Name: Reed Brooks
Year: Senior
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Hometown: Wilmett, Illinois
HC: How did you get into rock climbing?
RB: I grew up in Chicago and my best friend’s dad rock climbs a lot. My friend and I were kids and they had a climbing wall in their basement, we’d play around down there. He took us out to Devil’s Lake, Wisconsin for my first climb.
HC: What made you want to get involved with outdoor pursuits?
RB: I got interested through the rock wall, I worked at one in Minnesota so that led me to the one here at the rec.
HC: Why should students at UAB start climbing or go on an Outdoor Pursuits adventure?
RB: They’re great opportunities to exercise and to be physically fit…Outdoor Pursuits is a great way to see the national beauty of the state we live in.
HC: What’s your favorite rock/mountain/surface you’ve ever climbed? What’s your highest/most difficult?
RB: The Great Arch in North Carolina was my favorite. It’s a beautiful feature that slopes for 400-500 feet. The mountain arches and there’s a huge crack in the feature. My highest was called “The Daddy”. It was probably 550-600 feet straight up.
HC: What do you feel when you look down after completing a climb?
RB: It depends on where I am. A lot of times it’s just amazingly beautiful because you can see great views from the top.
To check out UAB’s Outdoor Pursuits, go here: http://studentaffairs.uab.edu/CampusRecreation/outdoor.html