Thanks to the TINCUP Partner in Adventure Grant, leadership at Chicago Adventure Therapy are making waves to increase equitable access to outdoor climbing. By putting safe rock climbing knowledge in the hands of an organization that is already getting Chicago youth outside, a simple anchor building class can have huge ripple effects that shape the future of our climbing community.
Chicago Adventure Therapy (CAT) offers programing like cycling, climbing, paddling, camping, group initiatives & team building, navigation, hiking, and even First Aid/CPR certification for Chicago youth and adults. They offer extensive scholarships and discounts so that finances are less of a barrier to participating in these incredibly rewarding activities.
While the leadership at CAT has a strong paddling background, they are still building capacity to support an enthusiastic and growing group of young climbers from Chicago's underserved communities.
Thanks to the TINCUP Partner in Adventure Grant, CAT's Laura Statesir (Director of Operations), Andrea Knepper (Executive Director), and Zorbari Nwidor (Senior Program Staff) took Anchors I, II, and III, with Devil’s Lake Climbing Guides.
"We learned knots, rigging, and placing protection for natural and artificial anchor systems (top-rope climbing / rappelling), as well as how to manage cliff-top safety. We also learned how to set anchors in a way that reduces the impact visually and environmentally, in a multi-use area.
"The CAT Climbing Community is a group of youth from under-served and marginalized communities who do something climbing related together twice a month, year-round. It is completely free and connects these youth with adult volunteers and the wider climbing community, creating access to a sport they would otherwise not have. The expertise we gained from this grant will help us introduce a new and diverse generation to climbing and paves the way for us to increase the number of youth we take climbing per year."
Not only did the grant broaden CAT's capacity to support climbing dreams, but the classes themselves challenged Laura, Andrea, and Zorbari in ways they hadn't expected.
"It was a challenging three days. Setting anchors requires perfection because your life and the lives of others depend on you. 'Good enough' isn’t going to cut it; knots have to be tied correctly and pro has to be placed properly. It was stressful and mentally exhausting. Learning new things is something we ask the participants in our adventure therapy programs to do all the time. Sometimes I forget what it’s like to feel stressed and challenged in that way. This course was a good reminder of how our participants might feel, gave me some new coping tools, and increased my empathy."
How might the next steps in your climbing education create ripple effects in the climbing community? Let TINCUP be a partner in your future adventures, and apply to the Partner In Adventure Grant, open from October 1 to November 8, 2021.