Growing the sport of climbing in an unlikely place

Will Harris '14 of Chicago and Tim Bruns '14 from Connecticut travelled to the West Bank with one objective in mind - to develop a climbing community there. "We were exploring a lot of Palestine and saw a huge potential for outdoor climbing," Harris says. The two started Wadi Climbing, the first indoor rock climbing gym in Palestine. Wadi Climbing also offers weekly, guided outdoor rock climbing trips to sites around Palestine. Harris and Bruns say their trips are an exciting, alternative way to explore the beautiful rural landscape of the West Bank. They were motivated to start the venture because of what they saw as a glaring shortage of accessible recreational and leisure activities in the Palestine territories. Harris and Bruns teach the course mostly in English with a touch of Arabic, which they learned when they spent time climbing in Jordan.