At the beginning of the spring semester, The Rock Climbing Collective at The New School received funding both from the Student Senate and Student Leadership and Involvement to host rock-climbing events through the school, giving students access to climbing gyms at a reasonable price while socializing with other students through physical wellness.
Ellen Gerberick, the club’s President and Founder, sat down with me, Evelyn Pereira, the club’s Vice President to discuss the process of creating this organization along with her experience and passion for rock climbing.
Evelyn Pereira: Why did you want to create this organization?
Ellen Gerberick: I think a lot of times going into college, people are scared to meet friends for the first time. Myself included. I was scared to make that connection with friends just like I had in high school. I wanted to create a climbing organization to meet people who are interested in climbing, or share the same passion as me, and make friends through that.
EP: Yeah, I get that. I was definitely nervous to make friends when I first got to college, that is why I was so grateful you offered for me to be a part of this organization. I had never really climbed before, but I had always been into health and wealth. I loved the idea of creating a community around that.
EG: Yes, a lot of people feel that way which is why I started the rock climbing collective at The New School out of a passion for wanting to build a community of climbers and meet new friends. Also to get people to try something new or continue their passion for climbing.
EP: How did you get started climbing?
EG: I started climbing when I was in third grade. It was during a snow day in Boston and my Mom’s co-work took me to a climbing gym. That is where I first started climbing…I immediately loved climbing, when I first got on the wall. I got home and I told my mom I wanted to sign up for lessons.
EP: What was it about climbing that you immediately loved?
EG: I think it was the thrill of trying a new sport. Throughout preschool, and elementary school I tried many different sports: soccer, gymnastics, swimming and running, but I never really fell in love with any of them. With climbing, I really found my passion.
EP: Now I know you were on a competitive team back in Boston, How did you begin competing?
EG: I started competing in fifth grade, I was around ten. When I first joined the competitive team, I was one of the youngest athletes on the team. I was very nervous and intimidated by a lot of the other competitors, and some of my older teammates. The first competition I ended up going to was a regional competition. I had no clue what the structure would be like, and I was just there to climb. I climbed and I ended up getting third place.
EP: Wow, what that must have felt like.
EG: To go to my first competition, and get third place was very surprising but it showed me that I had what it takes.
EP: What was it like competing?
EG: Competing to me was thrilling. I never really liked competing in sports before, but climbing was different because you really had that support from your other teammates while you were climbing. You compete individually but you train as a team.
EP: Yes, that individual aspect is really what draws a lot of people to it. What do you think competing and being in that team environment taught you?
EG: I realized that I was pretty good at climbing through competitions, which really brought me confidence not only in climbing but in other areas of my life. It really helped me, especially through the stresses of school…it also brought me really closer to many different friends and many different people. I loved getting to know all those people, and many of those connections I still have today.
EP: How do you think those years of competing helped you to create an organization now?
EG: I had a good connection with my coach and he taught me a lot about climbing skills, and how to start a building community around climbing. Throughout my time on the team, I became really close with the other athletes. Our team was a family, and having had that good connection with my coaches and the great experience of an amazing team, set me up with the skills to create an organization elsewhere.
EP: Are you still climbing or competing? Are you involved with anything rock climbing-related outside of school?
EG: I’m currently a climbing coach for a youth competitive group in New York, and it’s really interesting to see the other side of it. To be a coach now, after I was a climber, a competitor. You really have an appreciation for your coaches and all the hard work that they put into their lesson plans. And the way they help get you prepared for competitions. I loved my coaches growing up. I think that they did an amazing job of teaching… how to work as a team, how to be better for ourselves, and just how to love climbing, and have a passion for it. I wanted to give that back to the younger generation, and give back from what I was given.
EP: How did you get started in creating this club?
EG: I went to an event with Student Leadership and Involvement this past October, and I met a lot of wonderful people there. I asked students attending the event if they would be interested in a climbing organization at the school and a lot of them said yeah they would love it. After collecting names, I was able to present my idea to both SLI and the Student Senate, and we were granted funding for those organizations.
EP: And why was getting funding for this organization so important?
EG: It was very important to us that students could access our events at a reasonable price. Usually climbing is expensive, the day passes are a decent amount of money, and it would be hard to ask students to pay for those day passes each time we would go. We are so grateful The New School community was supportive of this idea, as we would have never been able to give students access to this activity without their help.
EP: How do events work?
EG: As of right now our events are held once a month, on a select Saturday of that month. The students can go to Narwhal Nation and sign up to be a member of the Rock Climbing Collective under the organization tabs, along with being able to RSVP to events. We are only able to take a certain amount of people with us to the gyms, so it is really important students sign up in time to get a spot.
EP: What do you see the future of this club being?
EG: I would love to do more events within a month, but that is hard with funding. There are usually a lot of people that want to go, but when it comes to large groups there are only so many people the gym can take on. We tend to have a long waitlist, so I would like to have more events to allow more students to participate.
EP: That sounds great, yes I would love that too! Anything to get more people involved.
EG: And I would love to start teaching members who come frequently more skills, like belaying and how to approach bouldering, and overall climbing skills. Make it more of an organization that meets frequently instead of just events.
EP: Yes that sounds great! Well, good luck and thank you so much for sitting down with me.
EG: Thank you for showing interest in our club! Our last event was this past weekend on Saturday, so we are looking forward to next year!
To go along with this article check out The Rock Climbing Collective’s official Instagram page for more information about the club, along with the Insider Look video on their page to get an idea of how fun events are!