Among colleges in Colorado, Mesa State has some of the best areas for those who love the outdoors.

With obvious places such as Colorado National Monument and the Grand Mesa, along with hidden gems like Highline State Park in Fruita, or the numerous forests, mesas and canyons in surrounding areas, there are tons of places to explore through means of rafting, climbing, or hiking.

Sure, the University of Colorado can pretend that the Flatirons matchup to what we have, and Western State may have an advantage when it comes to skiing, but in terms of undeveloped, pure wilderness, nobody can match what Mesa State has to offer.

The problem is that, especially for climbers, there is only a select period of time where people can enjoy the benefits. While night hikes are an option, climbing after dark is never a good idea. And doing a traditional hike or climb in the middle of a rain/snow storm is just short of suicide. It’s for those reasons that many people who enjoy the sport of climbing take to indoor walls.

Lately on campus, there have been discussions expanding the climbing wall in the Hamilton Recreation Center. Last week there were forums for students to voice their opinions to Associated Student Government.

As a staff, we support any movement to increase the size and usage of the rock walls on campus and also push for new bouldering equipment for the recreation center.

Climbing, as a whole, is one of the hardest sports to master as it uses a combination of full body strength and strategic thinking. When rock climbing, it’s never a surprise to discover a sore muscle that you never knew existed in the first place. In the case of bouldering, there are no ropes, so a fall means that the climber must start back from square one, meaning that conquering even the easiest wall could require hours of practice.

Yet, despite the appeal of the sport in this region, Grand Junction is limited in gyms that provide climbing- with the main one being Grand Junction Climbing Center. As the student population grows, more climbing gyms will likely open, but our school has a chance to be ahead of the curve.

Much in the way that Mesa State has embraced swimming with the El Pomar Natatorium, the school should work on giving students and the community an accessable, top-notch rock climbing gym, complete with longer hours, padded floors and inclined walls, even if it means a slight increase in student fees. 

Not every student will use it and it’s difficult to condone any increase in fees, especially given that budget cuts are likely to happen in the near future for many on-campus organizations, but as a form of exercise, rock climbing is one that students will embrace if given the chance.