Rock Climb A Unique Workout Experience At UNO’s H&K Building . .

Kaitlyn Kelly CONTRIBUTOR

The muscles in your arms grow fatigued as you dangle precariously off the wall while trying to figure out the next best move. Your left hand is gripping onto a rock far above your head, and your right hand is pressing off a round rock to your other side. A pause is needed as you listen to K’lena Schnack, a student rock wall worker and the creator of women’s plus climb night, explain to you the rocks that you can shift to. Shouts of encouragement encompass the gym from the other girls and people who are watching you progress up the wall. You take a deep breath and move your right hand forward.

The UNO climbing wall, located in the Health & Kinesiology Wellness Center, is a place where you can go for a unique workout. Recently, Schnack introduced a women’s plus climb night so that it might create a safe space for new climbers to feel at ease.

“The women’s plus climb night welcomes people that might not identify on the gender binary that our society has. So, if someone wants to climb that’s nonbinary, or identifies with a gender that faces discrimination or that is underrepresented, we try to make sure they’re included in that space as well, because rock climbing is mostly male dominated,”

Schnack pitched the idea of women’s plus climb night to Joel Bauch, the Associate Director of Programs and Services at Campus Recreation and Wellness and OVC Coordinator, and they started it at the beginning of the 2023 spring semester.

“I believe it is a beneficial program,” Bauch said. “The idea is to create a welcoming space for women, and those who identify as women, to participate in climbing free of male influences on the scene. These folks may enjoy climbing in the women+ environment and may continue to come for that experience. Some patrons may be building skills and confidence in climbing and will transition to using the climbing wall during normal operational hours. Either way, the Outdoor Venture Center (OVC) is committed to creating a space and time to encourage a wider diversity of climbing wall users.”

Schnack noticed from the start of her time at the wall the stark difference in male and female attendance and wanted to do something about it. According to Schnack, the ratio of women to men climbers is approximately 30 to 70.

“I started climbing back in September of 2021, and I was brought into climbing with a bunch of guys around me. I was taught by guys, learned how to belay--and all these other technical skills--by guys,” Schnack said. “So, when I started working at the rock wall, I noticed that we weren’t really investing in the women that we do have at the wall right now. We have a lot of female dedicated climbers, it’s just that we don’t invest our time in them, teach them technical skills, or have trained women available to teach them. I just really wanted to find a space to empower women. I’ve seen other gyms do that, and I felt like we had the space and the capacity to do that for the women at our wall.”

Having a safe space for people at women’s plus climb night is the bottom line. Many don’t feel comfortable and need that extra boost of confidence being around other women and people that make them feel comfortable.

“Women have only been in recreational sports since our grandparents’ generation. So, I think it’s important for women to have a space to ourselves, because we want to be around other women who do it too. We also don’t want to be intimidated, or nervous, or have that pressure that surrounds the sexualization of women in sports. I want to be able to wear a sports bra and leggings at