The Tufts Rock Climbing Team has seen plenty of growth in size and participation over the last three years, which has culminated in a peak of about 50 members this season.
According to captain Emmett Moore, the team has been officially recognized by Tufts Athletics as a Tier II Recreational Club Sport for five years. Since then, it has received support from the athletics department for participation in local competitions, he said.
Moore, a senior, said that interest in climbing has grown tremendously throughout his time on the team. Team membership was about 10 climbers during his sophomore year, rose to about 30 climbers last year and is now at about 50 climbers.
Moore, who climbed for the first time in college, believes that the team’s openness to all skill levels is a key reason for its growth.
“We have people that have been climbing for their entire lives and we have people that have never climbed before,” he said. “We try to make sure we have people like that, that are still able to join, that's probably why the team is so big today.”
According to Moore, the team has separate novice and advanced practice groups, both of which train weekly with coaches at MetroRock Climbing Center in Everett, Mass., with some of the more experienced climbers training independently. While practices are officially held once a week, Moore said that climbers typically climb up to four times a week.
The team primarily trains and competes in bouldering, which means climbing without ropes. The current climbing season officially began on Feb. 14, but some climbers chose to compete independently during the off-season, according to Moore. Although the season is just beginning, Moore said that many climbers saw success last season and that this year's group is likely to be competitive as well.
“We definitely have a pretty strong team this year,” he said.
According to Moore, the team came in second place overall at the Collegiate Climbing Series (CCS) New England Regional Competition in 2014. Nine Tufts climbers competed, and three placed third or better in their events: Moore placed third in Men's Advanced, and former captain Kearney Coghlan (LA '14) and sophomore Frankie Caiazzo placed second and third, respectively, in Women's Advanced.
Some of the team members have seen success in other competitions, including a first-place finish by Caiazzo and a third-place finish by Coghlan at MetroRock's all-female competition, Iron Maiden, held last spring. In the off-season, first-year Brooke Weil won The Heist, an all-female climbing competition at Central Rock Gym in Watertown, Mass.
Having climbed since she was eight -- and competitively throughout high school -- Caiazzo said that the Tufts team helped her appreciate the recreational aspects of climbing. She emphasized that what she loves best about it are the excursions that the team takes to climb outside on real rock.
“We only train with a coach once or twice a week," she said. "So it's more about learning what you want and learning that you love climbing than it is about ... making leaps and bounds in a competitive atmosphere.”
Serving as the team’s co-captain next year along with Weil, Caiazzo will compete along with two first-years on the team at the Sport Climbing Series National Championships in Watertown, Mass. this Friday and Saturday. Although there are no qualifications necessary to compete, Caiazzo likened the competition to a professional national championship for the sport and said that all of the “big names” will be competing.
Although she is not sure if she is ready for the competition, Caiazzo feels she needs to take the opportunity while it presents itself since the competition is being held locally this year.
"I don't know if I'm really ready, but it's here, so ... I might as well try."
If it were being held farther away, Caiazzo says she would probably not have been able to go due to the cost of traveling out of the region.
In addition to the team's acceptance of all skill levels, Moore also attributed its growth to the expansion of the climbing community in Boston. He explained that four new local climbing gyms have opened up in the past 18 months, which has led to the establishment of many new competitions.
“These gyms sort of feel like they have to compete [with] each other to put on all these competitions, which has been great for us as a team because we have so many more opportunities to compete,” he explained.
Along with hosting additional competitions, Caiazzo noted that local climbing gyms have been hosting more intercollegiate events to support and foster the Boston climbing community. One example is the "college sleepover" hosted by MetroRock every semester, which includes climbing-related movies, open-climbing and basic instruction for new climbers. This semester's sleepover will be held this Friday.
“I’ve participated in my fair share of overnight lock-ins,” Caiazzo said. “They're a great opportunity for getting to know people in the [Boston climbing community].”
Because of the team’s growth, climbers’ goals and commitment levels have started to vary, Moore said. While about 20 team members compete, the rest only practice, and many climb outdoors.
For Moore, enabling team members to climb outside is a top priority.
"It's a different, but a very – in my opinion – important part of climbing ... to get climbing outside,” he said. “So I've tried to allow people to learn how to do that within the team."
Sophomore Rachel Rubinstein enjoys the community aspect of the team, and said climbing outdoors was an important part of her climbing experience.
“We just came back from a spring break trip at the Red River Gorge [in Slade, Ky.] climbing with many team members," she said. "And it was awesome to take the skills outside and hang with friends doing stuff we love.”
She said that the communal aspect of climbing extends far beyond the team and the Boston area.
“Once climbing is part of your life you can join the climbing community in any city and meet people that you think are awesome,” she said.
Moore agreed, noting the supportive nature of climbing as a sport.
“In a climbing competition, or if you're climbing outside, you can have a beginner line next to the hardest line in the country, and there's no barriers that really stop you from having that distinction between skill level,” he said. “It makes it one of the most supportive sports that I've ever experienced in my life.”
He hopes that success in the future will not detract from the welcoming nature of the climbing team.
“So many people, for longer than I have even been at Tufts, have worked very hard to help people improve, climb outside, compete and welcome climbers of all abilities to our community,” he said. “I am proud that we have grown from 20 to 50 without ever having to tell anybody they cannot join.”
Participation in Tufts Rock Climbing Team reaches new heights
