Wednesday, October 14, 1981
page 12
daily nebraskan
Rock-crazy climbers get high on mountain peaks
By Ken Havlat
Head for the high country.
Coors uses that expression to sell beer. Climbers use
that expression to tell others the place they would rather
be.
The UNL Recreation Department began its rock climb
ing program in 1975 when the first basic rock climbing
seminar was held at a rock quarry, said Mark Ebel,
outdoor recreation coordinator.
'They (the people teaching the course) found this site
to be unacceptable because it didn't give a true indication
of what rock climbing encompasses, Ebel said.
"It was a challenge to get a program started here," Ebel
said. "We first found a site near Rapid City, S.D., but it
wouldn't allow us to teach a course in a single weekend.
Then we found a site near Sioux Falls, S.D., and we sent a
geologist to check out the site."
The site found was Palisades State Park, which has be
come a popular location for rock climbing enthusiasts in
the area. It took the first three years to recruit students to
get the program off the ground, Ebel said.
"Now demand is such, a new trip offered fills in a
matter of days," he said.
Gannett Peak
This last summer five UNL students, Laird Haberlan,
John Kay, Jim Carveth, Randy Sanford and Don Holm
quist, took a month off to climb in and around Gannett
Peak in western Wyoming. At 13,785 feet, it is the highest
peak in Wyoming. Holmquist said the trip required
planning two months in advance. The group placed its
Men, women crews
glide past Creighton
By Kevin Warneke
The UNL men's and women's crew club opened its
season on the right stroke by defeating Creighton Univer
sity in dual action Oct. It.. s
The meiC team, swept both. races in the varsity and
novice category,, while the women's club captured both
races in the varsity category.
Races are in two different divisions: the eight- and
four-man race. An eight-man race consists of each side
having eight rowers and a coxswain. In four-man races
each team has four rowers and a coxswain. The coxswain's
job is to steer the board and also yell out orders. The
women's clubs have the same kind of races.
The difference between the varsity and novice teams,
according to Pam Shotkowski coach of women's crew, is
novice rowers are those in their first year rowing, while
varsity rowers have had at least one year of experience.
She added that some novice members are juniors and
seniors at UNL.
"Anyone is welcome to join providing they are willing
to put in a lot of time and work hard " Shotkowski said.
The rowing club gets no money from the university.
It receives all of its money either from donations or fund
raising.
The UNL and Creighton crew clubs are jointly hosting
the Midwest Regatta at Carter Lake in Omaha Oct. 25.
Merriman said about 10 teams will participate including
three or four Big Eight schools. Merriman, lists Minnesota's
women's crew and Wichita State's men crew to be tough
opponents or Nebraska. He said Nebraska has an excel'
lent chance of winning though..
"This year the men's and women's crew are working
together as one crew Merriman said..
STOtrfe shorts
The Nebraska soccer club
defeated Concordia College
3-0 Mondays The win left
the team with a 74 record
The Huskers will play at
York College Thursday and
will travel to Manhattan
Kan., Saturday to play the
WEdcats at KSU Stadium
immediately before the
Nebraska-Kansas State foot
ball game
Nebraska was ranked
14th in the United Press
International football poll
released Monday. The
Huskers came in 19th in the
Associated Press poll.
Missouri was the only other
Big Eight team to make the
AP list corning in eighth.
True Tigers were also eighth
in the UPi rankings.. Iowa
State was 17th and Okla
homa 19th in the UP! poll..
Texas received the top rank'
ing by both wire services.
freeze-dried food order and got its topographical maps for
the region from the U.S. Geological Survey office in
Laramie, Wy.
"When we got there it was cloudy, Holmquist said.
"We walked four miles on a glacier before we got to our
base camp. It snowed, hailed and you could see lightning
streaking down the mountainside."
When planning the trip, Holmquist said they didn t
want to encounter too many people.
"Gannett is a popular peak to hike in from the north
but instead, we got permission to go through the (Wind
River) Indian Reservation and get a back-country permit
from the Forest Service offices in Kemmerer, Wy.,' Holm
quist said. "We felt it would be-a challenge to get away
from the mainstream crowd. We expected to see quite a
bit of litter, but, I guess people feel and give more towards
the environment than they used to.'
Typical day
"A typical day would be: get up, gather wood for the
fire, if there was enough to be found, prepare breakfast
and get cleaned up. It was total group effort. Everyone
pitched in," Holmquist said. "Depending on the day,
some were for packing , other days climbing, and there
were days we stayed at base camp and fished. We caught
strings of brook trout in some lakes that looked like they
had never been fished in before."
The hassels you might expect in planning a trip of this
type didn't occur, Holmquist said.
"We found the restrictions to be minimal," he said.
"They do have rangers that walk the trails and ask for
your walk up papers to let them know where you are.
They also ask you to check in at the ranger station before
you begin.
"It was a great feeling to be on top of the peaks during
the day and at other times we had our frisbee and it was
pretty much a party time for us on the trip. At times we
would sit around and tell stories. It (the trip) allowed us
to get to know each other better" Holmquist said.
Ebel said climbing Gannett Peak in the winter was
"something we wanted to accomplish."
Female misconception
"There are a lot of misconceptions about rock climb
ing. First, people perceive rock climbing being difficult.
Women tend to believe this stereotyping and therefore,
don't do it. Second, people think rock climbing takes a lot
of .arm strength. Once you get into climbing, you dis
cover the use of your feet is more important. Even strong
men weaken using only their arms," Ebel said.
Women have been noticeably absent from the basic
rock climbing seminars, Ebel said. He estimated that out
of the 14 participants, an average of two women go on
most trips. He said he would like to see the number of
women at the seminars increase.
Ebel said Christy Tews, one of the members of the
successful 1978 climb on Annapurna, a peak in the
Himalays is among those attending the basic rock seminar
at Palisades State Park this weekend. Tews will speak in
the Nebraska Union Monday at 2:30 p.m. and present a
free slide seminar on the Annapurna ascent at 7:30 p.m.
Ebel said it is noteworthy because it is the first all-women
expedition and the women were the first Americans to
climb the mountain.
"I don't know of any other school that can travel, give
personal instruction and go on international trips like we
(Nebraska) do," Ebel said. "I feel it is a pretty unique program."
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Photo courtesy of Jim Richardson
Doug Peterson, a senior at UNL, scales a peak in Canyon State Park near Eldorado Springs, Colo.
McWhirter says it's good to be back
Oklahoma State's Gary
Lewis was named Big Eight
defensive player of the week
by the conference office in
Kansas City Mo. Earlier in
the week, it was announced
that Nebraska's Turner Gill
won the offensive honor.
Students interested in
trying out for a spot on the
1981-82 UNL men's basket
ball team should report to
the Bob Devaney Sports
Center at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Junior linebacker Steve McWhirter said it will feel good
to finally get back to football this Saturday.
McWhirter injured his knee in the season opener against
Iowav but is expected to play this Saturday "if my knee
holds up this week in practice" he said.
"It's been pretty depressing, after getting ready all year
to play and then getting hurt in the first game," the Fair
field Iowa, native said. McWhirter said he's been restless
while out of action.
"But I know it's not good to come back too quickly "
he said., "I've had knee problems before, and I know
you've got to be patient.'
McWhirter injured his right knee during his first year
with the varsity after being redshirted his freshman year.
This year he injured his left knee..
"1 had to, have constructive surgery on my right knee
(two years ago) he said.. "This year the trainers have
told me it will be OK to play the rest of the season, and
then we'll see if it needs any more work.
"It feels pretty good right now," he said.
McWhirter said he sustained a ligament tear and had to
have some cartilage removed after straining his knee on a
rush pass.
"1 hurt it blitzing against Iowa," he said. "When I went
to make a cut, the knee just turned underneath me."
McWhirter. finally returned to practicelast Thursday
after going through a rehabilitation program which includ
ed riding a stationary bicycle.
He said the long layoff won't hurt his playing.
"You'd think that a guy would forget a lot, but after
you play a few downs, it all comes back."
Huskers top Big Eight
with rushing yardage
The Nebraska football team has taken over first place
on the Big Eight rushing offense charts. Nebraska's 335.6
yards per game average also ranks third in the country.
The Huskers also lead the conference in total offense
with an average of 432 xards. Punt returns averaged 12.7
yards the team's net punting average is 42.7 yards per
punt. J r
The Blackshirts have given up only 84.4 yards per game
in passing and rank first in the conference and second in
the nation in that category.
In other conference team statistics, the Huskers rank
seventh in passing offense second in scoring offense and
scoring defense fourth in rushing defense, third in total
defense and fifth in kickoff returns. Nebraska has no play-.
ers at the top of the individual charts