A new type of athlete will be drawn to the Lied Recreation Center with the opening of the climbing wall this semester.The wall is located in what used to be the first racquetball court on the west end of the rec. It offers students a no-cost opportunity to experience something that is not easy to find in Iowa. “Recreation Services thought it would attract another type of student to the facility,” said Mike Harvey, associate director of Recreation Services. The variety of levels allows beginners to climb straight up with minimal challenges and advanced climbers to climb walls angled out up to 10 feet.”It’s free, and this is a really good wall for a university because it has a good range of difficulties,” said Barry Bradford, senior in animal science. “There’s some easy [routes] and there’s also some challenging ones.”Harvey said the wall itself cost $67,776, not including equipment and staffing.”Day to day operation is out of our reserve funds which we eventually hope to get student fees to pay for,” he said, “but the construction and the equipment for it is paid for out of the facility improvement funds.”Audra McBride, program coordinator for the outdoor rec center who headed the development of the wall, said by changing the holds as needed, the routes will give climbers a new experience each time. “We have about 500 holes that came with the wall, and we can change the configuration of the wall almost indefinitely,” said McBride. Besides top-rope climbing, there is also a lead climbing for more experienced climbers. This allows the climbers to ascend the wall and then place anchors and rope in the rock.”The danger comes in if the climber falls after they’ve passed their last anchor,” McBride said. “When this happens, the climber falls twice the distance from their current position to the last place the rope was anchored.” The wall also created with a push from the mountaineering club who has been following the progression of the construction and training. Club President Timothy Boland said the wall will affect the number of members in the club. “I don’t see how it can’t,” Boland said. “We’ll get people climbing indoors, and that will get them into climbing outdoors and into the climbing experience.” Brian Block, senior in philosophy who is the student climbing wall coordinator, said he first got involved with climbing to get away from the frustrations of team sports.”It’s great because you build really good bonds with people,” Block said. “It’s serious – you’re putting your life in another person’s hands.” McBride said although the rec would like to keep it open for more hours, more money is needed to pay the staff.The goal of the wall isn’t to make money, McBride said. “If we’re meeting the needs of the university, we’ll be a success. That’s what’s important.”Currently, the wall is open 4-10 p.m. Monday-Thursdays, 4-8 p.m. Fridays and 6-10 p.m. Sundays.To climb, students need to show their fee and identification cards and sign a liability waiver. Equipment is provided, and other equipment such as chalk bags and climbing shoes can be rented for a small fee. More information about orientation and belay classes for the climbing wall is available by calling Recreation Services at 294-8200.