The University of Idaho Outdoor Program holds an event through the Climbing Center on the last Friday of each month for those who wish to find a way to be active or enjoy climbing.
Free Rental Fridays is open to any student who wants to be able to rent climbing equipment to use at the Climbing Center. Students are only required to bring their Vandal ID card to rent out equipment.
Rental equipment can only be used in the Climbing Center. Students are able to freely use the equipment as long as they stay in the climbing space.
“The only costs in that space are the original clinic that anybody might need to take for the first time,” Trevor Fulton, director of the Outdoor Program, said. “Let’s say you’re a freshman on campus the first week of school, you come in and pay a $8 fee, and we do a very robust safety and basics clinic for you and then after that using the spaces is covered by your student fees.”
Rentals used any other time other than during the event will have a fee. The event passed last month on Sept. 25 but students will have the chance to go to the event again on Oct. 30 and Nov. 20 right before fall break.
After UI moves classes online after fall break, the Climbing Center will still offer this event and services as long as it remains open.
“If the university goes online for a period of time, we would still run the program because students will still be on campus,” Fulton said. “We want to make it accessible and reasonable for them to get in there.”
Students will be able to stop by or walk in and rent equipment on Free Rental Fridays as long as they come in the times that it is offered on the day. No appointment is required to rent equipment.
“Students can just come in and get a free rental,” Fulton said. “It’s just first come first serve, but I don’t think we’ve ever ran out of equipment.”
Armin Mesinovic can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @arminmesinovic.