Rock climbing at the conservancy started in 1992. A person that joins rock climbing (open climbing) needs to be at least 8 years old. All of the equipment is supplied; the shoes, and harnesses, if necessary, are free of charge. The conservancy is a private non-profit. Funding for the equipment, the shoes, harnesses and the climbing wall is funded by cooperations and private donations.

The conservancy has two indoor walls. They also have a taller wall outside next to the handball courts. They use the indoor walls when the weather doesn't allow use of the outdoor wall. The indoor walls are not as big as the outside wall but the kids use this wall to work on their technique and style. They have not had any competitions, but Gabriela, the coordinator their is planning some for the upcoming months. When the kids have gotten good enough to scale the walls they take a trip to other rock climbing gyms in the city. Some groups go to some other climbing gyms to climb after they have learned the skills and techniques that are necessary for climbing these higher walls.

Gabriela Fisher is the coordinator of rock climbing at Central Park. Gabriel got involved with climbing in 1990 and did a course with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) in Wyoming. When she was a student there she thought that rock climbing would be cool and it might be neat to do this sort of work. Then when she moved back to New York a friend of hers told her about a friend who worked for Outward Bound. Gabriela landed a job at Outward Bound in April of 95 and has been working in experience education ever since. While she was at Outward Bound she was also consulting for other outdoor education companies, and was teaching climbing courses until she landed a full-time position.

The students that come to the conservancy are from the local schools. Most of the schools that come in for regular day programs are local but they have schools that are from far out as Queens and Brooklyn. Louie Hernandez is a teacher at B.B.M.S. who has been coming to the conservancy for years. He recommended that the kids come to the conservancy and start a rock-climbing course. Some students are now taking a year long course after school that is focusing on increased resiliency for young people using climbing as a tool. They are definitely learning climbing skills and that is great but here, different than an regular climbing course, the kids are learning that climbing is tool that is used to develop social awareness skills.

Raymond Gonzalez, 13, a student in B.B.M.S. elementary has been attending rock climbing at the Central Park Conservancy for about three or four weeks now. He came because he wanted to try something new. He though that rock climbing this would give him confidence high self-esteem. He heard about this opportunity through his teacher Mr. Hernandez. "I like it" Raymond exclaims. Raymond and the other students form B.B.M.S. elementary school come here every Wednesday after school. He says that before he gets on his first hold he focuses on his goal, which is to get to the top. While he is on he then decides where he is going to make his next move and I as well as the next place that he is going to position. Raymond says that he doesn't want to be a professional rock climber when he gets older.

The goal of this particular group is to resource for helping each other in the group but also on an individual level to start thinking about the big picture. Then she said the thing that grabbed me the most: " Climbing is such a metaphor, and you're climbing, you get stuck on the wall, what are you gonna do? Its always about looking big and if you can keep your mind open to all these possibilities then there is a lot of stuff you can do." Then she went on to say that, with the group that she is currently working with because of their family background and where they are living and all the stuff that's up against them, when there boxed in like that the tendency is to not think future orientation. The goal for them right now is to think bigger than, "This is where I am right now; this is what life has set for me." This program was started with this principle in mind to give the kids a sense of the "Bigger Picture."