red river gorge climbers' coalition

The route-setters and event coordinators address the competitors to clear up the rules of the comp. Photos: Laura Caporizzo

U of Pitt Raises More Than $1100 to Support the RRGCC

This February, the University of Pittsburgh held a climbing competition to benefit the RRGCC. They’re generosity can’t be understatated, especially when their efforts generated more than $1100 for the Coalition’s annual mission to raise $30,000 for the PMRP mortgage. 

On February 21st, 2009, climbers filled Trees Hall at the University of Pittsburgh’s climbing gym for the final competition in a series of competitions with surrounding universities. For the past several years during the spring semester, Pitt’s climbing wall has been part of this circuit of competitions known as the University Bouldering Series (UBS). This year, the schools that took part in the UBS were: Kent State University, The University of Akron, Youngstown State University, West Virginia University, University of Pittsburgh, and Slippery Rock University. The UBS is not limited to climbers from these participating schools, nor is it limited to student climbers. Competitors at Pitt’s comp were not only from the schools participating in the UBS; some climbers were also representing Carnegie Mellon University, University of Pennsylvania, and the Pittsburgh climbing community, along with many other climbing communities. The past two seasons, Pitt has decided to donate all of the proceeds from its bouldering competition to a worthy cause. Last year, Pitt donated their proceeds to Conservacion Patagonica, a cause “dedicated to the protection and restoration of wildland ecosystems and biodiversity in Patagonia.” This year, because several of the event coordinators love and cherish the climbing in the Red River Gorge, it was decided to donate the proceeds to the Red River Gorge Climbers Coalition (RRGCC). (more…)