Your pulse is racing. A bead of sweat rolls down your cheek, falling off. For some reason, you agreed to rock climb and your nerves are getting the best of you. You look down. Someone is encouraging you to keep going. Suddenly, you get a second wind, pull yourself up and you touch the top part of the rock.

You’re not on a death-defying climb outdoors, you’re in the Student Recreational Center at CSUB, taking part of a rock climb with the SRC Climbing Club. Forming in the summer of 2018, the SRC Climbing Club launched on campus in Fall 2018.

Audrey Chhun, 19, a sophomore kinesiology major, is the president and she decided to organize her friends and their love for rock climbing. Chhun explained, “I thought that, since some of us like to climb, we decided to form the club.”

Chhun recruits members and works with the SRC coordinator to schedule trips and find colleges to compete against. Chhun is excited for the inclusion of rock climbing in next year’s Summer Olympics.
“It’s an upcoming sport,” she said.

She created a bouldering competition, which is a form of free-climbing without a harness. Heights will not be higher than 20 feet said Chhun.
Boulder Bash is an upcoming competition in May. The free-climbing competition will be between CSUB and CSU Northridge in Santa Clarita.

“It’s important because people are getting outdoors and trying new things,” she said.

Aaron Bounthong, 19, a sophomore psychology major, is a member. He joined despite not having experience in climbing of any kind.

“When I first came to CSUB, I saw the rock wall and wanted to try it out,” he said.“The people there were super friendly and we became great friends.”

Bounthong said it’s great for the campus to have the climbing club because it allows students to flourish, rather than simply go to class and go home directly after. Bounthong said that he used to have a fear of heights.

“Try things that scare you,” he said. “Once you push past that level of fear, no matter how big or small, it becomes that much more fun.”

Tiffany Wong, a part-time lecturer in English composition and club advisor, said the students created the club to build a climbing community. “Climbing is becoming a much more popular sport,” said Wong.

Wong said that the students wanted to compete on and off campus and recognized USC (SC Climbing) and UC Santa Barbara’s (UCSB Climbing Team) competitive teams for their push to be recognized.

CSUB’s team requires 10 members to compete at each competition. The club has 25 members according to Wong.
The team practices every week in the SRC. So, if you see a group of people at the rock wall pushing each other, it’s possible that it’s the team members.
Don’t be surprised if one of them reaches out to you to climb with them.