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One Blazer’s View from the Top

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Jaime Ritter Student Contributor, University of Alabama at Birmingham
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UAB chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

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

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Jaime Ritter

Jaime is a junior at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. There she is the captain of her varsity golf team and a journalism and English double-major. She is an active member in the Student Athletic Advisory Committee where she helps organize volunteer opportunities and social functions for student-athletes at UAB. Jaime enjoys cooking, entertaining friends, reading/writing blogs, fashion, and of course, golf. She aspires to eventually write for a major magazine or write chick-lit books.