The Next Athletic Facility: An Indoor Imitation of a Cliff

When Dartmouth builds the multimillion -dollar addition to Baker Library it will raze the math and computer- -science buildings—the parti-colored Gerry and Bradley Halls. A Wing the few people on campus who are sad to see the demise of these sixties-style buildings are Dartmouth-rock climbers. The rock walls that line the outsides of Gerry-Bradley are popular places for Dartmouth Mountaineering Club climbers to practice their white-knuckle techniques during the warmer months.

The climbers hope they won’t be bereft of sheer opportunities for long. Plans are being to construct a new indoor “cliff.” Location: one of the two racquetball courts located near the River b Cluster apartments besidlS the Tuck School.

The climbing “gym” isj* to feature routes of all diffi-i culties, from simple hand- f| over-hand ascents to the gravity-defying, housefly-, clinging style that has come into vogue in the last few years. Climbers claim that Dartmouth would be the last Ivy school to get such a facility.

The Mountaineering Club is, shall we say, pretty high on the idea. “Climbing interest is going to sky- rocket,” predicts co-presi- dent Andrew Swanson ’95.