The ISU Outdoor Recreation Center is focusing its workshop and trip schedule on rock climbing for the month of February.

Upcoming offerings include three rock climbing workshops and rock climbing trips to the University of Iowa and University of Northern Iowa. Students, faculty and staff can register for the workshops and the trip at the Outdoor Rec office in the basement of State Gym.

Each of the three workshops is geared toward a different ability level. The classes are taught on the climbing wall at Lied Recreation Center. Rock Climbing I is an introductory course to rock climbing where the focus will be safety tools and techniques. This workshop will be Feb. 19.

“In the first course you learn the basic elements,” said Jerry Rupert, coordinator of Outdoor Recreation Center and its programs. “You learn how to tie into the rope, how to belay safely and climbing commands.”

After completing the course, Rupert said, the participant will be “belay certified” on the ISU climbing wall. This means that students could hold the rope for another climber. Rupert said students do not necessarily have to take the course to become certified on the climbing wall.

“You have the option to come in and take a skills test and show that you have the knowledge,” Rupert said. “We have a checklist that we go through. If you have never climbed before or fail the test then you must take the introductory course to be certified.”

The second course is a follow-up to the first. Rock Climbing II teaches climbing fundamentals, a brief overview of climbing grades and a discussion on training tips and techniques. It will be held Feb. 20. Nick Monserud, an employee of the Outdoor Rec Center, said that there are still 11 registration spots left for the first course and seven for the second.

The final workshop, open to eight participants, is an advanced rock climbing course that will focus on aspects, attributes and pitfalls of lead climbing. Lead climbing involves learning how to place protection or attach ropes to the rock and how to clip into it, Rupert said.

“These are introductory level courses to the skills,” Rupert said. “You have to take these skills and practice, practice, practice before you can go out and do it.”

The Outdoor Rec is sponsoring a trip to the climbing walls of the University of Iowa and Northern Iowa on the weekend of Feb. 22 and 23. Monserud said there are six spots left open for this trip.

“The price of the trip includes the cost of transportation,” Monserud said. “There won’t be any instruction. It will just be an opportunity to experience their walls.”