This article is for those of you who are daring enough to spend less than four hours in the library per week. It is about extreme sports. More specifically, it is about rock climbing and playing paintball. And yes, you can find such activities in the area and for a relatively low price.
So I will begin with the closest and cheapest option for those of you who feel like doing something extreme. The new Recreation Center boasts a 30-ft climbing wall. Yes, it's bigger than the one that Loyola has. Another advantage of this wall is that you don't need any prior experience to use it. Staff members are there to supervise climbers between from 12-2 p.m. and after an extended lunch, from 6-10 p.m. on weekdays and on weekends from 1-5 p.m.
Students are free to use the wall during these hours, even if the heaviest thing lifted in the past six months was your orgo book. All that one must do is attend a simple one-hour course between 4 and 6 p.m. on any Monday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday (sign up for the course at the wall or by sending an email to jhuclimbing@hotmail.com).
If you're feeling more adventurous, you might want to check out Woodstock Rock, a 40-foot wall with small overhangs and two cold shuts at the top. I'm not exactly sure what this means, but from what I gather, this wall is meant for intermediate climbers. Woodstock Rock is located in a park on Old Court Rd. in the Patapsco Valley State Park.
"It's pretty good for a local area," said senior Nate Young of Woodstock Rock. "Outdoor climbing only costs whatever it costs you to get there."
Well, that's also assuming that you own your own equipment, a one-time price of about $250 (includes harness, ropes, shoes, etc.). If Hopkins' indoor climbing doesn't satiate your appetite, Young suggests Earth Treks, located in Colombia, Md. The wall there is 45 ft tall, has about five times the floor space and will set you back $16 for a day of climbing.
Nate manages to climb on an average of five times per week and helps to run the climbing wall at Hopkins. Seeking to place ourselves above Loyola, I asked him to compare our walls.
"Ours is better than other colleges," he said.
That's all I wanted to know.
What makes ours better? Not only is it bigger: Here, you have the option of "lead climbing," climbing while dragging rope behind yourself and clipping carabiners (those thick metal clips that some people use for key chains) to bolts in the wall as you ascend. The advantage of this is that you can climb in a place that doesn't have a set path. The disadvantage is that you can fall from 5-15 ft before the rope catches on the highest bolt you've hooked onto. Another disadvantage was pointed out when you find that you can't go any farther. In this case, you're going to have to leave behind a carabiner and go back down.
What happens to the poor little guy? Young proclaims, "either get stronger and come back later or somebody else gets it."
The other option available is "top roping," where the rope extends from the top of the wall to the bottom, where a spotter keeps close watch. The disadvantage: You're not cutting your own path. The advantage: You only fall about a foot.
If you'd rather keep your feet on the ground (and get shot at), maybe paintball is more your cup of tea. It's relatively cheap, and you can find
paintball arenas littered about the area. Paintball is even available at Roundtop, a local ski mountain. In fact, it's $20 cheaper to play a day of paintball than to purchase a one-day ski lift ticket.
Closer still is Paintball Sportsland, one of the most prominent paintball locations in the world. Boasting 85 acres of land, it's easy for one to get lost, hidden, or find a place to "let nature take its course." About a 50-min drive from Hopkins, "this place is well set-up, well laid-out, with tons of land." This came from junior Chris Reinig, a paintball veteran. "Employees there are friendly. They even came out and played with us when we didn't have enough people."
Fortunately, the employees there realize that they have a greater skill level than others who may not frequent their establishment and divide the teams equally.
"They have a great speedball course." Unsure of what he meant by "speedball," I consulted my dictionary, which informed me that it is the following: "Slang. An intravenous dose of cocaine mixed with heroin or an amphetamine." Praying that this wasn't what he meant, I returned to Reinig, and was informed that it is, "a game played in close quarters, with barrels and stuff set up." Thankful, I ended the interview.
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