Climbing is a great alternative to traditional sports in college. It’s adrenaline-fueled and interactive- the perfect sport for many college students. Not many schools offer scholarships for climbing, but if you’re thinking of taking climbing to the collegiate level, there are many colleges that offer competitive teams and first class climbing gyms.
There are tons of colleges in the Pacific Northwest with competitive teams that travel around the PNW. University of Washington, U of Oregon, and U of Idaho all have walls and teams.
Colorado University in Boulder obviously has great climbing culture due to the location. Boulder has a great community of climbers and the campus has no shortage of gyms and walls. “The Rec” features 7,000 square feet of toprope, lead, and bouldering. In addition, CU Boulder offers classes on rock climbing.
University of Arkansas’ climbing gym boasts bouldering, toproping, lead climbing, and two autobelays for solo sessions. They offer classes and have a multitude of events including blacklight bouldering and ladies night.
University of Alaska Fairbanks features an Ice Wall for climbers adventurous enough to tackle climbing the outdoor ice tower.
Stanford boasts two high end climbing gyms on campus and more square footage of climbing gym than any other college in the country. The gyms are also home to the Stanford Climbing Gym which took third place in the 2017 USA National Climbing Championships.
Cornell, Dartmouth, and the University of North Texas all also feature high end climbing gyms with various options for any climbing experience.
Although no schools offer scholarships for climbing, USA Climbing is awarding $3,000 in scholarships to climbers chosen by the panel of individuals active in the Collegiate Climbing Community. Check out more information on the scholarship here.
If you decide to take climbing to the collegiate level there are tons of options. While these colleges are known for their climbing gyms, many large universities include a climbing or bouldering wall in their gyms. Climbing is a sport that can be done all throughout one’s life and college is the perfect time to embark or continue your journey.