opportunity to participate in outdoor trips to top climbing destinations like the Red River Gorge in Kentucky.

The club began practicing in a bouldering wall that was a renovated racket-ball court in the basement of the Rockne Memorial Gymnasium, and became formalized as a club in order to get gas money for the small community of climbers (mostly graduate students) to drive down to the red. Today, our club has over 50 dues paying members and takes formalized trips several times a semester.

In January of 2018, a new climbing wall facility opened on the second floor of Duncan Student Center, including a bouldering wall and a sport/ lead wall. This is our current home gym.

Climbing & Bouldering Wall

The wall is located on the second floor of Duncan Student Center. Our gym is Gri-Gri only (and you must use ones owned by the climbing wall, not your own). If you want to belay on the sport wall, you must pass a belay test (if you already know how), or come to a belay clinic to learn (if you don’t). The current schedule for these is posted here, and more information can be found on the climbing wall website.

About the Wall

Built in 2017 by Eldorado, the Climbing & Bouldering Wall are made up of both high performance paneling and real rock textures for the maximum variety of terrain. With over 2,000 sq. ft. of climbable surface, the walls feature a diverse mix of routes accommodating all climbers from beginner to advanced.

Vertical Climbing Wall (1,125 sq. ft.)	Bouldering Wall (852 sq. ft.)
Features six top rope lines and a climbable crack Max height: 37 1/2 ft. Max width: 30 ft.	Features a very overhung cave and a slab Max height: 12 ft. Max width: 71 ft.

IT IS SO RAD!

Wall Hours

Phone: (574) 631-3068 • View on Campus Map – Access in the Duncan Student Center, 2nd floor (north end)

Climbing & Bouldering Wall Academic Hours: August 21 – December 18, 2022

	Duncan Student Center Climbing Wall
Monday – Thursday	4:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Friday – Sunday	2:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Upcoming Modified Hours & Closures

All RecSports Facilities
Saturday	September 10	Notre Dame Home Football Game	CLOSED
Saturday	September 17	Notre Dame Home Football Game	CLOSED
Saturday	October 15	Notre Dame Home Football Game	CLOSED
Saturday	October 22	Notre Dame Home Football Game	CLOSED
Saturday	November 5	Notre Dame Home Football Game	CLOSED
Saturday	November 19	Notre Dame Home Football Game	CLOSED

Mid-Term Break		Duncan Student Center Climbing Wall
Sunday	October 16	CLOSED
Monday-Friday	October 17-21	CLOSED

Thanksgiving Break		Duncan Student Center Climbing Wall
Wednesday	November 23	4:00 p.m.. – 7:00 p.m.
Thursday-Sunday	November 24-27	CLOSED

Reading Days/ Final Exams		Duncan Student Center Climbing Wall
Friday – Sunday	December 9 – 11	2:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Monday – Thursday	December 12-15	4:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Friday	December 16	2:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday	December 17 – 18	CLOSED

Fall 2022 Belay Clinics

Date	Time	Registration Dates (Registration begins on RecRegister at Noon one week before clinic date and closes one hour prior to clinic or when full)
September 6	5:30 – 7:30 p.m.	Opens August 30
September 12	5:30 – 7:30 p.m.	Opens September 5
September 21	5:30 – 7:30 p.m.	Opens September 14
September 29	5:30 – 7:30 p.m.	Opens September 22
October 11	5:30 – 7:30 p.m	Opens October 4

2022-2023 Officers

President: Luke Strawn

Vice President: Jacob Lee

Secretaries: Emerson Dycus and James Do

Treasurer: John Falger

Gear Czar: Erik Curtis

Safety Officers: Alyssa Miulli and Erik Curtis

Head Setter: Noah Sim

Snack Mom: Alyssa Sutanto

Instagram Guardian: Alyssa Miulli

Chancellor of Charm: Jon Nguyen

Resources

Recommended Books and Movies

Valley Uprising (on Netflix)

Vertical Limit and Vertical Limit Guide to Climbing (on YouTube)

Cliffhanger

Reel Rock series

Trips

General Information

Over a semester there are typically several weekend trips to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky where we camp at Miguel’s Pizza (pictured above). During the winter months there may be trips to climbing gyms nearby or Peabody Ice Climbing in Michigan. In the past we’ve gone to Vertical Endeavors in Chicago and Hoosier Heights in Indianapolis. Officers typically take personal fall break trips to places like Shelf Road in Colorado, Horseshoe Canyon Ranch in Arkansas, Foster Falls and Stone Fort in Chattanooga, and many other locations!

Pre-Trip Requirements

Please make sure you can commit before signing up for trips as last-minute cancellations can get complicated. In order to go on an outdoor trip you must:

be belay certified (if you’ve been recorded by the club as being belay-certified, you’re good to go. If not, you need to sign up for a belay clinic at the new wall ASAP)
pay the $50 in club dues
fill out the necessary waivers – especially the IMLeagues one!
fill out our pre-trip spreadsheet (will be emailed once you get a spot)
attend the pre-trip meeting (time decided after sign-ups closed, watch for an email about this – it’s usually the Monday night the week before the trip)
and of course come in and climb with us! Climbing indoors will help you have a better experience outside. You should have climbed at least three times before the trip!

Fall 2022

All weekend Red trips leave Friday afternoon (whenever group members are available to leave) and return late on Sunday (usually around 10pm or after).

Sept. 30 – Oct. 2: Red River Gorge, Kentucky

Oct. 28 – 30: Red River Gorge, Kentucky

My First Climbing Trip: A Packing Guide

compiled by Ethan LoCicero

Good, solid walking shoes

Socks. Several socks.

Your favorite climbing clothes

Your second favorite climbing clothes (though most of us won’t change over the weekend)

A jacket

Rain gear – it only rains when you forget to bring it

Toiletry necessities (we aren’t savages) (but you won’t need shower supplies because it costs $$$)

Pillow

2 water bottles

Headlamp/ flashlight/ lantern if you have one

Food for lunch (and breakfast/ dinner if you don’t want Miguel’s)

$ for Miguel’s Pizza (and Miguel’s memorabilia from the gear shop)

The club will provide:

Climbing Gear (but remember to grab it from the wall!)

Sleeping bags

Sleeping pads

Tents

But you’re welcome to bring your own if you prefer.

Remember: it’s best to be prepared for anything, but we do have limited space so pack lightly!

Contact Us

To sign up for club emails, or if you have any questions, email: ndclimb@nd.edu

If you have any photos of club members or alumni climbing, send them to amiulli@nd.edu to have them featured on our Instagram!

Support the Club!

Please consider supporting the climbing club on Notre Dame Day! What is ND Day, you ask? ND Day is a fundraising day for all the clubs on campus, during which a little over $1 million will be distributed to various student clubs and groups. For an initial donation of $10, you would gain 5 votes that you can give to any club at Notre Dame (preferably the climbing club!). These votes go into a total vote pool. The percentage of total votes that a club garners is the percentage of the $1 million that will be awarded to the club (in addition to the initial donation money). If you would be so inclined as to donate more than $10, we very much appreciate the generosity! However, gifts of greater than $10 do not result in a greater number of votes.

Our club is predicated on 3 pillars: look good, climb good, and be safe. As we have already taken care of two of the three, most of the funding from Notre Dame Day will go towards safety. In the past, we have purchased new club climbing shoes, helmets, ropes, carabiners, belay devices, and tents with this money. The rest of this money will be put towards climbing trips to keep them accessible to everybody. If you would like to learn more about the club and see what we do, check out our website in the link below.

Much appreciation,

Notre Dame Climbing Club

ND Day

Author: lstrawn