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Mountaineering club so much more than climbing rocks

Mountains were made to be conquered. To traverse nature by means of hiking, biking and climbing is an endeavor that satisfies a certain, perhaps innate, human craving for exploration, and it’s often more fun to do it with friends.

UNM’s Mountaineering club has become well-versed with the Southwest over the last few decades, hosting events ranging from Wolf Creek snowboarding trips to rock climbing ventures in Joshua Tree National Park, among other wild expeditions.

The club provides training, equipment, means of travel and bimonthly gatherings for like-minded individuals to meet up and interact.

“Basically students pay $30 a semester and they get access to all our camping and climbing gear,” said Club President Rachel Swanteson-Franz. “The idea is to give people a community to explore the outdoors with. You need partners to climb with, so we try to cultivate a place to meet people for that.”

The club features two major trips every year to Indian Creek, Utah and Ouray, Colorado, where members practice traditional climbing and ice climbing respectively. For both trips, the club hires American Mountain Guides Association-certified guides to help teach students the intricacies of mountain climbing.

“The problem with a lot of outdoor sports is it’s really prohibitive in terms of costs, and also getting there. A lot of college students don’t have cars, so we carpool with our members and reimburse gas for those willing to drive,” Swanteson-Franz said.

As climbing is the primary activity of the club, students learn firsthand the skills used to safely traverse along cliff sides. Lessons begin with knot tying, belaying and proper climbing forms, but gradually become more advanced with techniques such as rappelling, anchor building and lead climbing.

The club also hosts smaller, more varied trips within New Mexico. Each officer is required to lead at least one trip, which can range anywhere from skiing to snowshoeing to hiking.

UNM Mountaineer Adam Clark joined the club two years ago, and said that the activities the club partakes in go beyond its name.

“It’s not just climbing. Slack-lining, snowboarding, biking — the club has everything,” Clark said. “Honestly it should just be called the UNM Outdoor Club for how many activities we cover.”

In terms of on-campus meetings, UNM Mountaineering members meet on the first Monday and third Tuesday of every month. It’s a great social environment, which more or less seems to be the point of the club.

“We usually have guest speakers, watch movies on climbing, practice with gear or just announce various events and let people mill about,” Swanteson-Franz said. “I never wanted to join a club that was too strict on agenda stuff like that, so the sessions are pretty relaxed.”

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The club’s most recent major expedition was a venture to Joshua Tree, California. Members spent the better part of a week bouldering, hiking and climbing around the national park’s Black Rock campsite.

Check out the UNM Mountaineering Club’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/groups/unmmtnclub as well as the group’s calender on sites.google.com/site/unmmountaineering/home.

Audrin Baghaie is a culture reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter 
@AudrinTheOdd.

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