Given Lander’s well-deserved reputation as “a mecca for rock climbers, offering some of the most thrilling and challenging climbs in the world,” it should come as no surprise that climbing is a significant part of our students’ outdoor activities while here in town. And it’s equally unsurprising that their interest flows over into Spring Break each year, including two climbing trips that are spending their time in Colorado this week.

Both will be spending the majority of their climbing time at Shelf Road, located in south central Colorado and “home to many quality sport climbing routes, vertical limestone and is well known as one of the best climbing sites in Colorado. A sport climber’s mecca with nearly 1000 routes on bombproof pocketed limestone. Routes vary from 5.7- 5.13 mostly bolted routes.”

The week’s itinerary is littered with the colorful monikers of various legendary routes the groups will be attempting: Bank Rob Buttress, Cactus Rose Cliff, Piggy Bank, 2150 Wall, and the Lesser of 2 Evils. While the majority of the group’s time will be devoted to climbing, the evenings will include geological conversations of such Wyoming features as Vedauwoo (a secluded rocky oasis in southeastern Wyoming) and The Great Unconformity, as well as grappling with “integration” questions connected to their climbing activities, such as “why do people like to climb? Is climbing a leisurely activity? If so, how? Is there an ‘ideal’ attitude to have when climbing? And how can climbing help us to know ourselves? How can the dependence and need for trust we experience in climbing open us up to an experience of the good?”

Towards the end of the week, the two groups’ itineraries will diverge. One will remain in and around the Shelf Road area, while the other will head to Denver for a very different kind of adventure: joining Christ in the City for one of their Mission Weeks, where our students will have the opportunity to take part in their apostolate to the poor. “Christ in the City’s saying is love until it hurts, which comes from Mother Teresa,” said one past participant. “It hangs on the wall in the main dining hall, reminding us all of what we’re doing and why we’re here.”

Students have been visiting Christ in the City over Spring Break for a number of years: a partnership spearheaded by Dr. Travis Dziad, Assistant Professor of Theology, Leadership, and Outdoor Education at the College, who often brings his wife and children along, as well. At first, the shift from climbing routes, belays, and carabiners to providing nourishment, solace, and companionship for the homeless might feel like an abrupt one, but as we’ve seen in the past, these young people will learn many of the same lessons from their missionary work as they do from the climbing they undertook earlier in the week. They will “return from their time at Christ in the City having pushed themselves with new challenges (both physical and emotional), having learned valuable lessons about themselves and the world around them, and having grown in virtue as a result of their immersion in this world of real suffering and of real love.”

By the time they return safely to Lander on Saturday, we’ll have yet another example of just how atypical the Spring Break experience is here at Wyoming Catholic, and a perfect reminder of just now remarkable our students are. Please prayerfully consider joining our Spring Break Flash Campaign, to ensure that these young people continue to learn from their time immersed in the transformative educational vision and extraordinary community of Wyoming Catholic College!

Gifts made through the form linked above will automatically be assigned to the Flash Campaign, and will appear in the Goal Meter at the top of our main Campaign page as it is updated each day. If you would prefer to make a gift over the phone, via check, or through another philanthropic vehicle (such as a gift of stock or a mutual fund transfer), please contact the Office of Institutional Advancement at oia@wyomingcatholic.edu or by phone at (877) 332-2930, and the Advancement team will ensure your gift is assigned to the Spring Break campaign.