The Perceived Health Outcomes and Values of College Climbers: Exploring Why They Climb

College rock climbing programs have become increasingly popular. Yet, we have very little evidence of the benefit outcomes and value of rock climbing college programs, or understanding the personal preferences of today’s college climber. The purpose of this study was to understand the differences in perceived health outcomes and expected attributes, consequences and values among college climbers across campuses. College students from various campuses across the county completed the 32-item Perceived Health Outcomes of Recreation Scale (PHORS) and Means-end of Recreation Scale (MERS). The PHORS and MERS have been used in previous research on National Scenic Trails, and mountain biking areas across the country, but not among climbers. The link was sent via to a listserv of colleges and universities outdoor recreation programs. In 2018, 149 climbers from 47 universities participated including Ball State University, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Cornell University, and Old Dominion University. Females represented 46% of the sample with a mean age of 22. The ANOVA revealed no significant difference between the six outcomes attained and: gender, membership, or climbing type (e.g., indoors). Multiple regression analysis was used to test if sex and any of the six outcome significantly predicted participants\u27 monthly climbing frequency. The results of the regression indicated consequences was the only significant positive predictor (β = .30), explaining about 12% of variances in participant monthly climbing frequency, R2Adj =.12, F7,133=3.59, p\u3c.01