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climbersmother
Mar 31, 2009, 3:42 AM
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I am the mother of a 17 year old high school junior who wants to look at colleges and universities where he can climb (trad, sport and boulder) year round. Academically he is interested in the physical sciences. We live in the midwest, so nearby schools offer little in the way of climbing. Does anyone have any suggestions besides CU and Colorado State?
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Viktor123
Mar 31, 2009, 4:04 AM
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Well, you have University of Iowa. Which have a pretty decent climbing gym. That is where I climb at the moment, I recomend it. Even though I'm not a studen there; the price of going there is pretty cheap, I think it is like 60 bucks each semester.
http://www.recserv.uiowa.edu/ is the link to their field house.
Well, outside climbing can be a little hard in Iowa, but that's what you got the "Touch the Earth" program for; they arrange trips all around the us about hiking and climbing.
I hope this helped you!;)
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marc801
Mar 31, 2009, 4:24 AM
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climbersmother wrote: I am the mother of a 17 year old high school junior who wants to look at colleges and universities where he can climb (trad, sport and boulder) year round. Academically he is interested in the physical sciences.
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mojede
Mar 31, 2009, 4:28 AM
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Bias here, but it goes with the question.
Montana State University-Bozeman
University of Montana-Missoula
Montana Tech-Butte
All have tons of rock nearby with great outdoor adventure potential.
MSU is strong in Engineering (ME and CE) and Geology
Tech excels in Petroleum Engineering and Minerals
UofM has a good Forestry department
Research colleges thoroughly for academia--if there's any decent rock nearby, he'll be happy.
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pfwein
Mar 31, 2009, 4:47 AM
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climbersmother wrote: I am the mother of a 17 year old high school junior who wants to look at colleges and universities where he can climb (trad, sport and boulder) year round. Academically he is interested in the physical sciences. We live in the midwest, so nearby schools offer little in the way of climbing. Does anyone have any suggestions besides CU and Colorado State?
The weather in the midwest is not the best for climbing (or anything else, really), but CO isn't always paradise either. Good luck to your son, there are lots of great choices, probably most in the Rocky Mountains or far West (I would say virtually every Western state has one or more good choices), but also in other parts of the country.
Don't mean to diss on the guy from Iowa--but dude, come on, that's like being a CO scuba diver (of which there are many, but they don't brag about scuba quality here).
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currupt4130
Mar 31, 2009, 4:59 AM
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climbersmother wrote: I am the mother of a 17 year old high school junior who wants to look at colleges and universities where he can climb (trad, sport and boulder) year round. Academically he is interested in the physical sciences. We live in the midwest, so nearby schools offer little in the way of climbing. Does anyone have any suggestions besides CU and Colorado State?
I know you have the best interests of your son in mind, and I can't believe I'm going to say this, but school needs to be the priority, not climbing. If you can get him within a couple hours of some climbing then that's awesome.
I don't know you or your son, or his study habits, but I can tell you that my grades slipped recently and my parents almost had my ass because I've been climbing too much. I pulled a D and a C- on my last semester and that was bad. I live an hour and a half from the New River Gorge at Va. Tech and climb every weekend, but I've found that I have to work my ass off to afford myself that time. I'm an engineering student in my 4th year for what it's worth.
What I'm trying to say is don't eliminate schools based on whether or not they're close to climbing destinations if they're good schools. It's not worth his education to sacrifice the quality of the school to put him somewhere where he can skip out and climb easy.
I'm at a great school near great climbing and it's very hard to keep up on all my 21 hours of course work, have time to climb, run my schools climbing club, and still breath.
(This post was edited by currupt4130 on Mar 31, 2009, 5:01 AM)
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coastal_climber
Mar 31, 2009, 5:07 AM
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Just a suggestion:
I'm 18, and the differences of what you want to do when you are 17 are a lot different than what you want to do a year later.
I've taken a year off since I've graduated; working, climbing, having fun. I would definitely recommend it. Gives a different perspective on the possibilities.
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cush
Mar 31, 2009, 2:15 PM
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SUNY new paltz. 15 minutes from the gunks.
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shockabuku
Mar 31, 2009, 2:26 PM
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University of New Mexico (Albuquerque) Will need a car but, really, he'll probably need a car anywhere to actually get to the climbing.
Colorado State is a great school (and if you qualify for in state rates it's pretty affordable) and the location is awful nice (I'm a grad student in physics there and I've got two kids in HS in town). Very good physical sciences and engineering programs.
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jeepnphreak
Mar 31, 2009, 2:53 PM
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mojede wrote: Bias here, but it goes with the question. Montana State University-Bozeman University of Montana-Missoula Montana Tech-Butte All have tons of rock nearby with great outdoor adventure potential. MSU is strong in Engineering (ME and CE) and Geology Tech excels in Petroleum Engineering and Minerals UofM has a good Forestry department Research colleges thoroughly for academia--if there's any decent rock nearby, he'll be happy.
Rah Rah!! I voutch, any of those will have some choice climing, but not much year around. It get pretty cold and snowy. But there are climbign gyms that are good.
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iron106
Mar 31, 2009, 2:56 PM
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University of Wyoming! Awesome in sciences. Cheap to live there as well.
Make sure he goes to summer school. Taking only 1 class, that way he can max out his climbing there.
I use to ride my bike on the interstate to get to the climbing. Not the best idea there, but it is doable.
Also you can get to other climbing areas from there for the long weekends.
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ACJ
Mar 31, 2009, 3:10 PM
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I would recommend checking out western North Carolina. The three main colleges to check would be Western Carolina University in Cullohwee (small town) University of North Carolina - Asheville (diverse town) and Appalachian State University in Boone which was recently placed as #10 on the top ten list of cities to live in for climbers. Two of those three schools have great gyms on campus and the third is building one soon.
North Carolina has TONS of trad and bouldering. Sport is a little harder to track down but we are within 3-5 hours of Chattanooga, the Red River Gorge, and the New River Gorge all of which have great sport, not to mention their trad.
North Carolina also has great year round weather. It's easy to find shade and higher elevations in the summer, and in the winter we have sun baked cliffs and boulder fields to play in.
So again, look into western NC. Those three main schools should have all the degrees he would be interested in, if not there are many other small colleges in the area.
I have worked and travelled earning my bachelors and masters degrees in other states and definitely think that if he wants to go somewhere new to live for a few years and climb, NC is a great option.
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olderic
Mar 31, 2009, 3:32 PM
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As a few others have mentioned - if climbing and not academics is the priority - its a waste of time and $$$ for him to go to school NOW. Take a small fraction of the $50K (cost of a year at a good school today) and send him on a year's road trip. That might be the best "education" at this point. Reassess after that.
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camhead
Mar 31, 2009, 3:32 PM
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Viktor123 wrote: Well, you have University of Iowa. Which have a pretty decent climbing gym. That is where I climb at the moment, I recomend it. Even though I'm not a studen there; the price of going there is pretty cheap, I think it is like 60 bucks each semester. http://www.recserv.uiowa.edu/ is the link to their field house. Well, outside climbing can be a little hard in Iowa, but that's what you got the "Touch the Earth" program for; they arrange trips all around the us about hiking and climbing. I hope this helped you!;)
classic. fail. heh.
Oh, and more schools near great climbing, in no order and just off the top of my head, that have not been mentioned yet:
Utah State University
Southern Utah University
University of Utah
Northern Arizona University
Ft. Lewis College, Colorado
New Mexico Tech
University of Kentucky
University of Nevada, Reno
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
University of Tennessee, Chattanooga
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reno
Mar 31, 2009, 3:35 PM
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Univ. Georgia isn't far from a lot of quality cragging.
Neither is UT-Chattanooga.
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clee03m
Mar 31, 2009, 3:42 PM
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How about Cali? Standford, UC anywhere, Harvey Mudd, Cal Tech, there are too many great schools to list all.
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Wunderkind
Mar 31, 2009, 3:53 PM
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More ideas:
UTEP (Univ. Texas El Paso... hello Hueco)
UC Riverside (JTree)
Univ. of Arizona
These are all very warm in the summer but you could get some early AM desert climbing I suppose. You also have no regard for your child's future if you send them to UTEP or UCR.
If there is any time that you really don't need to live near good rock, it is during college. when else are you free to road trip at a moment's notice? he can go to school in Kansas, road trip in every direction, and he'll probably have a more diverse and positive climbing experience than if he lives next door to one crag and just stays home every weekend. There are exceptions to this obviously.
my 2 cents, hope the troll is no longer hungry.
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shockabuku
Mar 31, 2009, 3:53 PM
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You might look into the Colorado School of Mines, I'm not very familiar with their programs but the location might be nice.
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shockabuku
Mar 31, 2009, 3:56 PM
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currupt4130 wrote: climbersmother wrote: I am the mother of a 17 year old high school junior who wants to look at colleges and universities where he can climb (trad, sport and boulder) year round. Academically he is interested in the physical sciences. We live in the midwest, so nearby schools offer little in the way of climbing. Does anyone have any suggestions besides CU and Colorado State? I know you have the best interests of your son in mind, and I can't believe I'm going to say this, but school needs to be the priority, not climbing. If you can get him within a couple hours of some climbing then that's awesome. I don't know you or your son, or his study habits, but I can tell you that my grades slipped recently and my parents almost had my ass because I've been climbing too much. I pulled a D and a C- on my last semester and that was bad. I live an hour and a half from the New River Gorge at Va. Tech and climb every weekend, but I've found that I have to work my ass off to afford myself that time. I'm an engineering student in my 4th year for what it's worth. What I'm trying to say is don't eliminate schools based on whether or not they're close to climbing destinations if they're good schools. It's not worth his education to sacrifice the quality of the school to put him somewhere where he can skip out and climb easy. I'm at a great school near great climbing and it's very hard to keep up on all my 21 hours of course work, have time to climb, run my schools climbing club, and still breath.
OTOH there are plenty of good schools near good climbing and there's no reason that shouldn't be a factor in determining where to go to school. Part of getting an education is getting an education about life and balancing priorities. Kids really need to start doing that younger than this typically sheltered generation is doing.
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cavemanNdisguise
Mar 31, 2009, 4:16 PM
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Eastern Kentucky University is less than an hour from the Red River Gorge. There is an abundance of quality Trad and Sport climbing there. As far as bouldering, you'll have to drive a few hours south into Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, which can be done on a weekend or holiday break. EKU also offers a fantastic climbing facility free to students, which is ran by the Adventure Programs, a university based organization which allows students to take outdoor-oriented trips for reduced rates. As far as education, I believe the school has a great college of health science and arts and sciences. Out of state tuition is reasonable compared to other schools as well. However, as others have mentioned, if your sending your child to a university, which will likely cost you a great deal as well as put your child into debt, his/her education should be of up most importance. The fact that the school is located near a climbing destination should be somewhat irrelevant. Climbing can get in the way of education and, for some, become a higher priority. On the other hand, it's important that students have a hobby or method of relieving stress otherwise education itself will break them down. As an EKU student graduating Cum Laude, climbing is (and will continue to be) this for me. Few others know your child as well as you do, so, the decision to send him/her to a school where climbing will become a major part of his/her life is up to you. I'd be happy to answer any other questions you might have.
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JakubBujak
Mar 31, 2009, 5:20 PM
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climbersmother wrote: I am the mother of a 17 year old high school junior who wants to look at colleges and universities where he can climb (trad, sport and boulder) year round. Academically he is interested in the physical sciences. We live in the midwest, so nearby schools offer little in the way of climbing. Does anyone have any suggestions besides CU and Colorado State?
I know you are trying to make college fun, but really, the focus should be on academics first and climbing second. Not to mention, if he loves climbing that much, you can find something to climb almost anywhere if you look hard enough.
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djlachelt
Mar 31, 2009, 5:22 PM
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jeepnphreak wrote: Rah Rah!! I voutch, any of those will have some choice climing, but not much year around. It get pretty cold and snowy. But there are climbign gyms that are good.
But clearly those universities in MT don't put much emphasis on grammar. 
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sspssp
Mar 31, 2009, 5:30 PM
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I think most of the posters on this thread are being too harsh. Climbing isn't going to take any more time than the amount of time a school sponsered athlete would put into a school sponsered sport. Climbing doesn't give you a scholarship, but most college athletes aren't getting a scholarship (or much of one) either.
Do you hear claims that so-and-so should be focused on their books instead of on track?
When I got into climbing, my Saturday night drinking plunged (well, one or two around the campfire, but a lot less of the party-until-dawn...).
I say enjoy life and do what motivates you. But if you aren't focused on academics, try to avoid racking up big education debts as you figure that out.
If you want year around climbing (and you are not into skiing) I would stay away from the northern areas (such as Montana) and consider the southwest and west: southern Colorado, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Tuscan, Salt Lake City, San Diego, etc.
(This post was edited by sspssp on Mar 31, 2009, 5:32 PM)
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djlachelt
Mar 31, 2009, 5:37 PM
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sspssp wrote: If you want year around climbing (and you are not into skiing) I would stay away from the northern areas (such as Montana) and consider the southwest and west: southern Colorado, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Tuscan, Salt Lake City, San Diego, etc.
Even in northern CO (front range) I've climbed outdoors every month this winter. But some winters that might not have been possible.
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clee03m
Mar 31, 2009, 5:42 PM
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I agree with this. I started climbing in medical school and finished residency
doing just fine. If I had started climbing in college, I probably would have done less of other stuff. It's up to the kid to get the most out of life including a good education.
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